When I did the Frozen Snot Century, the directions couldn't have been much simpler: lakefront path to Sheridan Road to Rt. 32. In Kenosha, get off 32 at 91st and take 7th up through town, then just north of downtown ride through Lake View Park. In Racine, get off 32 at 24th then head east then north on Main through downtown and for a nice diversion take 3 Mile to Lighthouse (Wind Point) to 4 Mile to Charles to 4 1/2 Mile to Middle to 6 Mile back to 32. South of Milwaukee, take Ryan east to 5th north which turns in to S. Lake and then 32 later on. You won't get lost if you stay on or east of 32. Below is some not all of the write up I did on the FSC which may provide some additional routing help.

Frozen Snot Century 2006

The Third Annual Frozen Snot Century took place on Friday February 24, 2006 through Sunday February 26, 2006. On Friday, a group of 26 riders left Chicago, rode to Milwaukee, returned on Saturday with 12 riders from Milwaukee, who rode back to Milwaukee on Sunday. This is my account of the ride.

Thursday night I did not sleep well. I fell asleep fine, only to wake up 3 hours later and was unable to fall back asleep. Not a good start. My original plan to ride in to the city from Oak Park with some commuters didn’t work out because they were all not commuting that day at 6am for various reasons. Instead I opted for Plan B and took the CTA Green Line el train from near my house to about two miles to the starting point, being the Hollywood restaurant at Ashland and North in Chicago, where I arrived at about 6:20am. Riders gathered and we ate and loaded up on coffee.

The group left the Hollywood around 7:30am and headed east on North avenue to the lakefront path, taking it north all the way to the end. In Evanston we followed the bike route signs which took us to Sheridan Road. Our first planned stop was at Sherman and Lake in Evanston where a press conference was being held to bring attention to the recent hit and run involving a Northwestern University student riding her bike to school and a Hummer. (1) My friend and coworker Jon joined us there, arriving earlier than us and found himself on the local Fox coverage of the event. (2) We started riding again shortly after 9am, with packs of riders forming and some riding solo. We were pushed by an increasing southeast wind.

Before the ride I asked what the route was and if cue sheets were available. The answer was “the route is Sheridan Road to Route 32”. Short and simple. No cue sheets necessary. To satisfy my own curiosity of always wanting to know where I’m at and where I’m going, I printed off maps of the route from Mapquest. The “Sheridan Road to Route 32” route served as a good base line for me. In Kenosha, Racine, and on the return home through South Milwaukee, I strayed east of 32 riding on more scenic less traveled roads close to the lake. Somewhere on the way I see a sign that explained why it is named Route 32. While I don’t stop to read the sign, I remember a reference to “The 32nd Division”. This site explains it: http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/indepth/red_arrow.html

Sheridan Road through Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, and up to Highland Park is a nice enough ride. Nice streets, nice houses, usually nice BMWs and Range Rovers. Before Glencoe there is a winding hilly stretch that is marked “No Bicycles Allowed” on either end. The signs go unheeded and we ride on. Sheldon Brown makes mention of this route aberration in a journal entry from October 11, 1999. (3) At Fort Sheridan starts the North Shore Path that takes us to North Chicago. It starts as an enlarged sidewalk and then crosses over Sheridan and becomes a full fledged path which parallels the Metra North Line through Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. The path turns back into an enlarged sidewalk at North Chicago and connects back to Sheridan Road, now Route 137, just north of Abbott Labs.

South of Kenosha I end up riding with Jim Freeman who is riding his recumbent. Instead of staying on Rt. 32, we veer into downtown and find our way to the park on the lake that’s just north of downtown for a break. By now the wind is a steady 25mph. So while the temps are moderate and the sun feels warm, the winds coming off the lake are keeping us plenty cool. We head out and find a new bike path that takes us past Carthage College. Back on 32, we put up our sails and sail up to Racine. Racine is a repeat of Kenosha; we head through downtown on city streets east of 32. In Racine we ride past the SC Johnson Wax building (4) and I think to myself “haven’t I seen that in a book on architecture before”. Downtown Racine looks to have vibrant shopping district, with some marinas nearby. I lose Jim, or he loses me, and I’m solo as I ride to Wind Point. The streets are mellow, the wind isn’t. I love the help; many times I think that I barely have to push the pedals. I tell myself I could ride to Sheboygan today if I had to. Between Wind Point and 32 I end up on a dead end, I see Jim, lose him again, and have to walk through someone’s backyard whose two small dogs were not glad to see me. 32 is not overly busy, the shoulder is decent, and the speed limit is 45mph. There’s no need to stop for lunch, I had a good breakfast and a couple of bars. South of Milwaukee 32 veers east to South Lake Drive through Cudahy and St. Francis. South Lake Drive was a smooth, low traffic, long stretch of riding bliss with only a stop or two. Oh yeah, and I’m still highly wind aided. 32 is Kinnickinnic Avenue in Milwaukee, which I ride on for a few miles before reaching the designated end of ride gathering spot known as the Cafe Lulu at Kinnickinnic and Lincoln.

The time is 2:45pm and I’m the first to arrive. My computer says 99.2 miles. I order coffee and eat – by now I’m pretty hungry. Fifteen minutes after I arrive I see a group of riders but they don’t stop. I’m not sure where they went. Others start showing up, including Jordan Bettis on his Schwinn 3-speed Racer, Jon on his Novara Strada, Jim on his ‘bent. When everybody has arrived, I look outside to see the pleasant sight of every rack and pole filled with bikes. I call my friend Dick, my host for the night. He shows up at 4:30, we catch up with each other, and enjoy some of Wisconsin’s finest. Jon and I take off in a group with four others, ride through downtown up to Riverside Park and the start of the Critical Mass ride. We arrive at 6:15pm and there are no CM riders in sight. We’re too late. The others head back to Cafe Lulu - Jon and I say our goodbyes and ride the final mile of the day to my friend Dick’s house. Dick’s place is what the doctor ordered - some food, a shower, and some more of Wisconsin’s finest. Jon talks to his girlfriend, she convinces him that she should drive up and take him home rather than him riding home tomorrow. I try to shame him into not allowing him to be caught up in such a terrible scheme. I call him names and badger him, all to no avail. All this I do jokingly – he’s ridden the most he’s ever ridden in one day and did well. Jon’s girlfriend shows up before 10pm and off he goes. I hit the hay shortly after that, and fall asleep almost instantly.

Day Two - Another day of Tailwinds – YES!

The forecast said the winds would shift to the northwest in conjunction with the arrival of a cold front, and they did. Though not as strong as Friday, the wind at our back for the second day of our trip seemed too good to be true. The planned departure point is Stone Creek Coffee Roasters located across the street from Cafe Lulu and I arrive at 8:10am. The place is full of riders, including the dozen riders from Milwaukee that will be riding with us back to Chicago. After about ten minutes, I’m anxious to take off and do so with Tim. We start out with a moderate pace, reveling in the miraculous fact that the wind is behind us. We retrace yesterday’s route until College avenue where we continue south on South Lake Drive to Mill Road, to 5th Avenue all the way to Ryan Road where we jog over to 32. This was a great start to the day, and I’d recommend this route to future FSC riders.

At Four Mile Road in Racine Tim and I decide to head east to Wind Point. We stopped at the golf course just south of the lighthouse for a break. The wind was blowing the tops of the waves resulting in white tops and lots of spray. We pass through downtown Racine on Main Street; ride some city streets by the lake as far as we can until we are forced to get back on 32 where we meet up with a pack of riders. I lead out a group of some faster riders and we make good time in reaching Kenosha. At Kenosha a Milwaukee rider, Evershed, catches me and we ride together all the way to Highland Park. We have a good conversation. He’s from St. Paul Minnesota and is a junior at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee majoring in History. One of his papers he’s written lately is on Major Taylor (4). In the past year he’s gotten into cycling, and now works at a bike shop in Milwaukee. His ride was a single speed Bianchi. It was apparent he hadn’t done much distance riding, as he kept saying how sore his butt was. And it didn't help that his seatpost was stuck and he couldn’t lower his seat. He was a strong rider though, and we rode at a steady clip together until we reached downtown Highland Park.

In Highland Park is where things got more funner. Evershed and I met up with three riders from Milwaukee, all of whom were strong riders. One was riding a single speed, and I found out he was planning to ride in the Tour Da Chicago (7) race Sunday morning. One of the other two was a Cat 2 racer in the summer, a speed skater in the winter, and sometimes commutes by bike 44 miles each way to work. Whoa! At first glance he seemed normal. Then I was told the above about him, and realized it was entirely true when I looked at his legs – they were huge! We rode in a pace line to through Evanston into Chicago, I’m guessing for a total of 15 miles. Evershed was last seen in one of the hills in Glencoe. It was a challenge to keep up, and I almost lost contact once when I pulled out of the lead, let the three pass me, and then struggled to get back on the wheel of the last rider. Once in Chicago, I opted to head east so I could ride the Lakefront Path to downtown, while the three Milwaukeeans headed straight south to hook up with relatives.





My thanks to John Greenfield for organizing this ride, and for all he does to improve cycling in Chicago. For sure I’d like to do this ride again. Next year the ride will start on Friday with the Milwaukee riders coming to Chicago, on Saturday the Chicago riders join them in riding back to Milwaukee, followed by the Chicago riders heading home on Sunday.
Information on next year’s ride will be made available at www.bikewinter.org

Day one: 105.63 miles, 6hrs 44 minutes riding time, 15.6mph average.
Day two: 99.81 miles, 6hrs 1 minute riding time, 16.5 average.
Two day total: 206.44 miles. YTD mileage increased by 45%.