Cycling

Journaling my way through a bicycling lifestyle…

March 6, Group Ride

Mar 3

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Hey everyone!

So, now that the snow storm has passed, I’m really planning on riding this weekend! So, same plan as last week. CR 28 to 327 to 6 and back to New Hope.

I will be at the church at 10:30 to ride. But, I have to be back in Auburn by noon. My niece has a game from 9-10 in Waterloo, and my nephew plays at 1 in Auburn. So, I will be at New Hope at 10:30, and we should have more than enough time to do 15 miles, and me make to my nephew’s game. Next week I will get back to riding at 9:30.

It’s supposed to be in the low 40’s and sunny! It’s gonna be a GREAT ride! :) Hope to see you then!

March 6, Group Ride

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February 27 Group Ride

Feb 26

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Hey everyone!

Here is the map for the ride this Saturday. See you at New Hope at 10:30-10:45!

I am going down CR 28 to 327, then up to 6, and back to the church. 14 miles, and pretty familiar territory.

Jeremiah

February 27 Group Ride

Ramping Up…

Feb 21

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Well, it’s that time of year again! It’s time to get out and start riding some longer rides, and get ready for the season. I know that the bike club won’t actually be meeting officially until after the time changes, but I am planning on riding on Saturday mornings again.

I went for a nice ride from Auburn to Butler and back again today, and it felt GREAT! It got me excited to be out on the road again.

It looks like we are going to have some decent weather this upcoming Saturday, the 27th, so I am going to go for a ride! Anyone is welcome to join me. I’m planning on being at New Hope at 9:45 AM, and we will hit the road no later than 10 AM.

Since it is probably the first time that almost everyone will be out on the road this season, I am only planning on a 15 mile ride. I’ll post a map later this week. But, I thought I’d let everyone know that it’s time to hit the pavement! :)

Hope to see you out there! :)

December 12 Group Ride

Dec 9

Posted by Jeremiah in exercise | No Comments

Hey everyone,

Well, I’m back to riding on Saturday mornings again!

I’m going to do something a little odd this coming weekend: I’m not going to provide a map. I have a good reason, though. It’s the first time riding in any kind of snow or ice, or very cold temperatures, this year. I will meet whoever wants to ride at New Hope at 9:45 on Saturday, and we can decide on a route then. That way, we can customize the length and complexity of the route to the average winter riding experience of those who show up. Trust me, it’s better to take it easy the first few times you ride in this kind of weather, until you know exactly what you are getting into and how your body is going to respond.

However, there is one caveat that I would like to throw out there. I would really prefer that you only come to the ride if you have the right kind of tires for dealing with ice on the roads, i.e. studded tires, or something similar. With the weather that we have experienced the last two days, there is the definite potential for some ice on the roads this weekend. There may not be much, but trust me, one seemingly microscopic patch is MORE than enough to send you crashing to the ground! Bicycle tires are thin enough, among other things, that without some type of extra support, such as studded tires, there is nothing you can do about falling on the ice.

So, for those brave souls, I will see you on Saturday morning at 9:45 at New Hope in Waterloo!

Jeremiah

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November 28 Group Ride Cancelled

Nov 25

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Unfortunately, I have come down with a pretty nasty cough that I can’t seem to shake. So, I think it is best if I do not go out and ride for several hours in relatively cold weather.

I am pretty disappointed, because I was really looking forward to riding this weekend, but getting rid of my cough and not getting any sicker is probably a smarter move.

However, if anyone would like to ride, you absolutely should! It is supposed to be nice and sunny with a high around 47. As long as you have a hat (like a beanie) that can cover your ears, some type of long sleeve shirt that blocks the wind (not cotton), and long pants that block the wind (again, not cotton), and some long fingered gloves, you will be fine to ride.

Have a great weekend and a good Thanksgiving! :)

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November 21 Group Ride

Nov 19

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Here is the map for the ride this weekend.

It is a little over 29 miles.

It is starting to get a little cooler, so if you aren’t certain what to wear, but want to go, let me know. I will be glad to help you figure out what clothing you need to stay warm.

Hope to see you Saturday! :)

November 21 Group Ride

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November 14 Group Ride

Nov 12

Posted by Jeremiah in exercise | 2 Comments

UPDATE: Chris noticed some gravel, so I modified the route just a little bit. This is now a 24.9 mile ride.

Hey everyone, here is the map of the ride for this weekend!

It looks like we are going to have some pretty nice weather again! Check it out.

We will take CR 35 South to CR 34, turn left and head to CR 41. At CR 41 we turn left again and go to CR 28 and turn right. When we get to the Co-Op on CR 47, we turn left, cross SR 6 and go to CR 22, where we turn right. We take that to CR 61 and turn left, then a left on CR 12, and we take CR 12 all the way to to CR 45 and turn right. We turn left on CR 10 and take that all the way to CR 35, turn left and then back to New Hope.

This is a 24 mile ride.

See you Saturday morning at 9:30! (Remember, I will leave promptly at 9:45, unless you contact me.)

November 14 Group Ride

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Review of the November 7 Ride

Nov 7

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Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Distance: 24.45 miles
Average Cadence: 80
Average Heart Rate: 160 bpm
Altitude: Climbed total of 1034 ft
Total Time (including stops): 2 hours 30 minutes

Well, we had our first group ride this morning! Chris, Layna, my dad and myself were all there. It was a good ride.

We left New Hope right at 9:45 and headed West on CR 28. Boy, was it windy! Weather.com showed the wind around 15mph, gusting to 20! Combined with the hills on CR28, it was a pretty good workout. Several of the riders had not been on a bike for several weeks prior to this ride and made sure that I knew they were putting in some effort. :)

We were a little concerned about turning South, because the wind was more out of the South than the West. Once we got turned, though, it wasn’t too bad. It turns out that 327 has a lot of hills that are lined with lots of trees on both sides of the road. The trees broke the wind surprisingly well, especially considering that they had no leaves on them. After we got past the big S-curve on 327, somewhere around CR40, the tree line broke and the wind really picked up. We dealt with that wind all the way into Garrett. I think at one point or another everyone had a turn to do some drafting off of someone else. That wind was pretty stiff.

We made a pitstop at Huck’s in Garrett to use the restroom and refill waters. It seemed like a long stop. And, Layna may have scared the attendant… (She went to the soda dispenser and hit the water tab to refill her water without first explaining what she was doing to the attendant…I guess she got a pretty funny look!) Once we got back on the road, we switched over to 205 and stopped again for a phone call, and to pack a coat that was just too warm for the amazing 60 degree weather in the middle of November.

Now, we had a tailwind…and what a tailwind it was! We flew to Auburn. As we were coming into Auburn we decided that we would stop at the Methodist church and pick up a loaf of Kiwanis Holiday Bread. When Chris and I got there, we had lost sight of my dad and Layna, so we went ahead and stopped. As we were going in to get the bread they passed by and didn’t see us. So, we hurried up and got the bread and then hopped on the bikes and took off to catch them. I think we averaged around 23mph while we tried to catch them. I know that I topped out at 27mph and stayed there for about a minute! That was a good workout.

We finally caught them at Dekalb High School (about 3.5 miles from the Methodist church). They told us they didn’t know if or where we turned, so they decided to keep going. That was okay with me, it was fun racing to catch them!

Then, we got back to the church and broke out the Holiday Loaf…it was SO GOOD! I could feel my arteries clogging with every bite…but I had just ridden nearly 25 miles on a bicycle, so a little bit of that type of food is okay.

Layna missed riding so much that she decided she wants to ride again tomorrow! So, I am working out a 30-40 mile map, and we are going to meet up and ride again tomorrow afternoon. I think we might have one or two more join us. If you’re interested, just leave a comment and I’ll get you the details!

Well, the first winter (if you can call 60 degrees in November “winter”) ride is down…we’ve got the rest of the winter to go. Maybe we’ll see you guys next week!

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November 7 Group Ride

Nov 4

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Hey everyone, here is the map for the ride this Saturday!

We will start in Waterloo, go down CR 28 to Corunna, then down 327 to Garrett, take 205 to 11A to 427, then CR 52 to CR 35 and north on CR 35 back to New Hope.

It’s 24.94 miles.

Hope to see you there!

November 7 Group Ride Map

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Weekly 25 Mile Group Bike Ride

Nov 1

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I am a part of a bike club that meets in Waterloo through the Spring, Summer and early Fall. We stop riding once it starts to really cool down, but I am going to continue to ride on through the winter and I am inviting anyone who wants to join to ride with me!

I’d like to get a decent number of miles in every week, so I will be riding several days a week, but I figured, if anyone was interested, I would make one of the rides happen at the same time every week so that it was easy to remember and everyone had access to it.

So, without further ado, here is my plan: I am going to do a 20-25 mile ride every Saturday morning at 9:30 throughout the entire winter. This is a standing ride, and anyone can join in, but there will not be an easy loop, and it’s not officially a part of the bike club. It is the “But don’t stop riding…Ride with each other to keep yourselves encouraged.” that my dad talks about in his end of season email.

If anyone is interested in riding, but the time doesn’t work, let me know. If enough people can’t do that time, but are interested, I may adjust it.

So, if you want to ride, I will be at New Hope Christian Center in Waterloo under the drive-up in the front of the building every Saturday morning at 9:30 AM. I will wait until 9:45 AM for anyone to show up. If no one shows up, I will leave promptly at 9:45 (unless I hear from you that you are on your way). If anyone shows up, we can ride together.

I will notify you by email and a post on this website if, for some reason, I am unable to ride on a given Saturday. And, I will post a map of the route each week on here no later than Wednesday of each week. (Tip: If you subscribe to the RSS feed, you can get the maps each week without having to go out and manually check the website.)

If anyone has questions about dressing properly for the cold, or what to do about the ice or the snow, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’ll be more than happy to help you figure out what you need to do it! Also, if you have questions and post them on the website as comments other people can join in the conversation and give tips and learn (trust me, I don’t have all the answers…and I’m sure I can still learn too!).

You can call me on my cell phone by clicking the “Call Me” button over on the right and putting your phone number in, shoot me an email at jeremiah (at) jeremiahotis (dot) com, or leave a comment on the route map for that week here on the website if you have any questions or concerns, or want to let me know you are on the way to the church so that I don’t leave without you.

Also, if you don’t think you can do the whole route, feel free to meet up with us part way through the route. Just make sure that you are there before us, or text me, so that we know to stop for you.

Looking forward to seeing some people out on the roads this winter!!!

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