that's a great idea, i love stuff like that. i'd love to explore the south side some more.

Maybe some BBQ from one of those converted steel barrels is in order. Yum!

August 14th is my birthday! Maybe I'll come up from san luis for this! I gotta get into some better shape before then though, if I'm gonna run fixed for 100 miles.

peace,
sam

Also, if you've got a place that we could use as a water/bathroom stop, chime in too. We need a place to stop for lunch and a place to stop for beer.
Let's Roll[/QUOTE]

i run a coffee shop on addison with a full kitchen i could make food the night before so we all get fed a bangin breakfest for free if anyone is into that? and get some coffee and beer in us.

i dont know if anyone else plans on riding at Fixed Gear Symposium but its the same weekend. is aug.14 set in stone???

The date is not yet set. Is the Symposium reason to change the date? Also, this is NOT a fixed gear only ride. Everyone is welcome.

What's symposium? sounds beerless

Not a fixed gear ride?

That's lame. Like Spicoli ditchin' Mr. Hand's class to go on a field trip w/ Mr. Vargas.

as far as i can tell the date is set for the symposium. it may not make a difference either way- i just mentioned it in case somebody was planning on doing both rides..

more info on the symposium:
https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005symposium/info.htm

i'm actually headed up to the symposium, most likely, so a date other than aug 14th would be stellar. And i'm sure there will be beer at the symposium, if not, I'll have a car full of it.

Sounds like a fun time. I'd be interested.

Okay -
Mayo and I met yesterday and came up with a decent route. We are fine-tuning the detail on some of the transitions on the north route. The basics:
As far south as Cal Harbor!
As far north as Botanic Gardens and the Velodrome!

we are planning on some type of rest stop every 20 miles, of course incorporating many of the wonderful places (Mario's Lemonade) about which Mayo has written.
The date right now is the second weekend in August, with a rain day re-schedule of the following weekend.

we are still sorting things out and will update this thread periodically.
questions? additions? hatemail? lovemail?
streettrackmofo ~at~ gmail [dot] com

anyone down for going to the fixed gear symposium saturday and doing this sunday?

I'd do it if my mom will let me.

I'm in, this is a great idea! I'll talk to friends @ bikeshops so we have a few support centers along the way. Can someone set up a website/listserve for this event?

I second the website/listserve idea. Can anyone step up and do this? Thanks

I'll get on it. Give me a day or two.

today I rode from east village to the path, then north to the hollywood rotunda, south to hyde park, and back. it's about 40 miles.

I did this quite a bit last year but this time, on the fixed, I bonked out a mile from my house. couldn't even carry the bike up the stairs before eating a pb&j (the bike is, like, only 12 pounds!).

how fast do you think you guys want to go? I was pushing it at nearly 20mph average, but I think I could do the century at an easier pace.

consequently, an elder guy on a nice litespeed rode along for a stretch. I think he was about to comment on my cadence (uphill) 'til he realized I was fixed. he asked a lot of questions, seemed really interested. another guy like that at chinatown square yesterday.

The idea here is to have fun as a large group, stay together, finish the ride. I don't see a 20 mph average, more like 16 mph. The goal is to finish. It is not a race.

For those who've never ridden a century perhaps I'll write a quick training plan and post it here. You'll want to do a little conditioning before the ride.

oh believe me I'm all for the group thang – I guess I was just afraid that when you say leisurely you mean 25 mph, 30 downwind. don't want to get dropped ya know.

if you've never ridden in a group for long rides you are in for a treat.
whether it is the energy saving pack dynamics or simply chatting with
your fellow bikers the miles melt away without you ever knowing it.
On my own I average around 16-17mph, but in a pack I can raise
that much higher with very little extra effort.

This will be a lot of fun.

jeff

You can go to bicycling magazine’s website for an in-depth century training plan, but let’s keep it simple. What you need is ass time in the saddle. In the next six weeks plan on one long ride and one moderate ride each week. Each week increase your long ride by ten miles. Do 40 this week, 50 next, and so on, until you hit 70-75.

On your moderate ride take the long ride distance and half it. If your big ride calls for 40, do 20, if 60 do 30, and so on. Try to give yourself 3 days between rides if possible.

Don’t do any long rides the week before the century. Go out for easy spins to keep the legs supple.


You can wing it without much training if you want, but your tolerance for misery is much lower. At the very minimum, get three 60 mile rides in before the Century.

If anyone's interested, there's a Tuesday ride that starts in Logan Sq. and heads south on Kedzie. Round trip is 100 miles. You wouldn't have to ride the whole way. You can get a long ride in and not do it alone. PM if you want details.

Good training for this trip is riding to the Botanical Gardens. Start from anywhere in the city and ride to Caldwell/Devon. Take the trail up to the Botanical gardens. This will give you about 60 miles on average depending on how far or how much closer you are. You can decide to go further north on the trail if you wish as well to get more mileage in.

Given enough breaks and that everyone's drinking and eating (read: eating energy bars, nuts, etc) well, it should be okay.

as someone who winged a century this may, i will echo this sentiment. I didn't train, and IT SUCKED. Lots of pain, oodles. but it can be done. It helps if you don't smoke, but i do, so it was harder. Regardless, I still finished, and averaged 15 or 17. Make sure you take plenty of water and food. I'm a fan of the gu espresso love -- its got 2x the caffeine and one of them got me through the last 12 miles of my century at 21mph, in the pouring rain.