steelbikeguy

This is a chance to ride with fellow vintage & steel bike enthusiasts and perhaps show off the pride of your fleet! It's intended to be a medium speed ride along quiet rural roads north of Peoria, IL... nothing too serious, and no drops.


Date: Oct 1st. Meet at 8:30am. Roll out at 9am. Rain date will be Oct 8th.

Start/Finish location: Shore Acres Park, 100 Park Blvd, Chillicothe Illinois 61523
Meet in the parking area adjacent to the swimming pool.
Chillicothe Park District - Chillicothe, Illinois

Distance: 41 miles.

Mid-ride destination & break: Tanner's Orchard, Speer, Illinois. baked goods, hot cocoa, coffee, water, and restrooms. Plenty of apples and cider are available too, but you'll want to bring a pannier or big Carradice to carry it in. Fortunately, it's mostly downhill from Tanner's.

Other ride info:
Support: This is an unsupported ride. Bring your own food and water, and be prepared to handle any mechanical issues that might occur.
Terrain: The hill going up the Illinois River bluffs is pretty modest, except for an initial bit of steepness at the bottom.. about 1/4 mile at 10%. There are a variety of moderate rolling hills as well as some flat ground in the river flood plain.
I've entered the route on Map My Ride:
Steve95882878's Profile
Road conditions: primarily narrow rural roads with chipseal surfaces and very little traffic. This is Illinois, so there are spots with poorer conditions, especially one 100' stretch of small gravel. I've ridden it on 23mm tires, and don't consider it to be a problem.
Cue sheet: posted to a Flickr album (along with some photos from the route): https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj...57672267200381

Please let me know if you plan to attend or if there are any questions.

thanks!

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

that would be great! It seems that the downstate C&V folks are fewer and more dispersed than in the Chicago area, so it's nice to find excuses to meet each other.

Steve in Peoria

crank_addict

On the calendar. Also extended the invite to a few other C&V riders whom don't normally use the net (a rarity today).
cheer's!

steelbikeguy

excellent! I was worried that you might be in exile in Wisconsin.

Bringing the "new" Colnago? I haven't seen it yet.


Steve in Peoria

Steve Whitlatch 

My wife said no and gave me the look. It`s an Italian thing that in this case means don`t even think of asking again.

iab

Maybe.

Certainly will try. Your mapmyride link is not to the route. Also, if that is new to you, I recommend ridewithgps.com . Much better site.

steelbikeguy

Any thoughts on the effect of the start time? What number of folks would decide to attend if the start time were bumped back to 10:30am?

steelbikeguy

I'm new to mapmyride... I looked again and found the little button for "route privacy". It is now changed from "friends" to "accessible (linkable)". Any better?

Does "ridewithgps" require the use of gps data? It probably won't accept the data from my Avocet 30 speedometer.

thanks,
Steve in Peoria

big chainring 

Sounds like a nice road trip. I will try to make it.

And I named my son Benjamin Holt, so I should really try to make it to Peoria.

steelbikeguy

she probably just doesn't want you hanging around with a bad crowd. Tell her "it's not that kind of a biker gang". Better??


Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

wow.... can I assume that the name wasn't intended to be a tribute to one of Cat's founders? Or were you hoping to get a discount on a backhoe-loader?

Regardless, I do encourage you to drop in at the Cat visitor's center. It's pretty neat, if you are into that sort of thing.
The visitor center has a web site:
Caterpillar | Visitors Center & Museum

For a glimpse into what is at the visitors center, I've got some pics that I took about 2 years ago...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj...57634133853118


Steve in Peoria

crank_addict

From Chicago to Peoria is quick. You can put your foot into it on 55. They automatically give 80 mph but write em' for anything over. hehe

iab

No gps data needed. Similar to mapmyride but with a better interface.

big chainring 

It was in tribute to the Cat founder. He's going to "move the world" someday.

Fat Tire Trader 

Do any of you have bikes made in Peoria? I have two Ide projects, a tandem and a lady's bike.

steelbikeguy

There are one or two members of The Wheelmen in the area, and they've had bikes on display at the local museum. One of them was a tandem by Ide...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj...7601245794731/



Pretty neat design, especially the curved cranks!
<edit> Also, note that the steering is done from the rear, via linkages to the fork crown. <end of edit>
If you go to the Flickr page, you can see the other photos from the exhibit.

This era of bike development occurred during Peoria's heyday. I'm guessing that it was a combination of being at the edge of the developed part of the country, as well as being served by the transportation systems (barges on the Illinois river traveling from Chicago down to the gulf, and being something of a crossroads for rails). There was a lot of distilling in the area (and still is). Times were good, and people had money to spend on fancy high tech stuff like the Ide tandem!

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

I wish him well! I'm sure there will be room at Cat for him, if he is so inclined... new stuff is always being designed and built. The technology is pretty amazing... autonomous mining trucks, laser radars, etc.

Plus... I've known a few of the upper management who were serious cyclists. One was a V.P. who was from Italy and knew the Colnago family. I struggled to keep up with him on most days!

Steve in Peoria

Doohickie

Dang, I wish I lived in Peoria.

smontanaro 

Will try to make it. Must check with the missus.

steelbikeguy

Domestic tranquility is the highest priority, of course!

Hope you can make it.


Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

ah... Peoria... personally, I'm here because it was a way to work in a large engineering company while being somewhat close to family and having good access to bike-friendly rural roads.
...and in the summer, it's not as hot as St. Louis, where I lived previously.

I was lucky to be able to live at the edge of the urban area and have full acces to rural roads for riding, while still only being 5 miles from work. This made bike commuting easy.

The ride home from work usually included a stretch along the Illinois river (which is also on my C&V ride in October):



and a ride up the bluffs on Singing Woods road (seen here in the fall):




A somewhat interesting tidbit of info is that the Peoria area is the source of most of the pumpkins used for pumpkin pie filling! If nothing else, it's a nice change from the corn and soybeans that cover much of the midwest.
Here's a panoramic shot of a pumpkin field, after the pumpkins were prepared for loading onto wagons....




and a can of pumpkin pie filling with a lid that shows where the stuff comes from....






Steve in Peoria, of course

builderguy

I am a novice, so I have to ask novice questions. You said a "medium speed ride." What is a medium speed in miles per hour.

Thanks
'

smontanaro 

Surely, no more than 37. :-) Probably in the 15-20mph range.

bikamper

Dang, sounds interesting.

Still recovering from foot surgery I had in back in June. I look to be given an all clear in a couple weeks but doubt I'll be in shape for it.

steelbikeguy

well, unless something awful happens, I expect to repeat the ride next fall. I'll expect you to be in peak condition then!

I'm not ruling out the possibility of a spring ride, although a different route. Maybe an urban loop? There are some neat old Victorian mansions on top of the bluffs overlooking downtown Peoria, and there is an aptly named Grandview Drive overlooking the Illinois river that is scenic (although a lot of work to climb).

(a photo from mid October, a number of years ago, taken from Grandview Drive)



Steve in Peoria