One word: YOW!

The wind was un-F'n believeable. Even with that we still managed a 15.5 mph pace. I gauged the winds at a steady 22mph - that was the speed I could go with the wind and feel nothing moving around me.

It was definitely gusting to 30-35mph. My left arm hurts from holding the bars steady as I was leaning into the massive crosswinds.

To continue on signal11's theme...

One word: Ouch

Not a good day for me... I bowed out and took the 23 mile route. I just wasn't in the mood to fight those winds today... uggh, that was horrible on that first long stretch before the first rest stop. Plus, it wasn't all that warm, wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!

My weekends are precious, so I decided to come home and sew, LOL!!

by the way... if anyone saw the girl with the long sleeve white t-shirt (I think I was the only one dressed NOT like a cyclist, LOL)... that was me Currently taking donations for used cycling jerseys, LOL j/k

Maybe next time I'll get to meet y'all

I was thinking about you guys while riding out today. 15.5 AVG is great in these windy condition, great job, it will be a while before I try a century.

whitesox, don't feel bad we went for a 50 mile ride and decided to take a shortcut and ended up with 30, which no one objected to

thanks Yeah, I was a bit disappointed... wanted to have a good ride in the sun today, oh well.

Good job on the 30

One word: Sufferfest.

I can't wait to see Psimet's report.

Mile 95: aham attacks.

complete and total SUFFERFEST!! my day was a bit everything. some fun, some pain, some wind, some pain, some doubt, some regret, and some pain.

the ride around the track was sweet. took the final turn at 35 mph. then at mile 20 we turn into the wind and i went dead. yep, mile 20 and i was out the back with no hopes of ever seeing the great BFNIC again. WAIT! CyLowe flats and i am back in the mix. Yeah for CyLowe.

mile 35ish after the first rest stop we were back into the wind. we had a 7 rider single file paceline rolling at 12 mph.........yikes that hurts. at this point i am back at the end trying to hang on for dear life. i am thinking there is no way these guys let me bail on them, but i just might have too. i think i have cashed all my checks at this point.

as the route progressed southward we begin to get a little break here and there. the crosswind was a toughie, but much better then the headwind. we started to get more tailwinds and the legs started to come out of their coma. at some point a couple of us stopped for a quick potty break and figured with the upcoming tailwind we could catch up. i had some issues though. my bike fell over while i was, uh, going and the seat post turned sideways. this put me way back of the group, but a 35 pace, thanks wind, had me back with the group in no time.

the last 25 miles involved a wrong turn, getting dropped while spinning at 23 mph, and putting an attack in at mile 95 on the MUP. it's just how i roll.

the edge says it was 102.9 miles & a 16 mph avg with a 35 mph max.

Sudden SufferFest

later.

My hat off to you guys

A few pre-ride shots and a couple heading into the Chicagoland Speedway before the infernal camera batteries gave out. nvr took some pics, too.

aham23's kit is California dreamin'


Psimet2001's kit guaranteed to keep the skies sunny all day. Too bad he doesn't have one that says WIND on it.


Chuck (it is Chuck, right?) sporting a Voodoo Lounge theme. We all kind of felt and looked like Keith Richards after this ride.


Heading into the speedway. Pretty cool to get an on track perspective, even though we were going about 1/10 the speed of the Cup and 1/12 of the IRL cars. This was much cooler than the boring ride down the Route 66 drag strip last year, for sure.

Not enough time today for a report - maybe tonight. I had to take some Recoverite from Hammer yesterday. Legs don't hurt, but they feel weak/dead. I wanted to commute in today, but I was just beat. Speedy brought his bike into work today. He rode 25 miles this morning and was hoping that I was riding in so that we could go out for a ride at lunch.

Ah yes, the Joliet "Suddenly I wish I were dead WINDY as $HIT Century". I had a slow leak that permeated into a rear flat about 10 miles into the ride....Hutchinson Carbon Comps are crap (600mi and three flats). I let the group ride ahead figuring I'd catch up at the first stop. Big mistake, I rode into the wind alone, and kept thinking that I suck and WTF was I thinking when I signed up for this. I only talked myself out of quitting early because I didn't drive 1.5 hours to ride 25 miles! I caught up before the stop only because CyLowe97 flatted too. It was nice being back with the windbreakers..eh group. I feel pretty good today, not really sore, just a little more tired than usual. I think the Joliet club did a great job with the stops providing an assortment of food, hydration, and goodies. I really didn't get a lot of pictures, I was too tired to dig the camera out of the seatbag. Chuck? and I went to the bar afterwards. Chili and a cold beer never tasted better. It was a lot of pain and suffering...can't wait to do it AGAIN!!!

Getting ready to ride out of the first rest stop



I see smiles...must be a tailwind...



Rest stop 2



As reported by Cateye...

Good stuff!

Hmmm....the no socks look must be an Illinois thing?

aham 23.....

oooooo, man, I've gotta say that I didn't set up a Hip Best Dressed Award for this little gathering in the wind, but had I, well, my friend, YOU would have gotten the trophy. Is that kit even coordinated with the saddle?

Nice effort all around.

That's it....Hip has a foot/sock fetish. He just can't take his eyes off your feet CyLowe.

hee hee.....

You Illinois guys....always on the cutting edge.
Heck, what do I know? For years I thought that was black on the Chicago Bears uniforms.

(At least they wear real socks)

Lets see....lesser of two evils when it comes to CyLowe....
Cookie monster socks or rockin' the kankle look?

Man, I might actually have to go with the cartoon socks.

those are some great pics you guys!! Congrats to you all on a great ride

dang it. i knew i should of busted out the SoCal outfit for the BFNIC Spring Classic!!!!

and yes, that is the Specialized Toupe Team Edition in black and red.

later.

Not so fast. I have the Cookie Monster socks. CyLowe has the Grouch socks.

Man Hip, I am starting to worry a little about you. I look at the bikes not the riders legs, (not that there's anything wrong with that ) To each his own I guess

...my bad.

But YOU weren't wearing them.

CyLowe=Grouch.....that was my problem. CyLowe is the furthest thing from a grouch that I could ever imagine!

It's all part of the package.
You have to think big picture here Kimber.

....the rig
....the kit
....the helmet
....the rider
....the look
....the state of mind that is....OCP.

Yeah, but remember we're battling the wind. Posing and/or Poseuring was not part of the gameplan after about mile 10 on Sunday.

Form was following function. No show socks early in the season were functioning to get a bit more sunlight to the pale skinny ankles. I need all the Vitamin E (or whatever the sun provides) I can get....

I'll make sure the break out the Oscar socks for the Hipcycler mid-summer classic. Just for you.

^^I was afraid of that.

Yeah, that wind has been BRUTAL around here the past few weeks.
Just once I'd like to crank out a nice ride without worrying about fighting a 15-20 mph wind!