Hipcycler

If only I had "Mr. Bike Forums Ride Organizer" 55/Rad working for me now....

Geez, striking out on finding someone to draft with on Saturday. Forecast looks rock solid and my wife and I are heading out to the countryside and the lake house for the weekend. I plan to take the Klein along to get about a 35-mile ride through the rolling hills in.

All this talk about group rides I've been reading about here lately has me thinking about drafting through some of those windy, open farmer's field sections of road.

Lets see....the owner of my LBS and good friend Jerry of course can't come along because he's working at the shop Saturday. The guy at work who rides, Mark, has a family deal to attend in Chicago. My other good riding partner and coach Jeff has his out-of-town in-laws coming for a visit so he's out too.

My producer Greg does some riding, but his machine is in the shop.

Looks like it'll be just me and the Klein Saturday....

matanza

At least family problems can't come up last minute for the Klein. ;-)

55/Rad

My gawd, you callin' for me at 5:36 in the morning? Ok, it's 5:47 now and I can hardly see the keyboard.

What's this, you complaining because you get to ride? Huh? Where's my coffee?

Let's see, what's my pity story this weekend - oh yeah, the in-laws are coming Friday night for the weekend and my wife's birthday party is Saturday, so I have to entertain them, clean house and coordinate the party. Both boys have ballgames on Saturday (one has a doubleheader) and my wife is working all day Sunday, leaving me with the in-laws and the boys. At best, I'll get an hour on the bike early in mornings. Worst part of this sob story is that every weekend from now until June 19 is filled up with similar stories of out of town baseball tournaments, scout camps, and work related stuff. I'm thinking of getting back on Lexapro.

You called - I hope I cheered you up.

55/Rad

baj32161

You called - I hope I cheered you up

LMAO!!!

Rad, you kill me!!!

Hipcycler

OK Rad....you've got me beat!
I'm going to quietly pack my bag for the weekend now....

I know what you mean about that calendar stuff though. I was informed that tonight the calendar comes out for the summer planner. There's the old car show, the strawberry festival, the pier's gotta go in, two yards to mulch...that pretty much gets us to the 4th of July weekend already.

Guess I shouldn't bum about being able to have a Saturday morning available to ride all by myself!

Pfoot

Hip, look for a local club; see if they do group rides.

Here's an idea that will keep you going: Make an appointment with your wife at the turnaround point of your ride. In other words, if you want to ride 35 miles, plan to meet her for lunch or brunch of breakfast or a walk or something at ~ mile 17.5. Then, you've GOT to ride there on time and you've GOT to ride back in order to get home. And, the monotony will be split up by seeing the wife!

It sounds like a beautiful ride, by the way.

Have a great time!

55/Rad

Last summer, we had similar scheduling issues and I got frustrated because I couldn't get the group and event rides in. Then, I started riding to the ballgames and other family events we had planned. Some were 50-75 miles away. This helped tremendously.

55/Rad

Hipcycler

Hmmm...not a bad idea. Actually, there is a little bike shop in the middle of nowhere that's about six miles from the end of the route. They serve fresh deli stuff there too, with some picnic benches outside. I could meet her there, but it would be toward the end of the ride.

Also, what the heck, I'll take a digital camera along and take a few pix to post here when I get back into town. No phone, no computer, no electronics at the lake house...very Gilligan's Island-like.

Hipcycler

....this just keeps getting better....why not make use of that nice new DOUBLE bike rack for my truck? Take the wife's Bianchi along too....and she rides to the bike shop to meet me on the way back from my longer ride, then we ride the final six miles home together.

See...a plan has come into place thanks to Rad and Pfoot....I knew BF would come through for me once again!

jsharr

Bike shop / Deli, that is pure genius. Only better pairing would be bike shop / micro brewery. Salesman having a hard time closing you on the all new EuroTrash Blingmaster 5000, all he has to do is walk you across the stores for a few pints of "Ol' Persuader" their newest brew, and the deal is done.

As to the scheduling stuff, my wife and boys keep me so busy that I ride at night. Hope you have a good weekend and enjoy your ride.

Hipcycler

Bike shop / Deli, that is pure genius.

It really is.
Fresh pasta salads, soups, sandwiches and ice cream....full coolers of Sobe stuff to drink...accessories in the middle part of the store and a repair shop/rentals in the back area. Nice little place.

They have a web site:
https://www.backyardbikes.com/

And here's a map of where I'll be:
https://www.backyardbikes.com/Images/...0MileRoute.gif

AND LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND ON THEIR WEB SITE!
Starting spring of 2005
Saturday morning group ride
We will leave from the LaGrange General store at 8:30am for a 30-40 mile rode ride. Great built up rides for early season centurys.

Now....two questions:

1. Do I want to be up that early? I usually like to let it warm up and go out mi-day-ish.

2. After reading all these horror stories about group rides on BF this week, I picture me getting there cold and tired, then getting dropped by a bunch of speed demons! On the other hand, maybe I meet some great people and hook up with a couple of them at about my level to ride with.

Pfoot

All my ideas are playing out!

Why don't you just call the group ride leader and ask their advice? If they are hard core, they'll let you know. If they are low-key, they'll probably say they'd never drop somone.

I think most group rides look more intimidating than they are. Once I'm riding next to someone, they're usually a whole lot more hospitable than they seemed from outside the group. Especially, I bet, the further you get from cities (where us uptight people congregate).

Pfoot

Questions about riding (distance, speed, climbing, hammering, etc.) are one thing. Questions about waking up in time for an 8:30am ride are veering into wussiness! DO IT!

Hipcycler

You're right.
I e-mailed them to see how hard core. I may still do this with them.

fore0121

8:30 is early********** All my rides start at sun up. That's 5:45am on the bike this time of the year. Work days I'm able to be back by 7:15am to catch the last train to the office, weekends I ride longer and am still back by 9 when the family is getting up for breakfast.

Suck it up! Go for the group ride!
f

jsharr

I say do it, have the wife meet you there for deli after the ride. Then you have the rest of the day to do wife related stuff and not feel guilty for neglecting the bike.

Hipcycler

That's exactly right. I have windows to clean and grass to cut.
Looks like it will be a big pasta dinner Saturday night after all that!

I'll post some pix from the ride for you guys on Monday.
......

Here is the e-mail response they sent me:

Phil
Yes there will be a road bike ride this Saturday at 8:30am. I believe the
pace is around 17-18 miles per hour. The group is trying to keep a moderate
pace.
Mike

Sounds serious.

Pfoot

That's code for "you'll be fine and we promise not to drop you."

I guarantee you'll ride faster in a group ride than you do on your own.

I think that if their pace is 17-18, their avg will be less. Trust me that you'll be fine.

Have a great time!