Great Lakes - 3rd Annual BFNIC Spring Classic (& Vintage)

Looks like rain.

unfortunately, yes, it does.

I'm watching the weather channel. We have a 20% chance it WON'T rain. w00t!

Correction, it is raining.

iab, thanks for organizing this ride! It was fun. I only did the first loop and it was a great route.

It didn't rain on the second loop. Maybe a sprinkle up near the north end in Wonder Lake, but that was it.

The roads were wet, so I think we missed the first go round of showers.

Great ride today. Thanks for putting it on, iab!

Oh yeah, did you check the course before? There was a road closed due to "bridge out" on Allendale(?), but we were able to walk across. That was the last time I caught up to the fast guys. Once back on Queen Anne, I was OTB and just pedaling along.

It didn't rain on the second loop. Maybe a sprinkle up near the north end in Wonder Lake, but that was it.

The roads were wet, so I think we missed the first go round of showers.

Great ride today. Thanks for putting it on, iab!

Oh yeah, did you check the course before? There was a road closed due to "bridge out" on Allendale(?), but we were able to walk across. That was the last time I caught up to the fast guys. Once back on Queen Anne, I was OTB and just pedaling along.

The "bridge out" deal was only on the fast group's cue sheet ;) Figured they'd just get airborne and fly right over. Disappointed to hear they just walked.

It was fast. I hurt.

^^^^ i second and third this nomination. ouch and where's my beers? later.

My knee is messed up bad. Sucks. Same thing that used to happen to me after centuries. I've been riding too much short distance stuff.

1st loop - we went out OK. I was the second guy to pull and when I came off someone at the front (shider?) hit the gas. There was a gap. I came around and tried to offer to bridge the guys up but I had no takers - so I went it alone.

Then it was us and the Flatlandia rider ( a retired cat1 we found out). He tore us to shreds. He'd drop us and then come back for more. twas insane. Even in the smaller tight fast group pwe were still shelling strong guys. I got shelled with shider :eek: once and they waited up. The I got shelled and TQ and Riccio came back for me and the other guys waited.

We finished the route with a 21.1 mph average. Even with that wind.

We headed out on to the second loop under threat of rain. We never actually got wet from rain though...just standing water on the roads which covered us in wheel spray. CC and shider put the screws to us for the whole second loop. Coming down The big hill in Bull Valley one could not help to think, "I'm going to have to climb back up that. Suck."

The wind wasn't as bad, but still hurt like hell on the way back. My knee was shot so entering back into Bull Valley I made it known that I was most likely going to pop. Bum knee...not a lot of long distance stuff, I was running a 39X25 as my smallest gear, etc. I figured I was screwed.

I sucked up the first hill. I held my own on the second (the big one) - I think I was even passing some people on it. By the third my knee had kind of gone numb. I followed CC up 50% of it then he slowed a touch. I came around him still with another gear left. Next thing I know I was passing shider too....then I upshifted. Shider called me a name. It was awesome.

From there in I was on my 12th wind. I took a couple of deadly pulls in the drops just hammering away. CC, shider and I were the only ones left on the front as we pulled in. aham, TQ and CyLowe were all close at the end as well.

Nice ride. I like doing it. Thanks for organizing it iab! Wish some of you guys would have stayed for the second loop. Never got a chance to talk to most of you. We'll have to do some Sunday spins in the coming weeks....

EDIT:Oh and with all the climbing we slowed to something like 18.7 on the second loop. :thumb:

Sounds like my kind of ride. I'm sorry I missed it.

<snippage>


Nice ride. I like doing it. Thanks for organizing it iab! Wish some of you guys would have stayed for the second loop. Never got a chance to talk to most of you. We'll have to do some Sunday spins in the coming weeks....

EDIT:Oh and with all the climbing we slowed to something like 18.7 on the second loop. :thumb:


great report.......felt like I was there (though glad I wasn't) Sounds like a sweet ride w/a good story, and I hope your knee is OK

My knee is messed up bad. Sucks. Same thing that used to happen to me after centuries. I've been riding too much short distance stuff.

1st loop - we went out OK. I was the second guy to pull and when I came off someone at the front (shider?) hit the gas. There was a gap. I came around and tried to offer to bridge the guys up but I had no takers - so I went it alone.

Then it was us and the Flatlandia rider ( a retired cat1 we found out). He tore us to shreds. He'd drop us and then come back for more. twas insane. Even in the smaller tight fast group pwe were still shelling strong guys. I got shelled with shider :eek: once and they waited up. The I got shelled and TQ and Riccio came back for me and the other guys waited.

We finished the route with a 21.1 mph average. Even with that wind.

We headed out on to the second loop under threat of rain. We never actually got wet from rain though...just standing water on the roads which covered us in wheel spray. CC and shider put the screws to us for the whole second loop. Coming down The big hill in Bull Valley one could not help to think, "I'm going to have to climb back up that. Suck."

The wind wasn't as bad, but still hurt like hell on the way back. My knee was shot so entering back into Bull Valley I made it known that I was most likely going to pop. Bum knee...not a lot of long distance stuff, I was running a 39X25 as my smallest gear, etc. I figured I was screwed.

I sucked up the first hill. I held my own on the second (the big one) - I think I was even passing some people on it. By the third my knee had kind of gone numb. I followed CC up 50% of it then he slowed a touch. I came around him still with another gear left. Next thing I know I was passing shider too....then I upshifted. Shider called me a name. It was awesome.

From there in I was on my 12th wind. I took a couple of deadly pulls in the drops just hammering away. CC, shider and I were the only ones left on the front as we pulled in. aham, TQ and CyLowe were all close at the end as well.

Nice ride. I like doing it. Thanks for organizing it iab! Wish some of you guys would have stayed for the second loop. Never got a chance to talk to most of you. We'll have to do some Sunday spins in the coming weeks....

EDIT:Oh and with all the climbing we slowed to something like 18.7 on the second loop. :thumb:

I remember your knee acting up at DD. I bet it will resolve pretty quickly.

Speaking of quick....you guys were flying today. Props to all of you riding soooo well this early. Holy Smokes!

We had a great time, but missed chatting with all of you. But seriously, even if we had gone out with you guys for the 2nd loop, we could have never kept up that blistering pace.

I'm feeling decent in spite of needing to get back into shape. Your recommendations were right on.....no hip pain, no hip pain, no hip pain....I just love repeating it. Gracias, again.

Let's do some of those Sunday spins.

My knee is messed up bad. Sucks. Same thing that used to happen to me after centuries. I've been riding too much short distance stuff.

1st loop - we went out OK. I was the second guy to pull and when I came off someone at the front (shider?) hit the gas. There was a gap. I came around and tried to offer to bridge the guys up but I had no takers - so I went it alone.

Then it was us and the Flatlandia rider ( a retired cat1 we found out). He tore us to shreds. He'd drop us and then come back for more. twas insane. Even in the smaller tight fast group pwe were still shelling strong guys. I got shelled with shider :eek: once and they waited up. The I got shelled and TQ and Riccio came back for me and the other guys waited.

We finished the route with a 21.1 mph average. Even with that wind.

We headed out on to the second loop under threat of rain. We never actually got wet from rain though...just standing water on the roads which covered us in wheel spray. CC and shider put the screws to us for the whole second loop. Coming down The big hill in Bull Valley one could not help to think, "I'm going to have to climb back up that. Suck."

The wind wasn't as bad, but still hurt like hell on the way back. My knee was shot so entering back into Bull Valley I made it known that I was most likely going to pop. Bum knee...not a lot of long distance stuff, I was running a 39X25 as my smallest gear, etc. I figured I was screwed.

I sucked up the first hill. I held my own on the second (the big one) - I think I was even passing some people on it. By the third my knee had kind of gone numb. I followed CC up 50% of it then he slowed a touch. I came around him still with another gear left. Next thing I know I was passing shider too....then I upshifted. Shider called me a name. It was awesome.

From there in I was on my 12th wind. I took a couple of deadly pulls in the drops just hammering away. CC, shider and I were the only ones left on the front as we pulled in. aham, TQ and CyLowe were all close at the end as well.

Nice ride. I like doing it. Thanks for organizing it iab! Wish some of you guys would have stayed for the second loop. Never got a chance to talk to most of you. We'll have to do some Sunday spins in the coming weeks....

EDIT:Oh and with all the climbing we slowed to something like 18.7 on the second loop. :thumb:

dood, i told you as you past me, "We already crested!!!!!!"

open up your ears.

;)

later.

Nice! Sounds like it was a great ride. And 21mph avg in those hills sounds like suicide tempo. Nuts and I'm green with envy.

21 MPH average!?! :eek:

What happened to the "slow and social" ride? :lol:

Ow. Those two biggins on the return of the second loop were quite something. I had already been disconnected from the group by the time I hit the descent of it, which was startling since I didn't know the area. My nasty old Schwinn was not responding well to use of my biggest cog or two, so I was using 40/23 or 21 on that giant bike. It was very, very hard. I did not walk, but sometimes I walk just as fast as I was riding at that point.

The route overall was good. I was impressed with the grades on some of those climbs, I didn't know we had anything that intense around here. I took the detour for the bridge-out, as it sounded like a severe condition. I was OTB immediately on the second loop, which was way more pleasant for me than trying to clutch on. I only got lost a little bit.

I think the horrible road condition lent some difficulty to climbing those hills too, what kind of a gradient are they Garmin people? It's our Koppenberg.

21 MPH average!?! :eek:

What happened to the "slow and social" ride? :lol:

That would be our B group :thumb: We started out of the parking lot with the usual BFNIC 20+mph warmup. I'm not surprised anymore, I just expect it. I kept up for a little while, but with that wind and less than 300 commuting miles this year, I had no hope of keeping up with the big dogs. voldemort and I lost sight of the soul crushers within 6 miles, and since none of of us could find where we were on the map we waited for iab and the rest to lead the way. Good thing too, because I was about to go the wrong way. It was a little tough heading into the wind, but I rediscovered how much fun it was to ride in a group and chat a little without my lungs feeling like they're about to explode. B group finished with a 17.1 avg. All in all, a great ride. Thanks to iab for putting it together!

I debated staying for the 2nd loop but 2 things…first, did not want to be stuck in a thunder storm and second, I play on a men’s soccer team Sunday mornings. After the first loop, I wanted some legs left for the game. I did regret not doing the 2nd loop as I was driving home....but on the bright side, I was able to shoot past her high school and catch the second half of my daughter’s soccer game.
I was dropped at about mile 11 (I think). My downfall came when we all had to wait to cross a major road (not sure which) and once we got started, my damn shorts hooked onto the nose of the saddle not allowing me to get seated right and clipped in. My apologies to all the guys behind me since this caused a gap just as the guys in front were accelerating. I was passed by two guys as I struggled to get seated and clipped. I jumped on one wheel as the two rode side-by-side. The gap that I created was quickly growing as it became obvious that the guys up front just put the hammer down. I figured if I did not bridge now, I would never catch on so into the wind I went and it took what felt like 2 minutes to close the gap. I’m not sure if anyone tried to bridge with me or not but when I finally looked back; I was the only one that bridged. That effort was my max HR for the entire ride and I was hanging on by a thread. Within a minute, another acceleration came and spit me out the back along with another rider. After a short time of telling myself to press harder, I realized that it was the guys up front doing that and not me. I did see two other rides get dropped but could not bridge to them either. From that that point forward the two of us got together and worked for another 10 miles until we pickup a third rider. Ok, he picked us up…We were on a slight downhill with the wind behind us and this guy comes flying past us like we were out for a Sunday church ride! I figured he was not with our group but he slowed and joined us. The three of us stayed together until about 2 miles from the parking lot when the youngster pressed hard for the finish leaving the two old guys behind. It was a good ride.

Edit: I just finished this post when an e-mail came in canceling my soccer game. Damn, I should have rode the 2nd loop!!!!!!

I was OTB immediately on the second loop, which was way more pleasant for me than trying to clutch on. I only got lost a little bit.
I was OTB right after we crossed 176 going north. In a way it was better because I wasn't getting road water sprayed in my face. The bridge out let me catch up one last time and once we were heading south on Queen Anne, I just kind of let off the pedals. The road was so cruddy that I was a bit more comfortable going slower and being able to see all the bumps and holes dotting the landscape.



I think the horrible road condition lent some difficulty to climbing those hills too, what kind of a gradient are they Garmin people? It's our Koppenberg.

Well stated.

Thanks everyone for coming out, to paraphrase George Costanza, the wind was angry that day my friends. - Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. But it was warm, especially compared to last year.

I did see the front for a very short while, and won :rolleyes: the townline sprint. But then as quick I was to lead, I was OTB, talking with SmokinMiles and then fighting the wind after we crossed 47. North out of Union was awesome, B group riding at an A group pace and a complete lack of wind noise.

I love the new bike and I can't imagine how far back I would have been without it ;). I really do like those thumb shifters over Shimano, although I think the DA I had shifted better under load than the Centaur. But it is still early, we will see.

CyLowe, post your pictures. I think you were the only person with a camera.

That would be our B group :thumb: We started out of the parking lot with the usual BFNIC 20+mph warmup. I'm not surprised anymore, I just expect it. I kept up for a little while, but with that wind and less than 300 commuting miles this year, I had no hope of keeping up with the big dogs. voldemort and I lost sight of the soul crushers within 6 miles, and since none of of us could find where we were on the map we waited for iab and the rest to lead the way. Good thing too, because I was about to go the wrong way. It was a little tough heading into the wind, but I rediscovered how much fun it was to ride in a group and chat a little without my lungs feeling like they're about to explode. B group finished with a 17.1 avg. All in all, a great ride. Thanks to iab for putting it together!

I was thinking that someone should report on the B group to let you all know that there was a large group of us and all of you who consider yourself slower could have hung with us. We had a great time! We stopped at the Quik Mart and chatted....nice, nice morning. We regrouped and waited for folks if we got separated. Come and feel the love from the B's !!!

I was thinking that someone should report on the B group to let you all know that there was a large group of us and all of you who consider yourself slower could have hung with us. We had a great time! We stopped at the Quik Mart and chatted....nice, nice morning. We regrouped and waited for folks if we got separated. Come and feel the love from the B's !!!

Thanks for that Miles. There's hope for me yet! :thumb:

Nice ride iab. We had a really good time. Going for a recovery ride shortly. :)

Here are my numbers (may not be highly accurate as I had the wrong head unit).

Loop 1

Data Value Unit
Duration 1:26:30
Sampling Rate 5 s
Cycling Efficiency 26.5 %

Energy Expenditure 942 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 12641 beats
Recovery -51 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 62 bpm
Average Heart Rate 146 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 170 bpm
Standard Deviation 19.3 bpm

Minimum Speed 2.6 mph
Average Speed 20.7 mph
Maximum Speed 32.6 mph
Distance 29.8 miles
Odometer 149 miles

Minimum Cadence 30 rpm
Average Cadence 87 rpm
Maximum Cadence 107 rpm
Coasting Time 0:12:00 (13.9 %)
Coasting Distance 3.5 miles (11.6 %)

Minimum Altitude 735 ft
Average Altitude 791 ft
Maximum Altitude 863 ft
Ascent 240 ft
Descent 82 ft
VAM 166 ft/h

Minimum Power 1 Watts
Average Power 242 Watts
Average Power (0 W incl.) 204 Watts
Maximum Power 785 Watts
Pedaling Index Average 22 %
Pedaling Index Maximum 78 %
Left Right Balance Average L52 - 48R Left - Right
Left Right Balance Maximum L86 - 14R Left - Right


Loop 2

Data Value Unit
Duration 1:59:05
Sampling Rate 5 s
Cycling Efficiency 24.2 %

Energy Expenditure 1304 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 17517 beats
Recovery -42 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 92 bpm
Average Heart Rate 147 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 172 bpm
Standard Deviation 12.6 bpm

Minimum Speed 1.2 mph
Average Speed 18.4 mph
Maximum Speed 48.7 mph
Distance 36.5 miles
Odometer 185 miles

Minimum Cadence 30 rpm
Average Cadence 85 rpm
Maximum Cadence 114 rpm
Coasting Time 0:24:20 (20.4 %)
Coasting Distance 7.3 miles (20.1 %)

Minimum Altitude 686 ft
Average Altitude 778 ft
Maximum Altitude 863 ft
Ascent 1161 ft
Descent 686 ft
VAM 585 ft/h

Minimum Power 5 Watts
Average Power 234 Watts
Average Power (0 W incl.) 182 Watts
Maximum Power 637 Watts
Pedaling Index Average 21 %
Pedaling Index Maximum 61 %
Left Right Balance Average L51 - 49R Left - Right
Left Right Balance Maximum L78 - 22R Left - Right


The first leg was fine till Mr. Finlandia decided to get medieval on our arses.... We were cruising along into a heavy headwind as Psi drops back from a solid pull (about 22-23 mph) ... then Mr. Finlandia nails it. I knew the second he punched it Psi was done for and smiled a little ... then as I stuggled to keep up my smile quickly faided. We are now cooking along about 27mph and 335 watts ... yikes ... and this guy is smoking some kind of heroic pull. Thank goodness we hit a stop sign cause I was gonna pop soon even sitting in. Timmy was number 2 and he also said he was about done. lol.

The second loop was mostly more sane until the hills and we let it go. I did fine after sharing major pulls with shider and handled the first two hills. The third hill I knew I was in trouble as the gas tank hit empty. Soon to be confirmed as Psi sped by ... where he apparently gained his third wind.

Really a nice ride and I'm looking forward to CyLowe's ride.

CyLowe, post your pictures. I think you were the only person with a camera.

There are only a few. The batteries crapped out before we even left the lot.

The ride host.... iab
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6083.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6084.jpg

voldemort and SmokinMiles
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6086.jpg

Thor Hushovd's Uncle ColorChange - From what we understand, this jersey was too small for Thor, so he asked if CC wanted it.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6092.jpg

shider
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6093.jpg

laryanshabaz
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6088.jpg

aham23 - "This is how big my tummy used to be before the BFNIC."
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/cylowe97/2009%20BFNIC%20Spring%20Classic/DSCN6087.jpg

That's it. If you wanted pictures, you shoulda brought your own camera and batteries.

that was a great ride. i tried to hang with the lead group but a gap formed and i couldnt close it.
i was great riding with every one.

went and rode 4 mile on the ss mountain bike afterward.

looking forward to the next ride
take care

Sounds like it was a great ride. Looking forward to 5/30 in Cross Plains, WI.

Sounds like it was a great ride. Looking forward to 5/30 in Cross Plains, WI.

New thread coming on that soon..... :D

That's it. If you wanted pictures, you shoulda brought your own camera and batteries.

Thanks for the pics, Cylowe!

Aside from laryanshabaz's Schwinn, I didn't see any other "classic" steeds. Lots of impressive bling though. :D Appears that folks were certainly geared up for the opening sprints. :lol: I can't knock Iab with showing up with his new Cinelli though. It's purrrrrty.

Those of us that were slow...were social.:p