From: JohnV
[jvanvelzor@woh.rr.com]
Sent: Wednesday,
July 16, 2008 8:30 PM
To: Kevin
Hoffer
Subject: WBC
News
MEETING NOTES
Paula cranked us
up at 7 sharp. Several great recaps were presented.
Kent Stewart had
numerous tales of the RAAM adventure.
Welcome to RAAM
(Race Across America) 2008 3000 miles with 100,000 feet of climbing.
The Wilmington
Bicycle Club & the ABX Cycle team had 5 members who worked with Team Type
1’s race across America (www.raceacrossamerica.org)
Kyle, Kevin and
Kent Stewart, Jack Cook, and Tim Picard along with 13 other people from the US,
New Zealand and Australia made up the Crew that supported the 8 person team for
TT1. We were the RV drivers, the team had a couple of coach, nutritioness, massage
therapist, mechanics, team manager, photographer, chase car and transfer cars
staff, along with a few sponsers showing up here and there.
(www.teamtype1.org) Founded in 2004, (TT1),
is the fulfilled dream of two young men with Type 1 diabetes -- Phil Southerland
and Joe Eldridge. TT1 has 15 Pro Cyclist along with 11 elite or semi-pro
riders. All the riders on TT1 have type 1 diabetes. The mission: 1. Racing for
a cure for diabetes. 2. Raise awareness to everyone that Diabetes is a disease,
but can be managed and shouldn’t keep anyone doing the thinks in life that they
want to do.
Quote from Phil
Southerland in the WSJ: “At a time when professional cycling is riddled with
allegations of illegal drug use, Team Type 1 is certain to face added scrutiny.
Although professional cyclists are allowed to take prescription drugs used to
treat medical conditions, insulin is considered an illegal substance for
cyclists who don't have diabetes, because it could be used to speed an
athlete's recovery after intense exercise.
But "we are
not using these drugs to go faster," notes Mr. Southerland. "We are
using them to stay alive."
Mr. Southerland
says he believes Team Type 1 can eventually be strong enough to compete in the
Tour de France within five years.”
The journey: June
8th we piled into Kevin’s mini van and headed to Columbus
international airport, onto a flight to San Diego. For 2 days we picked up
equipment and set up everything needed to complete the race. All the vehicles,
bikes, and equipment had to go through inspection prior to the start of the
race by RAAM Officials. Wednesday after noon June 11th the race
begins in Oceanside CA. And heads east through southern CA to Brawley CA for 1
of 27 shift changes through out the race.
The riders: we
had 4 riders on the road and 4 riders in the RV resting for their next shift.
Each shift was about 6 hours average of 150 mile of riding. 1st
rider would be on the bike and pedal as fast as they could go for 7 to 10
miles, the transfer car would be setting up rider number 2 to ride the next 7
to 10 miles, and then rider 3 them 4. These 4 riders continued this for their 6
hour shift. Shift change we would swap out the 4 fresh riders and feed, shower,
massage, and put bed the 4 riders that just finished riding. We continued this
for 5 days 13 hours and 40 minutes. Average speed ended up at 22.55 mph.
The scenery: from
the rolling dry hills of southern CA to the snow cap Rocky Mountains, to the
desert floor, vast farm lands, flooded mighty Mississippi river, to the green
Ohio valley and West Virginia to the hustle of the East coast.
I don’t have the
words to describe it, not even my camera could capture the true beauty of our
Great Nation. But it gives me goose bumps every time I think about a part of
the route.
The Finish: TT1
finished 2nd behind Byggkjop/BMC Cycling Team from Norway. The
finish line was Annapolis, MD, where we rested up for a couple day before
flying home.
To sum it up:
What a journey, what an adventure, what a bunch of great people.
Kent Stewart
Next Meeting Demo
Because of all
the adventures to be shared, the demo this meeting was postponed
Bicycle detailing
(detailed cleaning) will be demonstrated next meeting. Learn how to clean more
thoroughly, properly, to prolong the life and smooth operation of your ride.
August 12 at
Books’n’More
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation's Boulevard Lakefront Tour.
Sunday,
September 7, 2008
Check
it out—register at
The site is just
up and some links still inactive, but you can get some idea what its all about
as well as brief descriptions of options.
A tentative plan
includes this ride on Sunday. Maybe plan to drive home on Monday.
Prior to the
Sunday ride there are numerous options and places to stay. Bonnie is reviewing,
researching daily. Possible base station near the lake mid-way between South
Bend and Chicago, commuting by train. The Dunes area offers many biking
opportunities for earlier in the week, and Chicago also has many acclaimed
sites as well as food!
John and Bonnie
plan to be thereSept 2-8
Still working
on it. More later.
Summer ???
Barely here –
almost over !! Our ride schedule includes August....an we are planning
GOBACA – a Fall event! And reported mileage is way off! Are you not
riding? Are you not reporting?
Record Gas Prices! So What!?!?!
We have at least
three commuters in our midst. Bruce Barrett, Kent Stewart and Kevin
Hoffer are all riding bikes to and from work. Kevin (our mileage leader so far)
has been doing it for a couple years – year 'round. AND…. Donna Burnett has now
been spied spinning her way to work!
Ride Recap
WEDNESDAY
EVENING RIDES
June 11: Kristine
and Teresa rode along Champlin, Beechgrove, and Ogden roads
with the sun
slanting through the trees and deafening cicadas in some spots. It was 88
degrees, hot, dry, and a headwind coming back into Wilmington along 22 & 3.
A total of 18 miles in a little over an hour made for a good little mid week
bike ride.
June 18: Kristine
was “out of town.”
June 25: A no
go—threat of severe storms.
July 2: Another
rainy day in Ohio
July 9: Kristine
and Teresa rode 17.5 miles in a little over an hour on Mitchell, Hale, Webb,
and other roads. They came back into Wilmington on 22 & 3. A great little
ride!
Remember, if the
weatherman says 50% chance – that means he has no idea what it will do. And, if
you cancel because you think it will rain – it surely will not.
When in doubt –
go out!
T’S TAKE ON SATURDAY CLUB RIDES
June 14: A
gorgeous cool and sunny day! Teresa, Bob, George, Bonnie, John, Dave, Karen,
and Chris met at Donna’s house at 9:30 a.m. Chris, Dave and Karen’s son, was in
from Boston for a family wedding and so borrowed George’s bike (the one that
was stolen and then found). Donna led us on a beautiful ride up and down the
hills and vales along the Little Miami River. We ended the ride on her famous
two-mile, winding, smooth, and glorious hill down to the Little River Café,
where we enjoyed a delicious lunch outside on the deck. From there we took the
trail back to Donna’s where we had homemade cookies on her screened – in porch.
Who could ask for more?!
June 21: Dave and
Karen led the ride beginning at 9:30 a.m. behind McDonald’s in Blanchester.
Already there were about 20 bikers taking a break at the UDF next door. It is
assumed that they were part of the Cincinnati Cycling Club. We had a great turn
out for our own ride. We were Teresa, Bob, George, John, Donna A., Bruce, Donna
B., and her son, Doug home from his first year of college. It was a 27 – mile
route past Lynchburg, beyond St. Martin, and then around past A & M Orchard
where the sweet fragrance of strawberry fields seemed like heaven. Bob took a
wrong turn on the way into Blanchester, but Donna saved him before he got
totally lost. Lunch was at Etta Lee’s in Blanchester where each enjoyed a huge,
individual, warm blackberry cobbler with ice cream and a little bit of lunch.
Delicious!
June 28: Very
iffy weather but John, Bonnie, Rich, Charlie, Dave, and Karen showed up at the
Gallinis’s at 9:30. Then it started sprinkling with thunder in the background.
We waited it out and began riding at 10:00. Because we didn’t want to get
caught in a thunder and lighting storm, the ride was shortened from 46 miles to
26 miles. Instead of going to Corwin via Caesar Creek Lake, we rode a loop to
Lynchburg and back. Lunch was at the Main Street Café in Lynchburg, and it was
very nice. Rich and Charlie took the long way home by accident but the extra
five miles made them even stronger. Everyone was glad that we got to ride
despite the crazy weather.
July 5: Your
writer (Teresa) was celebrating Independence Day weekend in Maryland and
Washington D.C. at this time, but it was reported that Kristine, Bruce, Dave,
and Karen met at Matthew and Mark’s house at 9:00 a.m. The six of them rode 29
miles, and it was windy as it typically is on those flat Sabina roads. They ate
lunch at Kim’s Diner, which is always a great place to eat.
Tough riders
If you viewed the
website for RAAM, you might have seen one rider with one arm. That's a
challenge. Last Sunday, Bonnie and I were riding to Corwin on the bike trail,
and encountered a guy riding – with one leg. An upright cruiser with toe
clips. He had aluminum crutches with arm clips strapped to the bike. And I was
complaining about a headwind.
For Real !
Bonnie
has seen this guy cruising the Xenia area!
Their Own Version of “Ride the Rockies”
Dave and Vicki
Dalzelle spent June 19 – 27 in Colorado where Dave was riding his bike and
Vicki was the SAG driver for the group. There were a total of 12 riders that
did their own version of “Ride the Rockies.” The first day of riding had
everyone leaving Golden, CO. doing the “Triple Bypass” and ending in Vail. Day
two had everyone riding to Aspen via the Tennessee Pass and Independence Pass
(the highest of the passes with an elevation of 12,095 ft). The next day was an
off day to let everyone catch their breath after two very long days of
climbing, although some enjoyed a short (40 mile) ride to Maroon Bells outside
of Aspen. The next day it was onward to Hotchkiss over McClure Pass. This is
the only time we ran into stormy weather, and it only lasted long enough for
everyone to don their rain and cold weather gear only to have the storm cloud
pass over half way down the descent. On Wednesday we left Hotchkiss to ride
through Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park and Blue Mesa Reservoir. This
was the only day of no passes, but it was also the hottest at 90 degrees and
nothing but pavement between the two cities. On this particular day, we had to
share the road 2 different times with herds of cattle being moved from one
grazing place to another. Cows look VERY BIG when you’re sitting on a bicycle
next to them! It also made for some interesting souvenirs collected on the
bikes. We left Gunnison on Thursday to head towards Salida going over Monarch
Pass (another 12,000 ft elevation). This is where the only injury occurred.
Vicki was going around the back of the van to close the side door and slipped
on some loose gravel and managed to make her knee look like hamburger. UGH! By
Friday everyone was ready to head on in to Frisco, CO going over Hoosier Pass
and then pack up the various cars to head home. The total trip was 586 miles
with 8 passes in 6 days of riding. The scenery was breathtaking and each place
we stopped at night allowed time for relaxing with a few beers, a lot of laughs
and some very friendly locals. We even met the sound crew for Joe Cocker’s band
since he was playing in Hotchkiss the night we were there. They sat with us and
had a few beers before going to set up for the concert. Unfortunately we were
all so tired none of us heard the concert, which was right across the street at
the fairgrounds. If you ever get the chance to ride in Colorado, take it, you
won’t regret it. Boulder was voted the 2nd most bicycle friendly city in
America, and after being there and seeing all the bike traffic and the very
wide designated bike lanes on all the roads, we agree. Plus, they have the most
fantastic bike shop you will ever see.
Dave & Vicki
Morning Glory
Aug 3, 2008
Starts on the
Ohio Riverfront at Sawyer Point. For the more athletic riders, a 25 mile loop
through the streets of Cincinnati begins at 4:30 AM, ending with a catered
breakfast along the Serpentine Wall......visit ....... morninggloryride.com
Presented by the
Sierra Club
Kevin Hoffers version of, Ride the Rockies
Trip Report for the 2008 Ride the Rockies
I recently
participated in the Ride the Rockies organized bicycle tour. Ride the Rockies
is typically a point-to-point, week-long, organized ride through some of the
most scenic and mountainous parts of Colorado. To participate, one must be
selected by a lottery process for one of 2000 available riding slots. Most
participants, including myself, camp in a tent every night of the ride, usually
at local schools in the host cities. This year, the course started in Durango,
Colorado and finished in Breckenridge, Colorado.
My son, Tyler,
and I drove to Durango for the start of the ride. The excitement started the
first night on the way there just outside of Des Moines, Iowa. We were staying
in a state park campground and had arrived when it was fairly dark. We could
see a thunderstorm rolling in on the horizon, but we decided go ahead and camp
out since we were already set up. As it turns out, that was the night all the
tornados hit Iowa in mid-June. A park ranger came around and requested that we
move our tent nearer a sturdy structure in case we need to take shelter. It was
the worst thunderstorm I have ever camped in, but other than getting a little
wet, we survived. Unfortunately, there were some Boy Scouts at a retreat
elsewhere in Iowa that perished when a building they took shelter in collapsed.
We camped just
outside of Denver the second night at another state park, and although it was
cool at night, the weather was much drier. The third night we camped out near
Great Sand Dunes National Park. I was able to do a 30 mile ride to start
acclimating myself to the elevation. We arrived in Durango the next day on the
eve of the start of the ride. As another warm-up, I rode from the Durango
Mountain Ski Resort (formerly known as Purgatory) up to Coal Bank Pass
(elevation 10,640). This was a fairly tough climb of about 6.5% for around six
miles. I had a white-knuckle descent off the pass due to the wind and a wobbly
bicycle, which two days later I found to be a loose headset.
The first day of
the organized Colorado rides tend to be a little easier, and this year was no
exception. We rode from Durango to Cortez for a distance of 49 miles with no
exceptional climbs although we were still over 8,000 feet in elevation most of
the day. The next day, we rode from Cortez to Telluride over Lizard Head Pass
(elevation 10,222). This day was fairly tough at 77 miles and extremely scenic.
Colorado had its biggest snowfall in 60 years, and the higher elevations were
still under substantial snow cover. The climb from Cortez to Lizard Head Pass,
while not exceptionally steep, was roughly 50 miles in duration. From Telluride
we rode 65 miles onto Montrose. Not much stands out from this day other than
the chip-and-seal on the road that day probably continued for at least 10
miles.
The next day
turned out to be the toughest. We rode from Montrose to Crested Butte, which is
92 miles distance with the only substantial passes being the Cerro Summit
(elevation 7,950) and Blue Mesa Summit (elevation 9,288). We started off the
morning into a howling headwind where I struggled to maintain 10 mph on the
flats. People were already hitting the sag vehicles and we were less than 30
miles into the ride. Oddly enough, after cresting the first summit (Cerro), the
wind almost totally died down. The rest of the ride was fairly pleasant until
we hit the town of Gunnison. From there it was a 19 mile climb to Crested Butte
into the wind. Although the grade was slight, at the end of a 92 mile day I was
pretty happy to arrive in Crested Butte. Many said it was their hardest day
ever in the saddle. We spent our “rest day” in Crested Butte, so I was able to
explore the town and also go up the ski lift to the top of the mountain, which
was free to riders, in the ski resort of Mount Crested Butte.
Crested Butte is
at an elevation of 8,885 feet, which means it can get cold at night, even in
the summer. The morning we departed Crested Butte, I woke up to 27 degree
temperatures and a bike seat covered with ice. I started the ride in full
winter gear, with a jacket, balaclava, two sets of gloves, knee warmers, and
booties. When we arrived in Buena Vista at the end of the ride it was 85
degrees. One of the toughest parts of riding in Colorado is dressing for these
conditions. The ride from Crested Butte to Buena Vista was my favorite part. It
started out with a 10 mile descent out of Crested Butte, which made it feel
even colder. We then started heading up a beautiful canyon road with a raging
river beside us on the way to Cottonwood Pass (elevation 12,126). The road up
Cottonwood Pass had caused me some trepidation, primarily because it is 14
miles of climbing up a dirt road, but also because the pass had just opened a
few days before due to the heavy snow cover. As it turned out, my fears were
unwarranted. The dirt road was very hard-packed. It caused a little difficulty
in the last mile or so up the summit due to the fact that there was more gravel
and I am a standing climber, so I lost traction at times. The side of the road
at the summit still sported a depth of approximately five feet of snow. From
the summit it was a screaming 19 mile descent into Buena Vista at speeds
nearing 50 mph.
The last day of
the ride was from Buena Vista to Breckenridge which entailed a climb over Trout
Creek Pass (elevation 9,346) and Hoosier Pass (elevation 11,542). Hoosier Pass
was probably the toughest climb of the week, partially due to me riding it at a
blistering pace with another strong climber I joined with at the rest stop at
the bottom of the climb. From Breckenridge it was a drive to Pikes Peak with
Tyler before heading home. I wound up with around 440 miles for the week and
over 20,000 feet of climbing. It was a great trip and highly recommended.
In case you
wondered what happened to my son, Tyler, he spent the week doing some epic
mountain biking in Durango, Fruita, Leadville, and Moab, Utah, mostly with Matt
Barrett. Matt lives in Leadville, Colorado, so it was convenient for those two
to hook up after Tyler dropped me off in Durango.
Charlie Rides !
Charlie McIntire has a couple back-to-back centuries this year, so
the following account is ...just another day for Charlie!
I had another
successful day on my bike. Rode the RAIN on Saturday in 12 hours. The first
riders in were just under 7 hours. I can't imagine. The ride had gentle rain
for the first few hours but not a factor. There are more hills in western
Indiana than I expected but nothing unmanageable. The US 40 part makes for easy
riding. Good surface, lots of room low traffic, and boring. There is about 50
miles of two lane surburban and country roads to bypass Indianapolis. Those
aren't much fun but certainly not boring. Some have marginal surfaces and the
Saturday morning traffic of people in a hurry to get the chores done makes one
feel vulnerable. Old age talking. I forced over 8 quarts of Gatorade but was
still a little dehydrated at the end. The Earlham College campus provides a
beautiful finish line. They had showers and lots of shade. Shade is good. It
was a good day except that I have yet to achieve a successful butt to bicycle
interface design.
I noticed on the
website that Paul Moke finished in about 10 hours. Of course I never saw Paul's
face. Just his back.
Charlie McIntire
(RAIN is an
annual ride across the State of Indiana sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle
Club. Its 160-mile length runs mostly on the Historic National Route 40, an
older divided four-lane road with light traffic.)
Kristine Hughes
is hosting Wednesday evening rides starting from her home at 5:15. 27
Glennwood Cr.. Be sure to call to confirm. 937-217-9681 Next meeting: Tues.
July 8 at Books’n’More