General Cycling Discussion - My weekend plans

I am psyched!

Our first warm days... I have reserved this whole weekend for some looooooong rides. I will hopefully have pictures to post also, so if I get motivated, you'll have some good Chicago scenes too.

Friday, I'll be leaving out in the morning (after some house cleaning) and taking the bike path south to the end of the path, then turn around and ride north to the beginning of the path (5700 North). From there, I'll either be riding to the Botannical Gardens and back, or if I can get a bike map, I'll ride north and catch that bike path that goes to Wisconsin and take a long ride along the path. I haven't decided how I'm going to do it, but I'll probably aim for the Botannical Gardens tomorrow, then on Saturday, I'll head out on the bike path headed towards Wisconsin and just ride, ride, ride. Sunday, I only have 3 hours to spare, so I plan on doing a city ride and just ride up Sheridan road into the north suburbs as far as possible and back. I've got my nutrition and water bottle ready to go, a spare tire and my tool kit, a tire patch kit, my bike pump, my camera, and some snot rags. I'm going to enjoy this, seeing as though it will probably snow within the next two weeks. :(

What do people who have the unexpected warm weather plan on doing this weekend? Chris L, don't you dare respond to this post!!!!! ;)

Koffee

I'm planning some long rides too. First really warm weekend we've had in a while. 70's Friday through Sunday! Probably have to ride the Katy trail though. (Rails to Trails) The real trails are way too muddy to ride yet. Might try it Sunday though after a weekend of drying. I was getting really tired of the trainer... :)

We just got 4 inches of snow today. I went thorough four emotional stages: first - :confused:, then - :eek:, after that - :mad:, now I'm just :(.

-Middi-zon

this will be my first weekend on my new bike, and the first weekend since dec. that i can ride a bike, as my broken leg is finally healed! i broke my tibia (shin bone) in a soccer match in december-- my first ride was tuesday, a wonderful commute to work! spring is definately here, got a new bike, and a weekend to celebrate!!

Since the new year, this will be our FIRST weekend with rain. I feel at a loss for what to do this saturday, since I am sure our club ride will be cancelled. :(

Ride Koffee Ride!!! Do some miles for me that I may not get to do!!!

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
What do people who have the unexpected warm weather plan on doing this weekend? Chris L, don't you dare respond to this post!!!!!

Touche!

Actually, I'm unlikely to get in as many km as I'd like this weekend as other commitments have come up. I'll be aiming for around 135km tomorrow morning, with a 15km errand to run later on, but I might struggle to get anywhere near last weekend.

And to think, the weather around here is finally (after 6.5 months of summer) starting to cool off a little!

My FIRST road ride this year on Saturday. Halleluiah!!! Then back onto the MTB for a ride on Sunday. Weather in the 50's and almost all the snow is gone. The weather/bike gods are smiling (and so am I). After being spoiled by the previous several mild winters this one was really bad. Wore out a tire on the trainer. But that is all over (I hope).

Yep I'm geeked for this weekend also, should be either in the 50's or near 60 for both day's...So I think my Mom and I will get out on the tandem for the first time this year, we have new wheels on it this year along with a disk brake, and we're leaving for a week's worth of riding down in south florida at the end of next week, so it'd be nice to get a test run in befor that..Sunday is looking iffy up here, so I may get out on the single road bike that day, but we'll see..

I surely hope that spring is hear to stay, I've been trainin on the stairs and on the indoor bike since the begining of February, and I'm sooo tired of it!!..

Benjamin
in michigan

I plan to spend a nice relaxing 4 hours saturday
and 4 hours Sunday at the bottom of a Dive pool.
Wouldn't you know it, perfect weekend and I'm committed
to a diving class?
lets see, if my sinuses are totally blocked I can't dive,
so I could ride . . .

oh well there's always next weekend.

Marty

I'm finally on my way out in about 20 minutes.... dang, I hate to clean!

I've fully charged my camera, and I'll bring it along. It's sunny out today- not a cloud in the sky, and it's currently 39 degrees (F) and winds from the north east at 15 miles per hour.... brrrrr....

Gone for the day and back this evening with an update and pictures! I hope everyone has a great day!


Koffee

anyone else have a peace rally going on in their town this weekend? there's a big one planned for portland, oregon that i'll definately attend. so my weekend will be split between that and exploring on my new bike. i am definately riding my bike at the rally/march, complete with sticker that says "revolution begins with an individual". i think it is very important that we tell bush that his war is unjust, and the rest of the world understands that this is not the will of the u.s. people.

Let's see the Toronto 5 day forecast (units converted for our fellow Americans :D)

Today it's a high of 28F :(

But suddenly....

For Satuday a high of 45F !
For Sunday a high of 50F!

WOW!

Originally posted by Chris L
Actually, I'm unlikely to get in as many km as I'd like this weekend as other commitments have come up. I'll be aiming for around 135km tomorrow morning,

Forgive me father, for I have sinned! :eek:

Well, it was such a glorious day, and I met up with some friends during the ride and...

well, you can guess the rest.

Rain, rain, rain, rain, oh yeah I forgot WIND, WIND, WIND well it's time to shovel out the apartment anyway :cry:

Friday's ride was great! I did a lot of riding around the city downtown, then jumped on the lakefront bike path. I went south to the end of the path, then turned around and went all the way north to the beginning of the path, then turned around and rode to the halfway point. Decided to hold off until today for the longer ride.

Today's ride features a trip to the Botannic Gardens, where I will stop for lunch and look around at the plants, then head home. It will be a 60 mile ride.

I've been taking pictures, and when I've downloaded them on Sunday night, I'll pick my top 5 or 6 and post them.

Today's high- 64 degrees. Current windspeed is 12 miles per hour from the north east. Should be a nice day.

Koffee

Originally posted by ngateguy
Rain, rain, rain, rain,

Now you're making me jealous.

Got to go riding! The rain magically disappeared. I did get soaked on my commute home last night. I now love the full fenders on my commuter.

Congrats Koffee on the ride. Just got in my first today to get ready for the St. Patty ride tomorrow.

Felt good to ride again. Must get my saddle butt broken in again :)

Bill

Well got a surprise today the rain never came even the sun broke through a couple of times it was a sweet ride warm and not much wind. Thanks Koffee for the inspiration. Now its time to go reload some of those carbs I burned off :D

:beer: :beer:

Woke up at 4:30am this morning for my group ride and found the sky crying. Been pouring all day. Mabey tomorrow........

Originally posted by Dirtgrinder
Probably have to ride the Katy trail though. (Rails to Trails) The real trails are way too muddy to ride yet.

Hey Dirtgrinder,

I'm hoping to ride the Katy, probably East to West, this fall. When does the foliage usually start turning around there and what are the nighttime lows once it does?

Thanks,
John

They usually change in October. Really pretty along the river in places. Up around Rocheport looks really nice in Oct. Temps might get down in the 40's at night. Let me know when you come up and I'll try to meet you somewhere on the trail.

Thanks Dirtgrinder, I'll sure let you know once I'm able to firm my plans up a bit.

John

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
...It's sunny out today- not a cloud in the sky...

Koffee

YYyyeesssSSS! We finally have it going on! Let the riding begin! :dancing snoopy:

Joe, the Forum needs a Smilie of Charlie Brown's Snoopy doing his dance of spring! :D

Summary of my weekend rides:

Friday- looped the bike path on the lakefront twice- 40 miles.

Saturday- rode north on the lakefront to the terminus- then rode 2 miles north to Devon, then 6 miles west to the North Branch Trail. Rode the North Branch Trail to Botanic Gardens, stopped for lunch, then rode the same route back to the city from the North Branch Trail going southbound- 66 miles.

Sunday- legs tired. Taught my 45 minute indoor cycling class, then rode for 2 hours leisurely on the bike trail- 20 miles.

So now, I'm at my volunteer job for Sunday, so I'm in for the day. My legs are tired, my torso is a bit sore, but otherwise, it's a very small price to pay for a great riding weekend. Today, I actually was sweating during my ride wearing a coolmax jersey with arm warmers under a polyester long sleeve jersey and long tights. It was certainly a great day, and I got more wonderful shots for downloading. My only problem now is which pictures to post! I think I've got something like 150 shots or so of the city- plus the North Branch Trail, the Botanic Gardens, and a lot of lakefront shots. The deer shots, the duck shots, the totem pole and koffee's crib are definitely going up. I'll be looking through the rest of the shots carefully to see what else I can put up there.

Anyone else want to share their weekend ride(s)?

Koffee

I wish I had a digital camera to share the weekend with you all but here is a synopsis of my weekend rides.

Saturday-the forecast Friday was for rain so when I woke and saw sunlight peeking through my window I jumped on the trusty steed and rode to the town of Snohomish for a quick latte and muffin and then back again. that was a quick 20 miles.

Sunday- forecast was better so I did one of my favorite loops from Everett to Monroe along the river (which is really high we are in flood season) then cut up through the valley to Duval then came back through Highbridge and Elliott about 50 miles. Some wind but I even took off the tights and rode in shorts for the last half. Boy was it nice to get some sun and air on these skinny white legs. When I got back into Everett I really didn't want to go inside yet so I ran to the food co-op for my food and to the pet co-op for food and stuff for the cat (fleas yuck) then I took the long way home all told about 60 miles in ridding today. I even worked up a sweat. Now it is time to buckle down do my weekly baking and clean the darn apartment. Everybody have a great week. And again, thanx Koffee for the inspiration look forward to the pics

Wow I got to do both my hobbies today! I flew the model airplanes with one group of friends then mad a 20 mile bike ride before dark!:D Then had a wonderfull evening meal with my family, my neice and her two children. Life doesn't get any better than this!;)

Yep. It was wonderful. A quick 35 miles (if 16-19 mph can be termed quick) on the road on Saturday and then a couple of hours of loooonnnngggg hills in the mud of Brandywine State Park today. I bonked after about 2 hours today. But, was a glorious 65 so sat on the river bank in the sun and fed the ducks while the others did another hour. A wonderful start to the riding season. The easiest riding today was on the leftover ice in a few spots. Everything else was mushy, at best. Not at all like my trainer. Was a wonderful weekend.

Saturday - A beautiful ride through Numinbah Valley, culminating in the climb over Numinbah Gap, with sweeping views into NSW, descending into the Tweed Valley. Was on the way home when I met up with some friends going the other way in the John Hogan Rainforest. Turned back to Murwillumbah (the political, economic, social and cultural hub of the known universe), crossed the Condong "Range" to Kingscliff, before a pleasant ride home next to the Pacific accompanied by a beautiful sea breeze. Total distance - 177km. Edit - It was great to be able to ride across a couple of flooded creeks for the first time in over two years. Man I love that!

Sunday - Erm... not much really. just a simple 16km errand. First (and last) rest day since my illness a month ago.

Sat. a quick get aquanted with my road bike again 20 miler in this awesome weather.

Sun. 28 mile St. Patty ride with friends again in this awesome weather.

Thank god winter is over :)

Bill F.

D' ya really think it's over? Dang, this is Chicago!

Koffee

Originally posted by threadend
YYyyeesssSSS! We finally have it going on! Let the riding begin! :dancing snoopy:

Joe, the Forum needs a Smilie of Charlie Brown's Snoopy doing his dance of spring! :D

Well, the weatherman was calling for rain all weekend out here in the S.F. area, so I had pretty much written off the weekend as zero mileage and didn't bother to set the alarm. I woke up to sunshine, figured -- What the heck! -- and cruised to the regular meeting place by 8:50am, grabbed my free cuppa o' joe (Thanks, Peet's!) since I was wearing my team jersey, and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. About six other riders showed up and we set off around 9:10. The clouds came and went but we encountered only a brief drizzle for just a couple of minutes. After climbing the ridge, I briefly toyed with the idea of riding out the the coast but figured the weather was iffy and decided not to push my luck. Three of us finished together and I ended up with around 70 miles by the time I got back home.

Sunday it rained off and on in the AM and I got involved with chores around the house, so I only got one ride in over the weekend.

SteveE

I'll go ahead and post 10 pictures from my weekend rides.... if anyone wants to see more, I can always zip them and email them or send over msn messenger if they want....

Koffee

Lakefront bike path, headed north in front of Shedd Aquarium

Lakefront bike path- in front of Navy Pier

Koffee's crib- from the Lakefront Bike Path (black building on the right)

North Branch Bike Trail- headed to the Botanic Gardens

Entrance to Botanic Garden- end of North Branch Bike Trail.... lunch time!

Lakefront Bike Trail- southbound headed home

Lakefront Bike Trail- boat dock (one of many)

Lakefront Bike Trail- Southbound headed home

Lakefront Bike Trail- checkers/chess playing area

Art Institute- concrete jungle.... ;)

Couldn't resist- one more picture... our Picasso structure:

And finally, if anyone goes out on their rides, take pictures, start a new thread, and put the pictures of your hometown in there- I'm always interested to see where youall live and how things look out there in the world.

Thanks!

Koffee

Chicago is a beautiful city. I haven't had the opportunity to ride the lake front since I lived there 20 years ago. Thanks for the pictures.

RG-

Here's your chance- bring your bike early on Friday when you're at the bike show, and let's go for a quick ride on the lakefront before the show starts... just to McCormick Place and back. How about it?

Koffee

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
RG-

Here's your chance- bring your bike early on Friday when you're at the bike show, and let's go for a quick ride on the lakefront before the show starts... just to McCormick Place and back. How about it?

Koffee

Koffee:

Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid it will be impossible. I have too many other responsibilities that day and will be pushing it just to get to the show and get my booth set up in time. Thanks anyway.

Reg.

Wow, sounds like you will have a busy day Friday, Koffee! Save some time for me, too! If my boss's trial is over with tomorrow as he is expecting it to be, I get the day off Friday!

Cindy

Hey Coffee, thanks for the pics. I got out friday morning and did 20 miles in the north west part of Cincinnati and the temp was in the 60's already.. Saturday and Sunday was even nicer in the upper 70's, I had to get the bike out and ride.. Went to a bike trail near a river and rode for a couple of hours before going to work.. I will be up your way in July to visit my Aunt, If I can get away how about doing some riding with me along the lake front??

Thanks,
bob:beer: