Hopkins CX

Went out to spectate the annual cyclocross race at Hopkins Park in the good ol' town of DeKalb, IL. Historically, this race has always been a wild time. As with most cyclocross races, people come out, grill out, drink the drinks, hoot and holler and have a great time. This year it seemed quite a bit more low key. There was a lot less hooting and hollering, but we still had a good time hangin in the woods and handing off refreshments to the victims of torment that willingly participated this year. We even found ourselves on the podium. Joel won the "fun" category. Way to go Joel. My SLR camera seems to have either a battery that's dead forever, or a charger that's dead forever. Not sure which one yet. Could even be both. Until I get that taken care of, here are some iPhone snaps from the races:

Breadwinner B-Road at the Oregon Outback

This video depicts Ira Ryan riding (and winning) The Orgeon Outback, a 360 mile ride through rural Oregon. He wins it on a Breadwinner B-Road frame, which is a disc-equipped "adventure bike" built for gravel, and similar terrains. Both the bike and scenery in this video are beautiful, and it's really got me itching for another long trek.

Read more here.

The Gravel Metric Pictorial: 2014

A couple weeks ago, we went out to DeKalb for the annual Gravel Metric and rode the 70 mile corn country racecourse. The weather this year was perfect, which is truly rare for this event. I rode with a couple good friends, as well as the girlfriend, who all decided to make this their longest ride yet, which was really exciting to see. Without having much gravel riding experience, if any, Darrien did an awesome job and didn't even complain once. They all did great actually, and they all finished! A lot of people seemed to be taking the ride pretty seriously, and treating it as a race (which it sorta was), but there were also a ton of people out there just challenging themselves, making this their longest ride ever, or their first gravel ride, and I think that's cool. For me, it was all about enjoying a ride with some friends, seeing some of the more scenic parts of DeKalb Co., and meeting some cool people. We had fun.

Here's way too many photos from the iPhone, edited with the VSCOcam app:

Gravel bikes, pre-ride in front of the Lincoln Inn, with dual photo-taking reflections. We fueled up on some muffins which contained at least 2 full sticks of butter each. Perfect pre-ride meal.

Nice section of road that offered some shade.

The most convenient of lemonade stands. It just happened to be set up along the route outside the home of some very friendly family. Possibly the best lemonade I've ever had. Those kids had no idea what they were in for...

The only portion of the route in which I kinda wished for gears. It wasn't terrible, but I sure did do a lot of standing.

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! 

The "invisible" checkpoint. By the time a bunch of us reached this checkpoint, the ride/race officials had already rolled out, and our wristbands were left punchless. I witnessed one rider get so upset that he took the liberty of disposing of the sign.

This was a badass Pugsley.

Typical T.J. Saving the day again.

Snack break and a hard cider from Gumby.

The cleanliness of my attire was pointed out multiple times throughout the ride. I believe that the ability to stay clean during a gravel ride is as admirable of a skill as any. Darrien finished the ride without any sign of fatigue and barely even broke a sweat. It probably didn't look like we had just rode 70 miles in the dirt by the end of it.

The trusty Nature Boy successfully carried me once again. As usual, there was not a single mechanical issue. The cheap Jandd frame pack perfectly fit everything in it that I needed for the ride, with room to spare. The two additional bottle cages behind the saddle worked out perfectly, and allowed me to share some extra water with others.

After party on the best porch in town. We stayed up partyin' to the late hour of 9pm... then all passed out and had an excellent night's sleep. By the way, check out Ruthie's sick gradient sunburn on the right.

Saturday on the North Branch Trail

Last weekend, spring came into full swing. The sun came out, green things came up out of the ground, and the temperature was ideal for cruising. I went out in bib shorts and a short sleeved jersey for the first time this year. It was weird, and I felt chilly at first, but quickly warmed up. I still wore the toe covers and wool socks, paired with some extremely hairy winter legs. It may not have been very #pro, but I was not very concerned. I was just real happy to be out in the sun.

I cruised up Elston, through the bike lane, all the way to the start of the North Branch Trail. The trail isn't too far from my apartment, and it's easily accessible via bike-friendly roads. If you aren't familiar, the North Branch Trail stretches about 17 miles from Caldwell and Devon in Chicago up to Glencoe, ending at the Chicago Botanical Gardens and loosely following the path of the Chicago river and the Skokie Lagoons. It is mainly paved, but there are many offshoots of offroad trail that meander through the forest. Some portions of the paved trail run along the equestrian trails, and if you're ok with horses, you can share those trails with them too.

In short, the trail system is a lot of fun and offers the opportunity for some exploration. I spent as much time off the pavement as I could, stopping numerous times for photos. I finished with something like 30-40 miles, and was pretty beat up by the end of it. I had a strong headwind all the way back home too. I guess I'm  not used to this anymore, but I will be again soon. Thanks to the great weather and the discovery of this trail, I had the most enjoyable ride of the year... so far. I'll be riding out on this trail a lot.

A good ride deserved a good beer. I treated myself to this imperial IPA from Goose Island upon returning home. It was pretty alright.