Scummer
08-04-07, 07:17 PM
So here is my ride report from the Tri-State-Tour from Hammond, IN to Kanosha, WI.
I had set my alarm to roll out of bed at 4:40am so I could walk the dog and stuff my camel back with my now ice cool 2l water bag. But as always things quite don't pan out the way you plan them so I actually exited the door and swung my fresh butt and legs onto my bike at around 5:50am. Ride start was announced at 6:30am. My estimated time to get there from my house was an easy going 30 min for about 9.5 miles of riding distance. Good time to get my legs ready and warm for the other 85 miles which were waiting at the starting point.
So I arrived at the starting point, which I believed was simply Wolf Lake parking space but to my surprise couldn't find anyone there. Another person was also wondering why no one but him and me showed up. In all this confusion we just started chatting and introducing each other and then we decided to take a little scouting tour around the lake where then we actually did find the group of riders and shortly after with cue sheet and maps in hand we were on the road. I decided to group up with Rich, who was the other lost person at the Wolf Lake parking and maybe about 1/2 mile into the event a couple with a tandem had their first flat. Talking about bad luck right there. At the finish we found out the never made it to the destination as they encountered 2 more flats along the way and gave up at that point :o
So me and Rich were riding along and chatting about all kinds of different stuff, turns out he is a university professor who teaches human anatomy. Cool company :)
After we just hit the bike path on Lake Shore Drive we encounter a Gatorade stand right in the middle of the path and we stop there because we thought it was one of our rest stops for the tour. Turns out it was for a Triathlon begin held and they thought we were tri-athletes riding the biking part of the event :D After that was cleared up we continued riding and actually hit our real first rest stop. Took in some food, power bars and water of course and continued on our way. For some reason we missed the 2nd reststop, but no problem we had enough water and food and we just continued along the Lake Shore. Shortly after we left the Lake Shore to hit the streets of north Chicago Rich got a flat and he told me to continue on my way. So I take off but after a few hundred yards I turn around, as riding alone is no fun, and I decide to help him fix his flat, which I should have done in the first place. Shame on me. Swapped out the inner tube quickly and back on the road we went. 3rd rest stop fueled again and missed the 4th rest stop again and that was the lunch stop. D'oh. But riding in the fast lane does that to you. So 5th stop me and Rich are the first ones there since we passed all the riders at the lunch stop :D
Again, loaded on fuel, continued riding and found a bigger group who had left the 5th stop a little earlier than us. So we were a pack of about 10 riders. I took a pull once in a while but mostly hung around in the middle since we weren't really going very fast at that point and took it somewhat easy.
Now we ride through Waukegan (bad neighborhood as my wife explains to me later) and there is some kind of festival happening as we pass it and while our pack is just starting to tackle a right turn sweep a dude in his explorer backs out of his parking space without even looking. The front of the pack tried to dodge the car as do I and I come so close to it that with my flat hand I smacked his rear side window so he would finally notice that there are bicyclists on the street which he is about to run over. I throw some additional f-bombs into his open window and go on my way.
From that point on other riders have told me after the ordeal was over, that the driver was getting out of his car to actually attack the part of the pack which hasn't passed yet, but in his rush forgot to take the car out of gear and it continued to roll backwards and seems like it was clamping his foot down as it was rolling back. I guess after the car released his foot by probably rolling over it he tries to jump back into his car to stop it, but it was too late. BAMMM.. metal on metal. I hear the noise as the Explorer plows into another parked Explorer causing some considerably amount of damage. I immediately slow down and look back and are about to turn around to ride in for support as at that moment I didn't know what was going on and my only thought was "Oh my god, he ran over a bicycle". But right at the same second I hear yelling and screaming from the pack which by now had passed the Explorer "to get the f outta here and haul ass" away from that mess just in case he might be packing a gun or starting to follow us in his Explorer to run us all down.
So we step up the speed and we are flying down the street but no one is coming. Wheew.
Later on the other riders told me there were 3 cop cars parked right there who saw the whole ordeal so he might get a nice fat ticket and a broken foot :D Karma is a ***** sometimes.
After that excitement it was another steady roll into the finish and a ride home in my wifes minivan.
Moral from that story: Some guys are so f'ed up in their head you just don't know what to expect sometimes.
Riding time 6:02:55 from start to finish plus an additional 30 minutes to get from home to start
Trip length 93.8 miles as we missed some turns which added a few extra miles to our ride plus 9.3 miles from my home to start, so I actually did a century today.
Avg speed: 15.4mph Not too fast, but it was my first century, so I took it easy
Thomas
I had set my alarm to roll out of bed at 4:40am so I could walk the dog and stuff my camel back with my now ice cool 2l water bag. But as always things quite don't pan out the way you plan them so I actually exited the door and swung my fresh butt and legs onto my bike at around 5:50am. Ride start was announced at 6:30am. My estimated time to get there from my house was an easy going 30 min for about 9.5 miles of riding distance. Good time to get my legs ready and warm for the other 85 miles which were waiting at the starting point.
So I arrived at the starting point, which I believed was simply Wolf Lake parking space but to my surprise couldn't find anyone there. Another person was also wondering why no one but him and me showed up. In all this confusion we just started chatting and introducing each other and then we decided to take a little scouting tour around the lake where then we actually did find the group of riders and shortly after with cue sheet and maps in hand we were on the road. I decided to group up with Rich, who was the other lost person at the Wolf Lake parking and maybe about 1/2 mile into the event a couple with a tandem had their first flat. Talking about bad luck right there. At the finish we found out the never made it to the destination as they encountered 2 more flats along the way and gave up at that point :o
So me and Rich were riding along and chatting about all kinds of different stuff, turns out he is a university professor who teaches human anatomy. Cool company :)
After we just hit the bike path on Lake Shore Drive we encounter a Gatorade stand right in the middle of the path and we stop there because we thought it was one of our rest stops for the tour. Turns out it was for a Triathlon begin held and they thought we were tri-athletes riding the biking part of the event :D After that was cleared up we continued riding and actually hit our real first rest stop. Took in some food, power bars and water of course and continued on our way. For some reason we missed the 2nd reststop, but no problem we had enough water and food and we just continued along the Lake Shore. Shortly after we left the Lake Shore to hit the streets of north Chicago Rich got a flat and he told me to continue on my way. So I take off but after a few hundred yards I turn around, as riding alone is no fun, and I decide to help him fix his flat, which I should have done in the first place. Shame on me. Swapped out the inner tube quickly and back on the road we went. 3rd rest stop fueled again and missed the 4th rest stop again and that was the lunch stop. D'oh. But riding in the fast lane does that to you. So 5th stop me and Rich are the first ones there since we passed all the riders at the lunch stop :D
Again, loaded on fuel, continued riding and found a bigger group who had left the 5th stop a little earlier than us. So we were a pack of about 10 riders. I took a pull once in a while but mostly hung around in the middle since we weren't really going very fast at that point and took it somewhat easy.
Now we ride through Waukegan (bad neighborhood as my wife explains to me later) and there is some kind of festival happening as we pass it and while our pack is just starting to tackle a right turn sweep a dude in his explorer backs out of his parking space without even looking. The front of the pack tried to dodge the car as do I and I come so close to it that with my flat hand I smacked his rear side window so he would finally notice that there are bicyclists on the street which he is about to run over. I throw some additional f-bombs into his open window and go on my way.
From that point on other riders have told me after the ordeal was over, that the driver was getting out of his car to actually attack the part of the pack which hasn't passed yet, but in his rush forgot to take the car out of gear and it continued to roll backwards and seems like it was clamping his foot down as it was rolling back. I guess after the car released his foot by probably rolling over it he tries to jump back into his car to stop it, but it was too late. BAMMM.. metal on metal. I hear the noise as the Explorer plows into another parked Explorer causing some considerably amount of damage. I immediately slow down and look back and are about to turn around to ride in for support as at that moment I didn't know what was going on and my only thought was "Oh my god, he ran over a bicycle". But right at the same second I hear yelling and screaming from the pack which by now had passed the Explorer "to get the f outta here and haul ass" away from that mess just in case he might be packing a gun or starting to follow us in his Explorer to run us all down.
So we step up the speed and we are flying down the street but no one is coming. Wheew.
Later on the other riders told me there were 3 cop cars parked right there who saw the whole ordeal so he might get a nice fat ticket and a broken foot :D Karma is a ***** sometimes.
After that excitement it was another steady roll into the finish and a ride home in my wifes minivan.
Moral from that story: Some guys are so f'ed up in their head you just don't know what to expect sometimes.
Riding time 6:02:55 from start to finish plus an additional 30 minutes to get from home to start
Trip length 93.8 miles as we missed some turns which added a few extra miles to our ride plus 9.3 miles from my home to start, so I actually did a century today.
Avg speed: 15.4mph Not too fast, but it was my first century, so I took it easy
Thomas