Great Lakes - North Shore Century

Anyone planning on doing the North Shore Century on September 13th? I am, it is my first century! I'm pretty nervous!

What are the details? A century isn't that hard, if you can do 60 miles, you can do 100.

Its on 9/13. Starts in Evanston and goes to Kenosha, WI and back.

http://evanstonbikeclub.org/nsc/index.asp

I always kind of liked it but all of the stop lights and the crappy pavement along Sheridan...not to mention the way back from WI is always into a killer headwind....

...wait....where was I?

Yeah, I think I may pass, Sheridan (if it even get's near it) sucks horribly. I did a solo century up to Waukegan from the Loop, by way of the NBT & McClory, and Sheridan was the crappiest part of the whole route, besides, maybe, Waukegan itself.

That was three weeks ago, but I don't think they did anything to improve the pavement

Actually does anyone have the route info on this, I checked the website but couldn't find any?

Here is the route I could find from Map My Ride. I am thinking about trying it out sometime soon.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/chicago/733179022

Here is the route I could find from Map My Ride. I am thinking about trying it out sometime soon.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/chicago/733179022

Thanks for that,

Yeah, it looks like they've made some strategic Waukegan-avoidance routes. Good thing, because, I ended up in Waukegan last solo-century, and the place is a ghetto.

I would try that route, if you get tired you can turn around, or cross over to the end leg. Can you go for about 60-75 miles? What is your longest distance yet? I find that (before I started doing the long distances) that if you feel pretty good around the 60-75 mile mark, you can definitely do a century.

Also, most of the route is completely flat, so except for occasionally cruddy roads, it's an easy ride.

They have a pretty wide time-allotment, so even if you do it slow, you will still finish.

My longest ride has been 80 miles-Lake Shore twice. I drove Sheridan to check it out and I can't imagine riding on it the entire way, so many "no bike" signs. I live in Rogers Park, so I feel like I have to do my local century. I did notice Waukegan was not so nice, but then again, I live in Rogers Park, so I can't throw stones.

My longest ride has been 80 miles-

You should have no problem doing North Shore. It was my first century 2 years ago and I did it again last year. All true about what others said - bad roads in some spots , busy Sheridan from time to time etc... Very flat. Nothing special about rest stops.

I am not sure I will be doing it again this year, but I liked it those 2 times I did. There is some fun in going through mostly residential areas after riding all season long in cornfields of IL and WI.

This ride goes right by my house so if the weather is nice, I will do at least a 50 mile loop of it. Probably the north half from after the first rest stop, up to Kenosha and back down. Lousy roads, possible nasty headwind one of the directions, but it is the closest ride to my house.
Probably going to the Harmon 100 which was changed to Aug 30 as well.
Kenal0

Do you have proof of the required ownership of a $3,500,000 home on the Northshore, and comparatively priced bike (titanium, perhaps?) in the $5,000-$12,000 range? The Dom Perignon and caviar at the stops may sound like a good idea, but it's hell to ride with a bellyful of that stuff.:p

I have a picture of my Motobecane Ti bike :) and my kid has a friend who has one of those houses, otherwise I am coming up short on the basic requirements. There are some railroad tracks near Waukegan ave and I am on the wrong side.

Kenal0

My longest ride has been 80 miles-Lake Shore twice. I drove Sheridan to check it out and I can't imagine riding on it the entire way, so many "no bike" signs. I live in Rogers Park, so I feel like I have to do my local century. I did notice Waukegan was not so nice, but then again, I live in Rogers Park, so I can't throw stones.

I guess I'm one of the reasons for the no bike signs, since in the '70s I rode Sheridan from Rogers Park to Fort Sheridan, Lake Forest, or Lake Bluff and back at least once a week.

The road was not great back then, but having driven it last year, I can see why you guys don't want to be on it these days!