Northwest Illinois Century aka Tour for Cancer Century

We should really call this the Tour de Teresa, since Teresa Isbell orchestrated this spectacular September event and invited all her friends from bikejournal.com to join her in the Upper Left Hand Corner.

We gathered in the wee crisp hours last Saturday, and Teresa had name tags and a big banner waiting. Bill Leibman, his son Adam rolled in and were joined by ChainLinkCyclists Andrew "Diet Rite" Soria, and Steve Spyrison to welcome bikejournal riders from Racine, Roscoe, Savanna, South Elgin, et elsewhere.

Still shivering beneath the early sunrise, we headed out on our favorite Tour for Cancer Century route. Teresa and her husband, Chris, had carefully freshened up the road route markers for newcomers and the forgetful. How could we not remember last June 30's century for cancer?

It was hard not to smile at the wonderful early autumn weather, as we turned south from Warren down Fiedler Road, and the grace of the countryside embraced us. Bill, Adam, Steve and I rolled happily and effortlessly down to Canyon Park Road over one of the most beautiful stretches of this Century... or any century.

Naturally, we had to climb over the Binkley Bonk. I was on top first and became the cheerleader as Adam hurdled up at an amazing velocity. Then came Dad (Bill) and Steve.

Full of our achievement in the backdrop of a grand view, we streaked down the east side of the bump ready to consume whatever delights awaited us at Karen's.

Karen's is a scumptious eat n bakery in downtown Stockton. With more than 45 miles under the belt and 55 to go, fueling the engine at Karen's is a must. I believe we each had an egg and bacon (or sausage) sandwich on fresh bread or croissants. Bill and I followed that with hot Dutch Apple and rhubarb pie which we reluctantly shared with our tablemates.

Shortly after arriving at Karen's Andrew "Diet Rite" Soria and Craig from South Elgin arrived. Naturally, Andrew was porting his favorite carry-on lunch-- shrinkwrappedfreezedried Salmon.
Yummy!

Craig pulled up a chair and was complimentary of the route. Indeed, this century is majestic, and the best was yet to come. Our next stop was Mount Carroll, and we rolled out of Stockton with our legs laden with egg n pie. Soon, we were wringing out for the big roll down the grande Loran Valley.

En route, we happily met up with some bikejournal.com guests, and we rolled south together into Mount Carroll. Our destination was (as always) the Dairy Queen to prime the pump with a Hawaiian Blizzard. Then it was homeward bound along Cyclone Ridge Road and north out of Lanark over Center Road. Then we ran into Dennis Robinson while waiting for a train.

Dennis led Bill, Adam and me home wishing he had ridden the previous 75 miles. The Commodore had just returned from a great Cycle Oregon (Check out his photos of Crater Lake.) and was full of piss and vinegar. He challenged us on his P-38 recumbent. But Adam was up to that, and his dad would not be put off the back.

As for me, it was a pleasure to have another opportunity to ride this great century route with good friends on such a magnificent day.

Thanks Teresa (and Chris) for making it possible. Thanks to Bill and Adam for the company and the Bergie Oktoberfest afterwords. And thanks to all the bikejournal.com riders for joining us in the Upper Left Hand Corner.

Mattson Places 6th at National ABR 50 Mile Road Race

WEST LAKE VILLAGE, ILLINOIS -- This just in from Ron Mattson, owner of the Freeport Bicycle Company and team leader of their bike racing team. Ron's recap demonstrates the importance of having a team focused on getting their leader to the line and on the podium.

"I felt honored to have the support from my teammates, Bob Kenneke and Russ Damhoff. They are great climbers and it was a rolling course so they used all their energy working for me. They covered the early breaks by Team MAC (4 guys) and allowed me to sit in for the first 16-18 miles of the50 mile race.

The pace was pretty fast but I felt really really strong. Then, on the start of lap3 (of 6), we got caught out on a huge attack (7 guys) lead by Team MAC. Bob started to work to bridge me up but popped. Bob must have covered a half dozen vicious attacks and worked his buttoff. So I had to go it alone with one guy on my wheel ... who did zero work.

I had to go since all the medals were up the road. I TT'd it @ 27-28 mph for ~ 3 miles to catch the lead group (still with 3 Team MAC guys). The lead group was now 9 guys. We worked together until we completed lap 3. Then the attacks started again with MAC guys one after another attacking.

I covered 2 or 3 attacks myself and still felt super strong. I made the decision to mark the two best sprinters in the field ... turned out to be the wrong choice. Team MAC attacked again (They had two guys left now) and 3 guys opened up a 20-30 sec gap.

I figured we had 6 guys still in our group and someone would help bridge the gap. But no one would take charge, and the gap grew to 1 minute with the 3 guys up front working hard together. I had only 2 laps left by now, so I went to the front and hammered, but still found no one to help work.

One of the sprinters had a teammate in the lead group so he would not work. The other sprinter refused to work. After about one lap, there were only three of us left-- Team MAC's sprinter, a Polish Sprinter (Best in the Midwest), and me. The 2 other guys with us could not hold the pace on the rolling climbs and got spit out the back.

With one lap to go I bridged ~30 secs so I kept hammering. The two sprinters were yelling at each other because neither one would do any work and they had no chance to win unless we bridged... but they still didn't help. I knew my only opportunity to get a medal was to bridge the group and beat one of the three lead guys (6 of us and only 5 medals). So I kept the pace up 26-27 mph.

With only 3-4 miles left, the lead group was 10-15 secs up the road, and I kept up the steam. When we reached the last corner ~ 1-1.5 miles from the finish, I was 8-10 secs behind and they knew I was coming.

With about 200 meters left I has out of the saddle giving it all I could. The 3 lead guys started their sprint and the two sprinters, which I towed for 20 miles, came around me. I had no gas left and took 6th (3-5 secs from first). That's racing. I made the wrong choice."

Congrats, Ron, Bob & Russ. Great effort!

Return from Cycle Oregon

Dennis, Darrell, and Peggy have returned from Oregon, and Dennis has some fantastic pics of Crater Lake. Here they are.

La Vuelta a Espana 07

We are in the final week 2007's last great pro cycling tour. Sadly, there is no TV coverage of the Vuelta a Espana. Versus ain't at the Vuelta, and the pro cycling media is more concerned with sad sack doping than grand competition.

There is, however, a fantastic web site with a very cool photo gallery to keep you entertained.

Spain is a wide open country with scenic beauty beyond compare. Check out the Vuelta web site when you get a chance.

http://www.lavuelta.com/07/ingles/webimagenes/imagenes18.html?e=18

Photos courtesy of above.

Northwest Illinois Century

This is our Tour for Cancer Century and our lovely Saturday coffee ride, Lyle's Ewe Turn.

Teresa Isbell has invited the world to join her on these two routes on Saturday morning, September 22nd. The rides begin with group photos at 6:30 am at HCC and the YMCA.

Teresa has planned an after ride get together at Cimino's.

If you missed the Tour for Cancer Century on June 30, here's your chance to bite the hair of the dog. or else "Bonk on Binkley."

Thanks for your enthusiastic persuasion, Teresa. We love your spirit!!

Trib Tidbits

Here's one from the Sunday Trib. Meet "Strangers and Friends" while cycling in Europe. Cycle along the Danube, and plan ahead using this bike tour web site: http://www.biketoursdirect.com/.

Also a footnote in the Transportation section on Bicycling & the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist. Cyclist/lawyer Bob Mionske has written a 384 page book available through Velo Press for $18.95. "This covers rights and duties of cyclists in commuting, accidents, group rides, property damage and bike theft."

Finally, a photo of our Badger Bicyclist, Lyle Krug, taken by his lovely wife, Jane, on some nifty single track southeast of Steamboat, Colorado.

Upper Left in Oregon

Commodore Dennis Robinson has been urging us to join him in Oregon (the state) for their annual cycling tour. This year, Dennis is joined by Peggy Badgett and his ole Komrad, Darrell "Wrigleyville" Windle. Darrell is an experienced Cycle Oregon rider, and Peg is going out to bash some of the locals.

We hope their weather is favorable, and here are some photos off the Cycle Oregon web site...