Ride the Rivers Century
October 1, 2006

It was a great ride. Tom and I met early in the parking lot of the Tap Room. This was a good sign, we were going to end in the parking lot of one of the best micro breweries in St. Louis. We also got a free beer ticket to use when we were finished. The great people of Trailnet also gave us socks as the ride premium and as I was wearing my sandles I was glad to have the socks.

We started riding West through St. Louis and headed to St. Peters and the Missouri River. The food for this ride was great. Normally you get the usual cookies and banannas but on this ride there was clif bars, apples, orange slices, oreos, trail mix and enough so every one got as much as they needed.

At the fist rest stop I saw Bob Foster who had a broken spoke on his front wheel. He left the rest stop after Tom and I did and finished the ride with a broken spoke and the front tire wobbling. He is a better man than me...

Well the first half of the ride was hilly and very scenic. Very peaceful and a great ride. We crossed over two rivers on ferries. The Golden Eagle and the Brussels ferries. The Golden Eagle ferry has a fee for crossing but the organisers took care of that and the Brussels ferry is free. After crossing the Big Muddy (the Mississippi) we went through Pier Marquette State Park and arrived in Grafton for lunch. It was sandwiches but you got a choice and it was made to order for you. The bathroom accomindations were lacking but the stop was really nice.

After lunch we rode South on the River Road out of Grafton to Alton. I've ridden this many times in the past but it was always earlier in the day. We were in the midday sun and against the wind. It seemed like we rode for 40 miles this way and I was getting tired but I had the Tap Room to inspire me to finish.

Once we were out of Alton we took stayed on the levys along the river until we got to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. We then took the River front path to Laclede's Landing. There was a couple of events going on at the same time and we actually got stuck in traffic on our bikes.

Tom and I arrived at the finish around seven hours after we started, thirsty and tired.

Stats; Dst: 100 miles, Avs: 15.1, Mx: 32.5, Tm: 6:25

I'm sitting in my dining room writing this as it rains outside. It is cold, dark, and rainy at 11:30 in mid-October. I've heard it has snowed over the past weekend in far-off exotic places like Buffalo and Chicago. It hasn't snowed here but it could have.

It is hard to think about cycling this morning but I need to get the final three centuries posted before I totally forget them.

Tom and I rode several times to train for the Sandy Creek Century. Tom wasn't riding it just me, but Tom was riding with Dave and Brian on a week long ride so he needed as much time in the saddle as he could get. We rode in West county where there are great hills. I seemed to have lost the specs for the ride. I remember riding around 35 miles. Tom if you have the stats from the ride send them to me and I'll edit the post.

We also rode in Columbia, IL for around 20 miles.

My fifth century was going to be the Sandy Creek Century on September 23rd. I started off with a big problem. I was planning to ride and finish in around 7 hours and then go to work. I had it figured out that if I started at 6:00 am and it took me 7 hours I would finish at 1:00 pm and that would give me 2 hours to get to work shower get dressed and be ready for work. Seven hours is reasonable for me. All my other centuries I finished in 7 so as long as nothing went terribly wrong I could do it.

I woke at 4:30 am the morning of the 23rd to the sound of rain. I thought I could still do it. It had rained in at least three of the other centuries. I drove an hour to get to the start. It was 6:30. Already half an hour late. I signed in. Still raining. And now thunder and lightning. I waited until 7:15 to start. I figured I could call in late. If I was an hour late for work it would be OK still.

At the ten mile mark I realized that I wasn't going to finish. I was soaked, and cold. I had fallen on gravel on thse last century, just one month befroe, and my right elbow and right hip were beginning to nag me about falling again. So I stopped at a gas station and looked at the map and decided to go to the first rest stop (at the 20 mile mark) and take the Sag back to the start.

You got to understand, after at least 20 years of riding in organized and unorganized rides I had until that point never Sagged back to the start. Even after falling off my bike.

Well, I knew at this point, I couldn't expect to finish the ride and get to work. So I got to the first rest stop. It was thundering and there was no break in the clouds at this point. The rest stop had two volunteers helping out. One of the volunteers was Jasper a Turbo rider from the Gateway HI. He is one of the 70+ youngsters that Tom and I have had the pleasure of riding with, or pleasure of trying to keep up with on some of our training rides. He and I talked for a while, while I was waiting for the Sag.

Right as the Sag got to the rest stop to pick me up the sun came out. Susan, another Gateway HI volunteer who I've ridden with on other centuries, was the driver of the Sag van. She offered me a cup of hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate I've had since the last time I was camping.

Anyway I only went 20 miles on this ride. I averaged around 15 miles per hour, not my best but this was the Sandy Creek Century. The hilliest ride of the year, so far...

I haven't posted in awhile but that doesn't mean I haven't ridden. I have 5 rides that I need to catch up on.

The first ride was Saturday August 5th
Buder State Park in Jefferson County Missouri.
I found out earlier in the week that the last Century of the Five Star Century series was going to be the hardest century of all five. It was mainly the hills that were going to make it hard. Jefferson County, for all of you who don't know, is very hilly. There isn't a flat spot in the whole county and the hills are big ones. So it is a great place to train if you are going to ride a century in the hills.

I got an invite from a list I'm on, I think its one from the St. Louis Regional Bike Fed, for a ride at Buder State Park starting at 7:00 am. This was organized by Bob Chekoudjian. Buder is an hour West of Belleville so that means I got up at 5 and got in the truck at 6 and was ready to go at 7. I woke up to a flat tire. I just bought new ones and put them on Wednesday night and must have pinched the front tube putting it on. I changed it again before I left. By the time I got to Buder it was flat again and I only had one more tube. The third time was a charm, I changed it and it held until the end of the ride.
We rode from Buder State Park to Shaw's Arboretum and back. The park is beautiful and the area around it is great for a ride. Tom has said many times in the past that he likes riding hills and he would rather ride a century in hills than flats because on flats you have to pedal all the time. I didn't understand until I rode this ride.
Stats: Dst:44.61, Avs: 15, Mx: 35, Tm: 3 hrs.

The next ride was on Sunday August 6th and it was in O'Fallon IL with Dave and Brian. Brian and family had just gotten back from Door County and Dave and family had gotten back from the Grand Canyon. It was an easy ride, we were mainly getting some time in the saddle.
Stats: Dst: 35, Avs: 15.6, Mx 31.5 Tm: 2:14.
We really weren't pushing it.

My third ride was in Jefferson County again, another Bob Chekoudjian organized ride. Saturday August 12th. Rockwoods Reservation to Pacific and back. Again many hills and a good group of people. We actually stopped for lunch in Pacific at a little diner called the Depot.
Stats: Dst: 44.35, Avs: 14.5 Mx:45, Tm: 2:50.
Yes, thats right, Max Speed 45 miles per hour! I glad I had new tires.
The hills were very big and with this route some of the down hills were long and straight. I actually walked up two of these hills. I couldn't ride up all the way.

The next ride was Tuesday August 15. Tom and I went to Alton and rode to Pierre Marquette State Park but we rode in from the back side and returned to Alton on the river road. There was a bunch of dogs on this route and the final dog pack was two mean Chihuahuas and a really ugly Pug. I fell off my bike at one place and had a flat but the rest of the ride was nice except for the feeling that I was on the set of the movie Deliverance a couple of times.
Stats: Dst: 44.35, Avs: 15.6, Mx: 34, Tm: 2:50.



The fifth ride was the Beer and Brat Century in Millstadt Il, Saturday August 19th. We had around 13 to 18 people in a group that stuck together for the first 67 miles. John & Michelle, Mike K, Virgil, Dave, Brian, John, Tom, Craig, Joey, Kathy, and three or four others I didn't know rode with us. The beginning of the day was very nice, overcast and about mid 70's and no wind. We stayed together for most of the first part of the ride. I dropped a tube out of my seat bag and had to go back after it but I didn't get left behind. Tom however dropped his water bottle and was very far back after about 30 miles. I slowed to see if I could help him catch-up but I didn't see him and I didn't want to get too far behind so I sped up to catch the pack. Well right before the second rest stop at Washington Park in Fayetteville I turned a corner on gravel and went down. Hard.
My bike was fine. I was a little scraped up, a little loss of skin and a large raspberry on my hip but no broken bones and no deep cuts. I got some first aid help at the rest stop and continued on.
I saw Craig leaving the rest stop as I came in, he wasn't fooling around. He stayed out in front of us the whole ride even tho he said he didn't feel well. He had just returned from a business trip and said all he ate was conference food (m-m-m donuts).
Tom caught up with us at the rest stop and we rode together again for about another 20 miles and then Tom flatted. He ended up with two flats on the road and the last tube he had was going flat as he ate lunch so he stopped at 67 miles.
After lunch we got ready to go and Dave had a flat. He fixed it and we got started and about 10 miles into the last 30 Dave had another flat. Some of us went on and some stayed with Dave. Brian and I rode together and met up with another rider from the Belleville area. Brian had a flat at the 80 mile marker and we had a little difficulty getting it aired up. Dave and the group with him passed us and continued on. We eventually got Brian's tire aired up and rode on.
The total flats for the day for our group was 9. Total for people falling off bikes in our group 2 (Michelle also went down but she was OK). I heard of several others having trouble with the gravel that day. The Illinois roads were covered in gravel this weekend.
Stats: Dst: 100.6, Avs: 17 (sad times but I think it was because of all the gravel), Mx: 32.5, Tm: 5:54.
This is patch #4 for me...
I heard it was Joey's first century. He looked strong, he'll be out there again I'm sure.

One more picture from the day of the ride...
Arm road rash...


I also wanted to mention, Joey, Dave Brian, Kathy and I talked about the team jerseys after the ride and we have a date of September 18th for delivery, if I can get the art to the printer by Thursday the 24th. We have sponsors and we have a design all I need to do is put the two together and send it to the printer and we will have jerseys.
We would have looked awsome on this century, riding in a pack of 15 with matching jerseys...

Logo, New Tires and a new Bike!!!

Here is a drawing for the Team Logo. It will be "Chain Gang" and I thought a catchy tag line should read "Take No Prisoners" just to sound like we have a really bad attitude.
Vote whether you like it or not.

Brian, I will incorporate the line of riders in the over all logo.

NEW TiRES!! I wanted to wait until I rode all 5 centuries before I got them but I noticed the threads coming through the rubber on my old tires.
This is a momentus day my friends...


And finally. A new bike, well new to me anyway.
I've been looking for this type of frame for literally years.
I don't think I'm going to ride it in any centuries or even training rides just yet.

Its more for fun than anything else...

Weekend rides
Saturday July 22, & Sunday July 23 2006

Saturday Dave and I met Brian and we rode the country side around O'Fallon. There is much damage from the two storms this week. So we rode slowly.

Stats; Dst: 31.11, Avs: 15.6, Mx: 31.5 Tm: 1.59.13

Sunday Dave, Brian, Joe S, Joey S and me. We rode to the catsup bottle in Collinsville.

Stats; Dst: 38.1, Avs: 16.2, Mx: 35.5, Tm: 2.20.44

Both days the weather was great. Cool around 70, a little wind on Sat and almost none on Sun.