steelbikeguy

more photos from the classic bike show at Bushwhacker bike shop. As mentioned before, this was a relatively informal event where locals showed off one or more of their classic or vintage bikes.
The gray Dario Pegoretti was a highlight of the event, IMHO. The owner also displayed a Mino Denti tandem. Pretty cool bike, and the first time I'd heard of Mino Denti (an Italian racer). I think it is the first Italian tandem that I've seen too.















Steve in Peoria

Gravity Aided

I can't make it this year, with the ongoing foot problems, but I'll be in for next year. I'll try and have the Corso all ready by then, and have a few metrics under my belt on it before I try riding up those bluffs. Looks like a great event, and the apple cider donuts from Tanners are an attraction in their own right.. I only have to drive from Normal, so I live pretty close to Schundog and Julian.

speedevil 

I'm trying to work out the logistics so that I can make the ride. I'm planning to ride my Lemond Alpe d'Huez with a full Campy Daytona group.

Might be trucking north with @RobbieTunes if we can work out the details. The ride is on my birthday, so a C&V ride on my birthday will be great fun.

steelbikeguy

sorry to hear about the foot problems. That's certainly no fun!

Maybe you can talk one of the other guys from Normal into bringing a donut or two back for you?


Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

It would be great to have you attend! That is a heck of a long way to go for a bike ride, so it'll be understandable if the logistics don't work out.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the weather! We've been doing pretty well; still quite warm. The farmers have been harvesting the crops and filling the roads with speeding grain trucks. I'm guessing that they will be mostly finished by the date of the ride.
I'm just hoping that the eventual rain will be either before or after the ride.

Steve in Peoria

speedevil 

I'm in. @RobbieTunes and I are heading north on Friday the 28th. I'm planning to bring the Lemond Alpe d'Huez, don't know yet what Rob will bring - he has several really nice bikes to choose from.

So, in a nutshell, we're driving 6 hours plus each way so that we can ride 20 miles for a doughnut. We must be seriously off our meds - but on the upside we fit right in with this group.

RobbieTunes

I feel so much better about my sanity.

I may have to get more doughnuts.
Justifies the trip. You get it.

speedevil 

Well, there's bikes too, so everything is as it should be. We just need to keep the mental health professionals at a safe distance.

Gravity Aided

SAT
SEP 29
Mostly Sunny
64°44°
20%
NW 10 mph
59%
High 64F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.

It's looking real good for the 29th, but a ten day forecast is due to change .

steelbikeguy

keep the fingers crossed!!

A high temp of 64F will be a nice change from the high 80's and low 90's that we've been dealing with lately.
On the plus side, the farmers didn't have to wait long for the corn and beans to dry out.

Steve in Peoria

speedevil 

The weather forecast has turned to the darkside, unfortunately. But showers and thunderstorms are still a "chance". To me, "chance" means "likely not" - so I'm keeping fingers crossed that our ride stays dry.

I've been rained on while riding more times than I can count, but the Lemond is (currently) a rain virgin. I guess we'll see on Saturday.

steelbikeguy

the forecast seems to be going back and forth. It could easily be a case of needing to find enough dry weather in the middle of a wet period.
If things are iffy, I'll still show up, but on a bike with fenders. I've got a fillet brazed bike built by a fellow in Iowa that gets a lot of use in poor weather...



and a lugged touring/commuting bike built by a fellow in the Chicago area. It's seen a lot of nasty weather, so I don't feel bad about taking it out on a long wet ride....



It's supposed to rain today, so perhaps that will take enough moisture out of the air so it will be dry on Saturday?? Keep your fingers crossed.

Steve in overcast Peoria

speedevil 

I don't own a bike with fenders, but I'll still show up. The forecast has improved for Saturday, at least this morning's version has.

We get the weather we get, so no use fretting over it.

Fingers still crossed for dry weather on Saturday in Chillicothe.

RobbieTunes

Gravity Aided

Showers in afternoon, Hi 65 low 48, Weather Channel, but NWS says partly sunny

Gravity Aided

You have some beautiful bikes there, Steve in Partly Sunny Peoria.

steelbikeguy

The custom bikes by small builders aren't sexy, like some of my other vintage bikes, but it is nice to not have to worry too much about them. It's not as if they are some sort of historic bikes, so no problems if they need to be repainted. In fact, the Borthwick got its orange paint about 7 years ago after the original Imron plum paint was showing too much wear.

The touring bike has been holding up pretty well, even after routine abuse like this....



The Borthwick has over 50k miles, and the touring bike has over 40k miles, I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of them!

Steve in Peoria (the clouds are moving in)

speedevil 

I'm really hoping this isn't the weather that actually shows up on Saturday. I'm not prepared for that.

As of now, NOAA is saying partly sunny high of 63 for Saturday.

Gravity Aided

Sep 25 models are in poor agreement concerning the weekend
system, resulting in below average forecast confidence beyond
Friday. The GFS looks very similar to its prior runs...featuring
a frontal boundary becoming parallel to the zonal flow aloft and
stalling across central Illinois. This solution creates a
significant N/S temperature gradient across the area on Saturday,
and focuses an axis of overrunning precip north of the I-72
corridor. Meanwhile, the latest ECMWF has come in with a radically
different solution than it has been recently showing. It now
features a slightly more amplified short-wave tracking through the
Upper Midwest which acts to push the prevailing frontal boundary
much further south into the Tennessee River Valley. This
particular solution would result in considerably cooler/drier
weather for the area. At this point, will make very few changes to
the going forecast for this weekend...opting to wait for clearer
trends to develop before making major changes. Will therefore
maintain low chance PoPs across the north both Saturday and Sunday
with relatively warm temps in the 70s.
What NWS has for the weekend.

steelbikeguy

I did a quick ride up to Tanners on Sunday, to get some apple cider and do another check on the donut quality (it's a tough job), when I saw this:



what the heck??
there is an alternative route about a mile away, although it is on route 40 with more traffic.
Fortunately, a closer examination showed that nothing too major was torn up...



I was able to walk my bike across the tracks and complete my donut journey.
On Monday, my route took me back to the intersection, and the railroad was starting to work in the general area. They had new ties staged along a few miles of the track, so they must be planning on a fair bit of work. In the event that we can't get across the tracks on Saturday, I've put together a slightly modified route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28670197

we go down the bluffs on Santa Fe road instead of Lake Shore Drive, which is a bit more scenic and interesting, but involves a little bit more climbing.
I don't have much of a personal preference, and figure we can make the final call on Saturday.

Steve in Peoria

Gravity Aided

If they get on the ball, it may all be done by Saturday. Are those tracks BNSF or UP?

steelbikeguy

are BNSF and UP the only two railroads left, or are you just knowledgeable about the railroads??
This is BNSF, and Santa Fe road is named (I suspect) after the railroad, because it parallels the tracks most of the way from Edelstein to Chillicothe.

There is a lot of rail traffic on this particular set of tracks, so I'm sure that they will be working hard to get it back into service. However... there are a lot (i.e. LOT!) of ties staged alongside the tracks, so they will need to really be moving to get it done in the next few days.

Steve in wet Peoria (got caught in the line of storms that came through the area)

RobbieTunes

That is an easy portage.

speedevil 

This morning, NOAA says:

steelbikeguy

this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon....



I should have headed home right then, but thought that I might just catch the edge of the storm.... guess again!
The rain came down so hard that it hurt!
On the plus side, the Gods of Rain may have appreciated my sacrifice and suffering, and might be sparing us on Saturday.

Steve in Peoria (my shoes are almost dried out)