Bike the Drive

ScottM

ScottM

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iBazinga!
In Chicago on Sunday was the annual 'Bike the Drive' Event. For bicyclists this a really fun ride. Lake Shore Drive is closed to motor vehicle traffic for a few hours and the bikes have the full run of it from where the roads ends up north down to the Museum of Science and Industry to the south, about 22 miles. The ride starts in Grant park (middle of the route) and you go north and south form there for about a total of 40 miles round trip.

This was my third time doing the ride and I had a blast.

Some pics

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I just bought a bike this weekend after being out of the saddle for 19 years. It was a gift to me for the first 5 months of dip free living after 25 years of the crap in my lip.
 
Got a Trek 7.3 FX. I put about 7 miles on it Sunday and it felt good (in a sore kind of way) :)
 
kevin47881 said:
As it relates to components, yes it's all stock. I did add a computer, water cage and saddle bag.

What are you riding?
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I have three bikes

First one is my road bike

1. Lemond all steel Zurich frame, Sealed King headset, Shimano Ultegra components with a FSA carbon triple crank, carbon seat post and handle bars, Selle Italia saddle, and Bontrager Race X Lite Wheels

Second one is my commuting bike

2. Lemond Poprad frame with full Ultegra, King sealed Headset, Selle Italia saddle and Bontrage Race Lite wheels, Also has a back rack for panniers.

3rd is my goof off fun bike

3. Bike e Recumbant

I love tinkering with bikes.

The commuting bike is custom on a stock frame and the road bike has many upgrades
The SO's Trek 7200 was bought stock. But I have since replaced everything on it but the brake handles.
 
kevin47881 said:
I just bought a bike this weekend after being out of the saddle for 19 years. It was a gift to me for the first 5 months of dip free living after 25 years of the crap in my lip.
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Congratulations Kevin!! Keep up the good work :cheerswine:
 
Wow, that ride sounds like fun!!!! Four lanes for 40 miles. Hmmmm. I may need to come up there to do that next year. Is it always Memorial Day weekend? I'm always in Indy that weekend.

Congratulations Kevin but beware, bicycling can become addictive - and expensive. OK, not expensive compared to flying, but a lot more expensive than you'd expect. And not addictive compared to tobacco - congratulations on kicking that destructive habit.

One of the surprising things about my bike is how much I enjoy tinkering with it. I bought a bike stand and have fun keeping it tuned up. I'd like to build up my next bike myself but I have a lot to learn before I get there.
 
gibbons said:
Wow, that ride sounds like fun!!!! Four lanes for 40 miles. Hmmmm. I may need to come up there to do that next year. Is it always Memorial Day weekend? I'm always in Indy that weekend.
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Yep. On Sunday morning that weekend. The start is at Oh-dark-thirty so as to get the drive open at 10am for vehicle traffic once again. But still all those lanes....Ahhhhh!

What is nice is that the slow fun riders are on the far right and the animals on the left. A few years ago I rode with the animals and we had a 20 person peleton going. My average speed for the north loop 10 mile stretch was 25 mph!!! I really got to see how drafting worked and helped!

gibbons said:
One of the surprising things about my bike is how much I enjoy tinkering with it. I bought a bike stand and have fun keeping it tuned up. I'd like to build up my next bike myself but I have a lot to learn before I get there.
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It is a blast. The only tool I don't have is for setting a headset. The two I have done I had to bring into the shop to get the set the cups in. But everything else is actually pretty easy. Get a good book and it is pretty easy. The best part is when on the road you can fix little squeaks and squawks real easy as you know what to turn.

One of my friends used to build his own wheels. I have yet to try that but I have done some simple wheel trues.
 
smigaldi said:
I have three bikes

First one is my road bike

1. Lemond all steel Zurich frame, Sealed King headset, Shimano Ultegra components with a FSA carbon triple crank, carbon seat post and handle bars, Selle Italia saddle, and Bontrager Race X Lite Wheels

Second one is my commuting bike

2. Lemond Poprad frame with full Ultegra, King sealed Headset, Selle Italia saddle and Bontrage Race Lite wheels, Also has a back rack for panniers.

3rd is my goof off fun bike

3. Bike e Recumbant

I love tinkering with bikes.

The commuting bike is custom on a stock frame and the road bike has many upgrades
The SO's Trek 7200 was bought stock. But I have since replaced everything on it but the brake handles.
Click to expand...

You're gonna make me do research to understand this answer :)
 
gibbons said:
Wow, that ride sounds like fun!!!! Four lanes for 40 miles. Hmmmm. I may need to come up there to do that next year. Is it always Memorial Day weekend? I'm always in Indy that weekend.

Congratulations Kevin but beware, bicycling can become addictive - and expensive. OK, not expensive compared to flying, but a lot more expensive than you'd expect. And not addictive compared to tobacco - congratulations on kicking that destructive habit.

One of the surprising things about my bike is how much I enjoy tinkering with it. I bought a bike stand and have fun keeping it tuned up. I'd like to build up my next bike myself but I have a lot to learn before I get there.
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Thanks Chip. I thought the bike and accessories was where I'd be in the final price. As you allude to...wrong!!! There's shorts, shirts, gloves, etc. But still, it something I need to do to get back into some other shape than round.
 
Cool!

From one bike newbie to another, congrats! I did my first 'riding to be riding' ride on my new Trek 1.5 yesterday. Des Moines has some nice paved trails that we rode on. We only got 10-12 miles in (had to get back to start grilling), but my immediate impression of my first 'real' bike is GREAT! It was hard to maintain speed (avg 12mph) because the trails wind so much, but on a couple of straightaways I got up to 25mph and was still accelerating when I had to slow for the turn.

Now you'll have to come up and do RAGBRAI with me, Chip, ?Pete?... :yes:
 
smigaldi said:
Get a good book and it is pretty easy. The best part is when on the road you can fix little squeaks and squawks real easy as you know what to turn.
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This is what I'm using right now after buying a couple of others. I like the text but would prefer photographs over illustrations. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
 

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The Park and Zinn books are great... Sheldon Brown (RIP) has a website that is a bit eccentric but probably the best "complex" advice out there (like lacing rims!):

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

I'm going out for 42 in the morning. Nice rollers along the James River and keeping to the back roads. The countryside out here in VA is BREATHTAKING, but the shoulders are non-existant...

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
kevin47881 said:
You're gonna make me do research to understand this answer :)
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Well here is the poprad. It is decked out for a 70 mile tour. We rode from Redsburg, WI. to Sparta alon the Firecracker 400 and the Elroy-Sparta trail. You get to go along an old railroad line that has three long tunnels. We then stayed in a B&B and rode back to our car the next day.

I don't have any pics of the road bike. I'll have to take some next time I take it out.
 

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Nice bikes... I have a Univega Modo Vincere (the Italians can make even a bicycle sexy) that gets very under-utilized, mainly because I live 16 miles from work and I don't get off my ass and go riding often enough.

I should take it on the plane with me when I go to New York City to visit mom, then I'd use it more! I used to bike all the time there.
 
smigaldi said:
We rode from Redsburg, WI. to Sparta alon the Firecracker 400 and the Elroy-Sparta trail. You get to go along an old railroad line that has three long tunnels.
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Elroy-Sparta is a great trail. :yes: I might have to go ride it again, now that I found an airport that's literally right on the trail. :D
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Elroy-Sparta is a great trail. :yes: I might have to go ride it again, now that I found an airport that's literally right on the trail. :D
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I have rode the whole trail and don't recall seeing an airport right on the trail. Which one are you referring too?

BTW the Deke Slayton museum is not far off of the trail.
 
smigaldi said:
I have rode the whole trail and don't recall seeing an airport right on the trail. Which one are you referring too?
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Whoops... It was the 400 trail, which connects to Elroy-Sparta. I thought it was Elroy-Sparta because I'd just landed at the Sparta airport as well (on a ConUS Challenge binge!) which was less than 5nm away. It also looked vaguely familiar from when I rode the Elroy-Sparta.

FWIW, if you want to do some fly-in biking, the field is KHBW Joshua Sanford Field in Hillsboro, WI. Should be a short ride from there to the Elroy-Sparta, or you can ride the 400 trail instead. There's a series of trails called the Bike 4 Trails that includes both these and a couple of others. If the others are as good as the Elroy-Sparta trail, that should be some good riding! :yes:

For those who aren't super-bike-heads, the Elroy-Sparta trail is excellent for anyone. I think I first rode it when I was about 5 years old. It's an old rail line. Packed gravel, but excellent quality, pretty much as smooth as paved (smoother, in many cases! :eek:) and no big hills. There are also three tunnels, so take your lights even during the day! It's nice and cool in the tunnels, but it's also REALLY dark. They're not lit at all.
 
The trailhead of the 400 trail is a short ride away from the Reedsburg Airport.

Speaking of fly-in biking, according to their web site, Wausau (KAUW) has a couple courtesy bikes you can use to connect to trails / roads.
 
smigaldi said:
No KIDDING! I lust for an Colnago with full Campy!!
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Colnago's are out!

I ride a Pinarello with full campy -- wheels to hubs to dérailleurs...

It's 17 years old now (Yikes!), has been raced (3 years), has been ridden in the mountains of NC, WV, NY, and Quebec, and probably has more miles on it then my Honda Accord.
 
smigaldi said:
A but those chain stays on the Colnago are so sexy!!!
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Which ones? The spilt deals?

I raced back in the early to mid 90s -- and it seemed every Master rider (age 35+) rode or wanted to ride a Colnago Masterlight.

Funny thing was -- no one on the pro circuit was riding that frame!
 
Scott, nice wheels on that Poprad

I only recently got into cycling. I have a Felt Z70, only mod is a Shimano compact crank. Mostly Ultegra (having replaced the FSA triple); I'm really happy with the bike. Of course, I was in a bike shop recently and saw a beautiful Merckx. Me likee. With only 2 metric centuries under the belt, it's a bit premature, but my first honest century comes up late August.

My bike shop guru bought a new Felt with Mavic Krysium wheels. I said "Jesus Christ this is light" when I picked it up to check it out. Nobody was around, but let me tell you, them's light wheels!
 
flyersfan31 said:
Scott, nice wheels on that Poprad
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Thanks

That is the second bike I have built form scratch to get it the way I want it. It works out to be about the same price as off the shelf equipment. The first bike I actually did most of the building myself which was quite fun. The only thing I did not do was that installation of the new headset as I don't have a press, and the cutting of the fork.

The real trick to building is to know the measurements you want your bike to be and to find all the stuff. The 'Poprad" it is only the frame that is a Poprad BTW, is not like anyone you could buy. I spent about two months chasing down all the blue parts to go with the frame.

Karen wants a new road bike in a year or two. She is leaning towards a Waterford custom everything inlcuding color which might make life a little easier, will see.

How do you like those Felts?

My next road bike may be one.
 
I love bicycling...well mountain/trail biking.

Getting suited up in spandex to ride on tires an inch wide on Georgia back country roads is NOT my idea of fun! Talk about a suicide ride!
 
tdager said:
I love bicycling...well mountain/trail biking.

Getting suited up in spandex to ride on tires an inch wide on Georgia back country roads is NOT my idea of fun! Talk about a suicide ride!
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LOL!

Well THAT's what makes you FAST!

;-)

I've ridden in the Mountains of PA, NC, and WV on a road bike in spandex team gear. I always carried a cell phone, spare tube, and small pump.

Honestly, those rides were safer that suburban areas, where soccer moms whizz by inches away doing 75 while yakking on a cell phone....
 
I find coutry drivers to be much nicer than most urban drivers. People in the country side will wave at you and usually give you decent clearance when they pass.

But you haven't truly enjoyed cycling in the countryside until you get passed by a hog truck...
 
vontresc said:
I find coutry drivers to be much nicer than most urban drivers. People in the country side will wave at you and usually give you decent clearance when they pass.

But you haven't truly enjoyed cycling in the countryside until you get passed by a hog truck...
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LOL!

True, true...

I rode many, many miles in Lancaster County and one thing you learn -- don't get too close to an Amish buggy in the summertime. While many Amish use cell phones, generators to run freezers and washing machines, one nod to the old ways is the lack of personal hygiene...
 
Alright, the newbie just finished my first organized ride and made the 22.2 mile route in 2 hours 10 seconds. I need a loooong hot soaking bath.:yes:
 
kevin47881 said:
Alright, the newbie just finished my first organized ride and made the 22.2 mile route in 2 hours 10 seconds. I need a loooong hot soaking bath.:yes:
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Good job and welcome to the cycling club!

In the Tour de France -- where stages often run more than 130 miles up and down mountains -- the average speed is 27 MPH.

There's a goal for you!

B)
 
dmccormack said:
Good job and welcome to the cycling club!

In the Tour de France -- where stages often run more than 130 miles up and down mountains -- the average speed is 27 MPH.

There's a goal for you!

B)
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Yep, but my goal for today was to just finish.
 
kevin47881 said:
Yep, but my goal for today was to just finish.
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:)

I understand!!!

Several years ago when I rode far more than i do now (50+ miles/day), I watched the Beech Mountain stage finish during the Tour Dupont.

Lance finished second behind Pascal Herve -- it wasn't even close -- Herve shot up the mountain and Lance was a good way behind. The pack trickled in after him.

A few months later I was down in NC and decided to ride the finish route -- how hard can it be, right?

The summit is 5,506', and the grade averages 17%.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

I made it to the top, and it took awhile to recover enough to ride back down.
 
dmccormack said:
:)
A few months later I was down in NC and decided to ride the finish route -- how hard can it be, right?

The summit is 5,506', and the grade averages 17%.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

I made it to the top, and it took awhile to recover enough to ride back down.
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Gads. We had about 3,400 feet in elevation change for the 22 miles. The Century riders had over 8k feet of elevation change to deal with. I can't fathom pulling that kind of grade for any length of time. :eek:

There was only one hill where I dismounted and walked about 100 yards. My mind said go but the bum knee had other ideas.
 
kevin47881 said:
Gads. We had about 3,400 feet in elevation change for the 22 miles. The Century riders had over 8k feet of elevation change to deal with. I can't fathom pulling that kind of grade for any length of time. :eek:

There was only one hill where I dismounted and walked about 100 yards. My mind said go but the bum knee had other ideas.
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Good policy -- no ride is worth surgery.

My wife and I used to ride Tandem. Every September there was an MS 100 ride in and around Manhattan.

There was also a 30 and 60 mile option.

Some 10,000 riders started at the base of the World Trade Center (This was Sept 9th, 2000). We walked the first mile -- too packed and slow to ride.

Once we got on FDR drive it was nice. We circled Manhattan, then we went through the Lincoln Tunnel to NJ.

There was a water stop there and my wife heard some guys talking about the "one mile hill."

"No way" I said. "It's flat as a pancake up and down the Hudson."

Unless you ride up the Palisades, nearly to West Point.

We passed many, many riders dismounted and walking up the steep grades, but our policy was "Keep it rolling!"

It was a long, hilly slog up and down, up and down. When we returned we had to cross the GW Bridge, then all the way down 11th Avenue, mixing it up with traffic.

When we arrived at the WTC, all the food and drinks were gone. About 90% of the riders opted for the 30 mile ride -- unfortunately, we century riders were SOL.

It's one of those things we were glad we did -- but never again.
 
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