Author Archives: Rob

About Rob

Bike trail and long distance cyclist and publisher of about-bicycles.com

Fall Riding Season, Bike Ride Clothing, etc.

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Sorry for the long delay in blog posts. I have been out there riding but just haven’t had a lot of blogging time.

Anyway, I just had an excellent ride today (29 miles) and since it’s getting colder here in the Chicagoland area, I had to refer to my bike clothing hints on the Bike Weather Clothing page on this site.

I put together that page a few years ago and found it handy to remember what bike clothing to wear in what kind of weather. Now, this is just a guide or a summary and it will vary of course for each person but it works perfect for me though (since I wrote it!) 🙂

As for myself, I seem to be able to handle cooler weather better than a lot of people. For example, it was in the 50s today and I was mostly comfortable with shorts and a t-shirt (while riding) although I did bring a jacket and wore it occasionally too. I still see a lot of other people bundled up like I might be in the middle of winter though.

One of the things that I did not mention in my original article though was that the speed that you ride will also make a significant difference in how warm you want to dress for your rides.

Riding is a little cooler than other outdoor activities because of the wind (which is a great benefit in the summer) but your body temperature will be higher if you are really pushing yourself for speed and a good workout (which I have been doing more of lately).

For example, I used to ride at a leisurely average of around 12mph, which is a nice comfortable, relaxing touring ride speed (for me anyway) and I would probably keep a light jacket on for the whole ride in this weather. Recently, however, since I have been trying to get a better workout, my average speeds are around 14mph to 15mph and I worked up a sweat with the jacket and had to loose it a couple of times.

Since this is very “in between” weather, there are times that the jacket was comfortable and other times that it was too warm. This is where my fairly new rack/trunk style bike bag came in really handy. My jacket fits in the bag pretty easily and it’s easy to get it in and out so I was able to alternate between my t-shirt only and jacket easily with just a brief stop.

Well, I guess that’s about it for my blurb about cool weather riding and how to dress. Most of you probably already know what works best for you but, if you are like me, you may not get it just right or may need some hints and reminders, or even some clothing or equipment upgrades, when the weather first starts changing.

Later, Rob.

End of Season GT Bike Sale – Excellent Prices on 2010 and 2009 models

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I was just checking out some of the links on this site to be sure things were up to date and I happened to notice that there is an end of season sale going on at Performance Bike right now.

I checked the bike reviews that I have on this site and the Performance Bike links and although they are good prices, many of the models are really not marked down from what they were a few weeks ago.

One notable exception that I found was that there are a huge number of GT Bikes on Sale at Performance and many of these bike truly are marked down a lot from earlier in the season. There are a lot of 2010 bikes on sale and even a few 2009 bikes that you can get for a fraction of their original cost.

Check out the GT Marathon Carbon (mtn, full susp), GT Avalanche (mtn, hardtail),  GT Traffic (hybrid) and GT Series (Road) prices at Performance Bike. If the links on these review pages do not get you directly to the specific model that you are looking for just key in the model in the Performance search box because there are some great deals on GT bikes right now.

Bike Computer Stats – Average Speed, Mileage, What is Yours?

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I just finished a nice ride tonight (17 miles) and I was thinking about what a geek I am when it comes to certain stats and things like my bike computer stats (I actually am a programmer by day so I do pretty much quality as a geek).

Anyway, I always reset my bike odometer at the beginning of each riding season and I keep track of the total miles that I ride, my average speeds, fastest speeds, etc.

I usually do about 1,000 to 2,000 miles per riding season (not bad for an old guy :-)). Most of my rides are usually from 11 to 20 miles although I do take some longer trips occasionally.

I am not a racer or competitive rider so on my normal touring style rides I usually average about 12 mph or so although recently I have been pushing myself a little more to get more exercise and I am a little faster now that we are well into riding season. When I push myself a little, like tonight, I just did 17 miles at an average speed of 14.1 mph.

This isn’t going to break any speed records or anything (unless there are some geriatric records that I could crack! 🙂 ) but it’s fun to go fast and it’s really great exercise (which also means it’s a lot of work too).

I just did a search for the average tour de france speed and the first site that came up said: “Fastest average tour: just less than 25 mph” so I think that my 14mph is at least respectable.

I know some of the new bike computers and bike GPS unitshave download options but my bike computer is not that fancy so I have to update my spreadsheet with my stats after each ride.

Also, speaking of bike computer stats, I just cracked the 1,000 mile mark on my bike computer tonight. I now have 1,012 miles for this season (so far)!

Although this is a bike blog and not really a forum, I do have this setup for easy comments and I am always curious what kinds of bike computer stats other people have based on their riding styles.

Anyway, if anyone out there would like to post their stats, please feel free to drop a line.

Thanks, Rob

Lance Armstrong Black “28” Jersey Tribute

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OK, I just can’t pass this one up! I saw the story about Lance Armstrong and the Radio Shack Team’s attempt to wear the black jerseys with the number “28” to signify the 28 million people living with cancer today on the news last night and I knew that I had to write something about this.

I understand the need for organization and rules for events like this but I really wish that they could have given him a break on this one. I don’t know if Lance had tried to go through the proper channels or procedures first but if he did and was denied then I can see the reason to go for some publicity in this way.

Lance Armstrong Black 28 Jersey

Lance Armstrong Black 28 Jersey

Well, perhaps more of the story will come out soon but I saw a CNN story that quoted Lance as saying “Today, we’re riding for every one of the 28 million people all over the world whose lives and families are affected by this disease…” and I am totally in on that one!

I know that Lance and the organizations that he is affiliated with has made considerable donations to the fight against cancer. Even a portion of the sales from the Indoor Cycle exercise bike that I have been recommending on this site for quite some time now, the Livestrong LS9.9IC, goes towards the fight against cancer.

Anyway, I just wanted to join in and mention that we, at about-bicycles.com, support the Black 28 Jersey Tribute and are proud to display our Jerseys on this site!

The Love of Bike Riding and Magazine Article

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I was asked to co-write  a magazine article for a new start-up magazine, “Way of the Wilds” on the Fox River Trail (which is a pretty easy subject for me to write about since I have ridden the FRT so many times and have had some very memorable experiences on it) and as I was writing my part of the article, it occurred to me that some of what I was writing was sounding very familiar to me.

I started the article with a brief description of some of the benefits of bike riding and it turns out that a little over a year ago I wrote an article that was all about the love of bike riding and I went back to look at the web page article and it all came back to me. I remembered that I did put some effort into that article and it does express my feelings on the subject very well.

The web page article has an unusual theme and is mostly called “Bike Riding Nirvana“.  I was hoping that the article did not get totally lost on the Internet due to the unusual title and I checked Google for the underlying theme “the love of bike riding” and I don’t think that it got totally lost on the Internet since it comes up in the #1 position for that search term!

 Anyway, I did want to mention that web page and I think it’s always nice to consider some of the joys of cycling.

As for the new article, in the hard copy magazine, that will probably not be published until August or September so I’ll save more of the details on that one for after it comes out. Besides, I’m still just on the first draft for now.

Kenosha Bike Trail Ride

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Kenosha Bike Trails

Bike Trail along Lake Michigan in Kenosha

We had a great ride on the Kenosha Bike Trail and along Lake Michigan on the 4th of July. I took quite a few photos and am still planning on doing a complete bike trail article with all the information and photos (in the bike trails section of this site) but I just haven’t had the chance yet. So many bike trails and so little time!

Anyway, you can get to the Kenosha Trail from The Robert McClorey Trail which also connects to the Green Bay Bike Trail(on the south end). So you could actually ride from Wilmette, Il all the way up into the southern part of Wisconsin on these trails. I’ve ridden all of these but all on different days.

OK, getting back to the Kenosha Bike Ride… A friend of mine and I drove to the southern end of the Kenosha Trail (where it meets the Robert McClorey Trail) , just off of Russell Road. We parked in a subdivision that had a very convenient entrance to the trail.

The Kenosha Trail itself is crushed stone and is not really all that long (a few miles). The bike trail ends at 89th street. I guess they still call it a “trail” but you need to ride on some roads and connecting trails at that point.

The roads are not bad to ride on at there is a bike lane along 7th avenue as you head north. We continued north and east and ended up riding along the shore of Lake Michigan for quite a while.

I love riding along Lake Michigan! Once we got to the part of the trails that goes along Lake Michigan, we rode north all the way to Carthage College. As I mentioned, it was the 4th of July so there was a ton of stuff going on and the beaches and parks were packed with people. That was fun in this situation but I would also like to ride this trail sometime when it is less crowded (maybe some nice fall day).

Like I said, I’ll try to get to writing a more complete “trail page” with more of the details on the route, etc. but for now I just wanted to mention the ride and that it was really a very nice place to ride.

Family Time Magazine article, Bicycling Just You and Your family

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I just wanted to mention that I interviewed with a free lance writer, Arlene Miles, for a magazine article on biking with your family a few months back and the article was published in the June edition of Family Time Magazine (a local Chicago suburban  magazine).

They have a website and it shows the June edition and the table of contents but not the article so I can’t link to it and I don’t have the copyright permission to publish it here but I did want to mention it and touch on the theme a little.

The magazine article is called “Bicycling, Just You and Your Family” and the writer did an excellent job. She researched family biking and local bike trails and there was a full page of the article based on the information that I supplied.

Here we are in the heart of summer (the forth of July weekend) and I thought that it is a great time to mention family bicycling.

A lot of the information that I supplied for the magazine article had to do with local bike trails and choosing local bike trails and local rides. Bike trails can be great especially if you can find trails in your area with low traffic and very few streets to cross. That helps with your own peace of mind and I know it makes the rides more enjoyable for me when I rode with my younger kids.

After that, if you can find local trails or rides that have a fun place to stop, like a playground, park, a lake, beach, etc. then you really have some great options.

Another thing that I mentioned in the article was taking a fairly long ride with a destination. Quite a few years ago, I rode with my whole family (me, my wife and 2 kids) from Dundee, Illinois to Genoa City Wisconsin on the Fox River Trail! This was a 32 mile ride with my kids which were around 7 and 10 at the time.

It’s important to have the right frame of mind, bring supplies (some snacks and plenty of water and liquids), take breaks and to take your kids lead on the time and distance too so that everyone is involved (and happy). In our case, for the Wisconsin trip, my kids made signs (on duct tape) that said “Wisconsin or Bust” and taped them to their shirts! I guess that explains where their heads were at on that day!

I wasn’t sure if the kids could handle riding that far at first, but they both made it and we had some major quality time with the family and fun stories for years to come.

I have an article on the FRT trips somewhere in the archives of this website but I would have a hard time finding it myself (and I know the pages on this site fairly well) so maybe I’ll post a current update on that story here soon.

Anyway, my real point here and a key point in the magazine article is that bike riding can be an excellent family activity with kids of all ages. When your kids are very young, there are bike seats, bike trailers, trailer bikes, etc. and when they get older you can take them with you on their own bike for distances and locations that are appropriate for their ages.

I actually would like to write more on this subject, but as I mentioned, it’s the 4th of July weekend and it’s a beautiful day and guess where I am going?!?!?

(riding, of course!)

Nice REI Sale on Cycling Gear Through 7/5/2010

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I just received a notification that REI has their Summer Sale going on right now (6/25) and through July 7th which includes cycling gear.

The cycling gear is 20% to 25% off which is pretty decent in the middle of summer when you are probably needing some of this stuff.

I just went out to the REI site and checked out what items were on sale. Unfortunately, it does not seem to include bikes although there are a few selected models on sale.

What I did find marked down quite a bit were Car Racks, Bike Bags, Cycling Clothing, Bike Lights and one of the Bike Kid Trailers(the Burley Solo ST Bike Trailer to be specific – See the “Quality Bike Trailers” link on my kids bike page for access to REI kid bike trailers).

Enjoy the sale (and the ride!)

Performance Bike Sale This Weekend (10% off)

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I was just checking the bike product and bike sales pages on this site and discovered that Performance Bike has a really good sale going on right now and through Sunday 6/13.

Sorry that I am just now getting to this notification. I’m not sure how long the sale has been on but it is ending after this weekend.

The prices that I have posted on the bikes for sale on this site (through Performance Bike) DO NOT include the 10% off and the prices at Performance Bike do not show the 10% off until you add the bike to your shopping basket.

So if you are in the market for bike accessories or even bikes that can be purchased online (Fuji, GT,  Schwinn, etc.) this would be a good time to check the prices at Performance Bike.

Daisies Along the Bike Trail Photos.

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This should probably just fall under the “just my rides” post but I wanted to include one of my photos here and I can’t do that (easily) in a reply.

Daisies Along the Paul Douglas Bike Trail

Daisies Along the Paul Douglas Bike Trail

Anyway, it’s a beautiful spring day here today in Chicagoland and I just took a really nice ride with a friend (mostly in Inverness) and on the way back home I managed to get some photos of some of the many daisies along side of the Paul Douglas Bike Trail.  

I had noticed that there were quite a few daisies along the trail and wanted to play flower photographer on some nice day. Well, I guess today was the day!

I am only an average photographer (even though I really like photography) but I did get a few nice photos. My biggest regret is that I didn’t get my photos before they groomed the trail and mowed down all the daisies that were within 2 or 3 feet of the trail.

It really looked cool when the daisies  came right up to the trail. I am glad that they keep the trail maintained but I wish that I would have gotten the photos before they mowed.

We can’t always “stop to smell the roses” but maybe we can “ride and enjoy the daisies”.

Anyway, here is the Paul Douglas Bike Trail Daisy Photo Page that I just posted if you are interested in checking it out. I also created a link to this page from the main Paul Douglas Bike Trail page (I originally called this the Algonquin Road Trail before the main Paul Douglas part of the trail was complete).