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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Group on mission to improve road safety

Gloria and Chuck Wilhelm are on a mission to change the laws in the Champaign-Urbana area and the rest of Illinois concerning the use of cell phones by vehicle drivers and other distractions to drive.

On Sunday, the Wilhelms talked about their efforts before a standing-room only crowd at Urbana City Hall, The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported Monday.

Matt Wilhelm, 25, was riding a bicycle on Illinois 130 just east of Urbana on Sept. 2 when a car hit him. The News-Gazette reported that the car's driver, Jennifer Stark, 19, of Urbana, was distracted by downloading ring tones onto her cell phone. Even though Matt was wearing a helmet, he died Sept. 8 of head injuries from the accident.

Stark pleaded guilty last month to improper lane usage and is set to be sentenced in late November. The maximum she can receive is a $1,000 fine.

The Wilhelms are pushing for passage of a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would raise the punishment for distracted drivers.

At the meeting, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said she will be asking the legislature to create a stronger law for what she termed "negligent vehicular homicide."

According to a draft of the proposed bill, a person would be guilty of negligent vehicular homicide if "while in the course of operating a motor vehicle, the person's negligent operation of such vehicle is a substantial cause of the death of another person."

"As a prosecutor, I need to have more tools," Rietz told the News-Gazette after the meeting. "The fact that all I can do is charge somebody with a 'fine only' offense is an insult to victims and their families."

Earlier in October, Urbana Alderman Charlie Smyth said he will propose a ban on cell phone use by drivers in Urbana in the wake of Matt's death. He elaborates on his stand on cell phones on his Web site.

The Wilhelms have created a site at CaringBridge.org paying tribute to their son, and they are writing a journal about him and their efforts to change the laws about distracted driving.

Labels: cycling

Roger 1 comments links to this post 9:57 AM

Monday, October 30, 2006

Deal in works to extend Katy Trail

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting today that bicyclists who want to experience the entire Katy Trail to Machens, Mo., may be able to do it as soon as the summer of 2007.

An 11-mile section of the trail between St. Charles and Machens, a hamlet just south of Portage des Sioux, has been uncompleted for years. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the North County Levee District hope to reach an agreement that would reroute at least part of the trail on a levee, the Post reports.

The extension of the trail would make put it closer to linking with the Clark Bridge over the Mississippi River into Illinois, thus tying into Madison County's extensive trail system.

The Post also mentions the effort to extend the Katy Trail from its current end point in Clinton, Mo., to the Kansas City area. The Missouri Bicycle Federation has been active in trying to convince Ameren into allowing an old railroad right-of-way it owns to be converted into a trail.

Labels: cycling

Roger 0 comments links to this post 3:06 AM

Saturday, October 28, 2006

WORLD CHAMPS!

If you have told me a month ago that I would be designing this front page for the Belleville News-Democrat, I would have told you that you're nuts.

A month ago, the St. Louis Cardinals were limping their way into the playoffs. Even Cardinal fans were wondering whether this team was worthy of making the playoffs. Once they got there, the experts gave them almost no chance of making it past the Division Series against the then-hot San Diego Padres, let alone the New York Mets.

But, yes it's true. The St. Louis Cardinals are world champions!

Way to go, Cards!

The Cardinals had to wait 24 years between World Series titles, but their 10th title -- second only to the New York Yankees -- was worth the wait.

While their regular season record was the worst of any team that has ever won the Series, the Cardinals were not as bad as their regular season record indicated. Keep in mind injuries kept the Cardinals from fielding a steady lineup during much of the season and that the pitching staff underwent a lot of changes between the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

But once the Cardinals made the post-season, I honestly felt the Cardinals could make waves in the playoffs. Any lineup that features Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen is one to be reckoned with, and I knew at least two of the starting pitchers -- Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan -- could be counted on to give solid performances.

But this postseason was a triumph for the little guy. During the Division Series and the NLCS, people like Scott Spiezio and Javier Molina were doing much of the damage for the Cardinals, but in the Series, the smallest guy of all was the hero.

Shortstop David Eckstein -- all 5-foot-7, 165 pounds of him -- was the Series MVP. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in guts and determination, traits that have endeared him with Cardinals Nation.

Despite opening 0-for-10 in the series, Eckstein finished 8-for-12 and wound up hitting .364 (8-for-22), with three doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored. He had the game-winning double in Game 4 and drove in two runs in Game 5.

I'm disappointed that this could go down as the Series with the worst TV ratings ever. I'm sure the Tigers' disappointing performance had something to do with that, but frankly, I think Fox executives need to take a close look in the mirror for a lot of that.

I know I speak with a Midwest bias here, but I think Fox contributes to the problem by fixating on the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Baseball isn't as popular among sports fans as it once was, but perhaps Fox needs to take a look back at what NBC used to do with its "Game of the Week" and do a better job of exposing the rest of the country to the great stories during the course of the season.

The Detroit Tigers were one of those great stories. Just three years ago, the Tigers set an American League record with 119 losses, but thanks to some smart acquisitions between 2003 and 2006 and the addition of manager Jim Leyland, the Tigers put together an amazing season. Had the Cardinals not been in the Series, I would have rooted for the Tigers.

Having seen Cardinals teams with superior talent to the 2006 version falter in the postseason, I know the pain Tigers fans feel today. But this weekend, I revel in the joy that Cardinal Nation is feeling. Let's hope we don't have to wait another 24 years before the next World Series championship.

Way to go, Cards!

P.S.: In going through some of the articles on the Series on Google News this morning, I couldn't help but notice the byline of the Reuters reporter who covered the Series -- Larry Fine. Let's hope he takes fewer slaps to the head and eyepokes than his more famous namesake did!

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:31 AM

Friday, October 27, 2006

One more left to go

The St. Louis Cardinals' incredible postseason run continued Thursday with an amazing 5-4 comeback win over the Detroit Tigers.

That, of course, means the Cardinals need to win just one more game to win the World Series. With a 3-1 lead in the Series, the odds look good that the Cardinals will win their 10th World Series title.

But as we Cardinals fans know, winning that fourth game can be a difficult task. All we have to do is take a look back at 1985 and 1987.

In 1985, the Cardinals were a half-inning away from winning the Series in Game 6 against the Kansas City Royals. With a 1-0 lead, the Royals' Jorge Orta hit a slow roller to Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark, who tossed the ball to reliever Todd Worrell, who was covering first base. The umpire, Don Denkinger, called Orta safe even though replays clearly showed Orta was out.

While many Cardinals fans blame the Denkinger call for the Game 6 loss, the Cardinals didn't help themselves when Clark later misplayed a foul pop-up and catch Darrell Porter allowed a passed ball. The Cardinals lost that game 2-1, forcing Game 7. The Cardinals suffered a complete meltdown in Game 7, losing that game 11-0 and the Series 4-3.

In 1987, the Minnesota Twins were the Cardinals' World Series foes. The Twins won the first two games in Minnesota, then the Cardinals won the next three in St. Louis. The Twins proceeded to win the next two games at the Metrodome and won the series, marking the first time in Series history that all the games were won by the home team.

It would be sweet if the Cardinals could close things out tonight in St. Louis -- provided they're able to play because of the weather. Unfortunately, we're still in the midst of November-style weather -- cool, damp and gloomy, so we shall see whether they'll play tonight. If the game is called off, the forecast is much more promising for Saturday evening: mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 50s.

Because I was working, designing the front page pictured above, I only got to see bits and pieces of Game 4, but it was still sweet watching newsroom Cardinals fans gather around the television and cheering the Cards to victory.

There is a small pocket of non-Cardinals fans who work at the News-Democrat. They watched the game last night on a TV in the room that houses our Sports and Lifestyle departments, segregated from the Cardinals fans watching in the main newsroom.

After the game, one of them told me "the Cardinals suck." All I can say to that is that the teams she roots for, the New York Mets and the Oakland A's, must really suck because they both lost to teams playing in this World Series. Sure, the Tigers aren't exactly playing stellar defense, but teams like the Cardinals still have to take advantage of those breaks and so far they have.

Speaking of the News-Democrat, kudos go to members of our Sports department -- Sports Editor Joe Ostermeier and sports writers David Wilhelm, Rod Kloeckner and Norm Sanders -- for their coverage. We don't have the resources that the much-larger St. Louis Post-Dispatch has to cover the Series, but our guys are doing a good job of covering the bases.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:35 PM

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A rainy Wednesday in St. Louis

Just minutes ago, they finally called off Game 4 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers because of the steady rain that has been pouring on Busch Stadium.

Since I was off tonight, I was looking forward to actually being able to watch an entire game. Working evenings as I do, I only get to see bits and pieces of the game. My employer thinks it's better that I spend my time designing pages and editing stories instead of watching baseball. But because such a large part of the Belleville News-Democrat's front page is devoted to the Cardinals and the World Series, I can justify sneaking a little peek at the game.

Thanks to the Cardinals' 5-0 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday, designing Wednesday's front page was a real joy. Chris Carpenter's stellar performance was the big story of the game, but clutch hitting by Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds and poor fielding by the Tigers also key parts of the game.

Here's hoping that Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan can continue his amazing postseason run Thursday in Game 4. I'm just disappointed that I won't be able to see the entire game.

Wednesday felt like the stereotypical November day in St. Louis -- cold, damp and gloomy. That meant I did a lot of work on the computer today. For example, I sent out the final newsletter of the 2006 season for the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society. We have one more ride planned for Sunday at the Ravissant Winery in Belleville. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and make it a nice way to end the season.

The cold front that came in Sunday cut attendance at our informal ride at Vintner's Cellar in Edwardsville, but some of us still took the opportunity to visit the ArtEast studio tour in Edwardsville. A week earlier, I had visited the Alton half of the ArtEast tour to see work by two friends of mine, Patricia Badman and Brenda Elfgen. It was great seeing both of these talented artists again.

I called my mom tonight, and she had some sad news. She had to have one of her dogs, 11-year-old Katie, put to sleep today because of serious heart problems. Back in March, she had to put 16-year-old Scamp -- my favorite of the four dogs she had -- put to sleep as well, so she is down to two dogs on the farm.

I knew something wasn't right with Katie four weeks ago when I took the dogs out for a walk toward the woods on our family farm. Katie came out, but when I turned around to head back to the house, she just sat there and gave me the saddest stare I had ever seen from a dog. It was like she had just given up.

All in all, it was a disappointing Wednesday.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:08 PM

Cycling news of the weird

Clinton Township, Pa., Township police are seeking the public's help with an investigation into a flasher who exposes himself to women while he's riding a bicycle.

The Express-Times of Easton, Pa., reported that in one of the three cases reported last week, the cyclist asked one of the three victims for directions, rode his bike past her several time before exposing himself.

The flashing cyclist is described as a tall, thin, white male, 30 to 40 years old, with dark hair, wearing a blue short sleeve shirt, black shorts and a dark helmet, and riding a blue bicycle.

At least he's smart enough to wear a helmet. It's too bad he's not smart enough to know that exposing himself to women just ain't right.

Labels: cycling

Roger 0 comments links to this post 9:53 PM

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Illinois 255 extension opens

The 7.6-mile extension of Illinois 255 from Illinois 143 in Wood River to Fosterburg Road near Alton is complete. Eventually, Illinois 255 will be extended to U.S. 67 near Alton.

I have mixed feelings about the extension of the road.

For selfish reasons, I welcome the extension. It makes it a whole lot easier for me to drive from my home in Belleville to our family farm near Brighton. It means I no longer have to go through the stop lights in Hartford, Wood River, East Alton and Alton to drive up there, so it should shave a considerable amount of time from the trip.

I often get concerned when I hear about highway construction because it often leads to excessive subdivision construction and congested roads that unsuitable for cycling. While the Alton-Wood River area needs a strong dose of economic development, lets hope the region's leaders do it right.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 2:50 PM

Friday, October 20, 2006

ON TO THE SERIES!

I must say I had a lot of fun designing the front page of today's Belleville News-Democrat! Make no bones about it, I am a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, but if you would have told me a few weeks ago that I would be designing such a front, I would have said you were crazy.

The Cardinals backed into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. They had a 19-31 record in the final 50 games of the season, and they almost blew an 8 1/2-game lead over the Houston Astros.

And, yet, the St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series.

I still can't believe it, so let me say it again. The St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series.

They've shouldn't have beaten the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series because the Padres were one of baseball's hottest teams going into the playoffs. They definitely shouldn't have beaten the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series because the Mets were clearly the Senior Circuit's best team in the regular season.

And yet ... the Cardinals win the pennant!

They did so not just because of the big names on the team --Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. No, the Cardinals' trip to the World Series is a victory for the little guys -- Yavier Molina, Jeff Suppan, Scott Spiezio and a cast of others.

For more expert commentary on the Cardinals' win, I encourage you to visit the Belleville News-Democrat, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other outlets such as ESPN. But here's my humble assessment of the World Series:

The Cardinals are the underdogs. The Detroit Tigers not only dominated the American League playoffs, they dominated the Cardinals in their three interleague battles during the regular season, outscoring the Cardinals 21-13.

But this is Red October. You just never know what will happen. That's why, as the cliche goes, they play the games.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:16 AM

LIB drivers education video

The League of Illinois Bicyclists, with funding from the Illinois Department of Transportation, has produced a nearly seven-minute video on motorist-bicyclist safety. This file is available to view in 2 sizes, a large (52MB) file which is best viewed using a broadband connection, and a smaller (11MB) file which may be viewed on slower connections.

Thanks to Fritz at the Cycle-Licious blog for guiding me to this site. Because of all the bicycle- and work-related tasks I've been doing lately, I haven't had the time to go through various sites, even those close to home, as thoroughly as I normally do. I hope things will die down on both fronts shortly.

Roger 1 comments links to this post 3:16 AM

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Southwestern Illinois rides

I recently received a note from a reader of this blog asking me to write an article about suggested routes for road cyclists in Southwestern Illinois.

As an expert in this area, can you write in your blog about suggested routes?

I live in StL but would like to help some new cycling fans experience the joy of open road riding. You have stated that this area is one of the best to ride/enjoy. They have ridden the trails in MadCty already.

I don't know if I'd call myself an expert, but I will be happy to help out.

The first place I would go would be the RouteSlip.com. Those routes are similar to those I rode regularly 20 years ago when I lived in Edwardsville, but I modified them somewhat to use some of the Madison County trails, most of which didn't exist 20 years ago. Here's some samples:

• Edwardsville Loop (16.4 miles)
• Edwardsville-Bethalto Route (24.8 miles)
• Edwardsville-Troy Loop (27.9 miles)
• Leclaire Park (Edwardsville)-Pin Oak Road Loop (17.5 miles)
• Edwardsville-Marine Ride (36.9 miles)
• Northern Madison County Loop (48.4 miles)

I invite those of you who ride in Southwestern Illinois to add your routes in the comments. You can type them in the old-fashioned way, or you can provide links to maps you've plotted online through RouteSlip.com or the Gmaps Pedometer. If you're not sure how to create a hyperlink, check out this tutorial.

I've used both of the programs, and both do a good job of accurately calculating the mileage. I personally prefer RouteSlip to Gmaps Pedometer because RouteSlip allows you to input information like turns and rest stops to specific points you plot, then generates a cue sheet that you can print.

The big weakness of both programs -- and it's a serious weakness -- is that they don't allow you to print a map with road names clear enough to read. I still have to draw the maps in another program to make them useable by groups like the BABES.

Another weakness is that the Google maps used by both program often do not have the correct common name of the road. While the maps are technically accurate in describing a road as something like "County Highway 44," most county-maintained roads in Southwestern Illinois are identified on street signs by a road name such as "Fruit Road." I often have to supplement cue sheets either with Mapquest, which uses the more common name, and by actually going out to the road to see how the street sign -- if there's a street sign -- identifies it.

Good luck in plotting your routes, and please do share!

Roger 0 comments links to this post 2:51 PM

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tour of Missouri: The official announcement

The Tour of Missouri moved one step closer to reality today when Missouri officials announced the inaugural race, which will be Sept. 11-16, 2007. It promises to be a major event.

Here's the text of the press release issued today during a press conference in St. Louis and posted on the ride's Web site:

Tour of Missouri Brings World-Class Professional Cycling to the State

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (October 17, 2006) ---- Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and Lt. Governor Peter Kinder announced today that the state will play host to the inaugural Tour of Missouri professional cycling race, September 11 – 16, 2007.

In its initial year, the Tour of Missouri will be anointed one of the nation’s top three stage races behind the prestigious Tour of Georgia and Tour of California races, providing an historic landmark for the sport with three major domestic stage races on American soil.

"Missouri is known as the Show-Me State, and we look forward to showing our state to spectators around the world through the Tour of Missouri," Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said. "This event has great potential to bring economic benefits to our state and is an opportunity for us to join these world class cyclists to spread the message of the positive benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle."

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, in his role as Chairman of the Missouri Tourism Commission remarked, "The Tour of Missouri is an exciting way to showcase our beautiful state. The entire state will be surprised and pleased by the size and economic impact this event will have on Missouri and Missouri's tourism industry. This race represents millions of additional dollars each year being pumped into our larger cities and our smaller rural areas."

The Tour of Missouri has been slated as one of only five stage races in the newly created USA Cycling Pro Tour, which will highlight the top multi-day races in America. The race also will be granted a high-ranking by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body for the sport of cycling. The race is sanctioned by USA Cycling, the official cycling organization recognized by the USOC.

“It’s a distinct pleasure to be involved with the continued evolution of the sport of professional cycling in this country, and Missouri will be a great venue for a world-class event,” said Jim Birrell, the race’s director and someone who has been involved in staging elite professional cycling races for more than 20 years. “The support of the state has been tremendous, and I’m sure the citizens of Missouri will enjoy this free public event while also enjoying the rolling festival that comes along with it.”

The Tour of Missouri will play host to up to 16 major international professional teams, including top U.S.-based pro tour teams as well as some of Europe’s top Pro Tour teams.

Fred Rodriquez, a three-time U.S. Professional Champion and a rider with the Belgium-based Davitamon-Lotto team, one of the top squads in the world was in attendance as well and commented, “The Tour of Missouri is situated perfectly for American domestic teams as well as top Americans who have raced much of the season in Europe. For an American, having three major stages in the U.S. for the first time is great news. It shows the growth of cycling as a sport. The Tour of Missouri will provide a great opportunity for Americans looking to prepare for the World Championships at the end of the season.”

The mid-September dates follow the USA Professional Cycling Championships in Greenville, S.C. and before the World Championships, which are usually the last week of September. Rodriquez, who attended Tuesday’s press conference at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, finished a very respectable 15th in the World Championships in Salzburg, Austria three weeks ago.

The six-day race is expected to start in the western part of the state around KansasCity and finish around St. Louis, according to race organizers, who will begin negotiating with potential start and finish cities immediately.

The race is expected to cover about 600 miles and highlight urban as well as rural parts of the Show Me State.

The State of Missouri is a proud supporter of the Tour of Missouri. Tourism is a $13.4 billion industry for the state of Missouri, generating more than 37.7 million domestic person trips each year. The professional cycling races in other states like Georgia and California has registered more than $40 million in quantified economic impact and tourist attraction.

Medalist Sports, Inc. of Tyrone, Ga., just south of Atlanta, in partnership with KOM Sports Marketing, are the premier event management and marketing organization for professional multi-day cycling races in North America. It currently is the event management group for the Amgen Tour of California and Tour de Georgia, as well as the USA Cycling Professional Championships. Medalist’s managing partners are Jim Birrell and Chris Aronhalt. KOM is led by Steve Brunner. Combined the three have more than 50 years combined experience organizing top international sporting events, including elite cycling
events the Tour de Trump (1989-90), Tour DuPont (1991-96), Tour of Georgia (2003-06), Amgen Tour of California (2006), as well as five Olympics Games, multiple Olympic Trials and three Goodwill Games. Medalist is also the event management group for the USA Cycling Professional Championship held annually in Greenville, S.C.

Links to more coverage of the Tour of Missouri:

• Missourinet.com
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  
• New York Times
• Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader)
• Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
• Kansas City Star
• STLBiking.com
  
• Bicycle Retailer and Industry News
  
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Oct. 7 column by Kathleen Nelson)
• Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader (Oct. 7)

Roger 2 comments links to this post 7:08 PM

Making connections: A grand plan for trails

I know I'm a day late in passing along this item from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about plans by St. Louis-area leaders to add bicycle routes to 57 miles of road that would link parks and MetroLink stops.

I didn't get a chance to visit stltoday.com yesterday because I was extremely busy with work on the "Tour de Donut: Gluttons for Punishment" Web site.

The Post-Dispatch reported Monday that signs designating the new Bike St. Louis routes should be up by spring. (NOTE: the Bike St. Louis Web site is rather dated: The site's home page still links to an event that took place in April 2005.)

The Post story goes on to describe some of the routes and the challenges that face St. Louis-area leaders and cyclists as they develop bicycle routes in the city.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:30 AM

County's trail system is something to be proud of

Illinois state Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, recently wrote a guest column for the Suburban Journals in Collinsville and Edwardsville in which he says some of the finest bicycle trails in the world can be found in Madison County.

Here's a snipet from the column:

The Madison County Transit District started the "rail to trails" program in the early 1990s to preserve urban rail corridors for trail use, among other things. Currently, there are 85 miles of scenic bikeways in Madison County that take riders through various natural areas such as woods, across fields, over creeks and along the Mississippi River.

MCT is one of the only transit systems in the nation with an integrated transportation system that links our bikeways with the bus system, creating a multi-level alternative to driving.

Haine deserves a lot of the credit for laying the groundwork for the bicycle trails. Haine served as chairman of the Madison County Transit District Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1988 while serving on the Madison County Board.

The state created transit districts in Madison and St. Clair counties to allocate sales tax revenue and money other taxes for mass transit. While St. Clair County determined that a more traditional arrangment with Metro (formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency) to provide bus and light-rail service to its citizens was best, Madison County decided to go a different route.

Haine and his board at the time determined traditional bus service did not work very well in Madison County, partly because there's considerable distance among the county's major population centers. Under Haine's leadership, MCT greatly reduced its ties with Metro and created its own mass transit system that could serve the citizens of the county with more flexibility.

That move helped lay the groundwork for the 85 miles of bicycle trails MCT now maintains. Instead of pouring money into Metro, MCT could put aside some money to develop trails, the first being the Nature Trail that now links Edwardsville and the city of Madison.

Madison County has numerous miles of abandoned railroad rights of way dating from the days when there were many railroads going from St. Louis to Chicago, Springfield, Decatur and other Illinois communities. MCT Executive Director Jerry Kane and his staff have done a masterful job of getting state and federal grants to obtain those rights of way and develop the trail system.

While it is possible some of those rights of way could be used for an extension of the MetroLink light-rail system into Madison County, there will be plenty of trails of bicyclists and pedestrians to use for years to come.

People who use the MCT trail system should thank Sen. Haine and the MCT board for having the foresight to create a new model for mass transit that made the trail system possible.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:15 AM

Monday, October 16, 2006

Tour de Donut: Texas Style

There's a Tour de Donut in Katy, Texas. The Nov. 5 ride is a fund-raiser for the Make A Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast.

To their credit, the organizers of the event had the savvy to get the tourdedonut.com domain name. But the rest of the ride sounds suspiciously like a ride I helped create in 1989, the original Tour de Donut. For example, here's an excerpt from the Texas site:

The Tour de Donut is a unique bicycle race where riders embark on an appetizing 28-mile journey beginning at the Katy Mills Mall (in Katy, Texas of course!) with rest stops along the way serving as many delectable donuts as you can eat.

For each tasty donut that a rider consumes, the rider is awarded a tempting 5-minute time credit.

Speaking of the original Tour de Donut, I have made some improvements to the Web site for the documentary about the event, "Tour de Donut: Gluttons for Punishment." I created a Flash introduction, plus I've added James Ibur's original soundtrack to the site so you can listen while you're browsing the site.

UPDATE: You now can order the movie online through the Web site. The film costs $18, including postage.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 7:18 PM

Thursday, October 12, 2006

tourdedonutmovie.com

On Wednesday, Jim Klenn and I got the Web site for the documentary "Tour de Donut: Gluttons for Punishment" online. The URL for the site is: http://www.tourdedonutmovie.com/

We are doing a soft debut of the site because it isn't complete. For example, you won't be able to purchase the movie online just yet because we are still squaring away some details. Also, the film trailer is still in production, so we have some screen grabs from the film to whet your appetite -- so to speak -- for the film. We also have other photos and bits of information that still need to be added.

I hope the site is successful in drawing people to this humorous and entertaining film.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 4:21 PM

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Tribute to a bike trunk

The Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society's Lebanon Fall Festival Ride marked an end of an era. It was the final ride for my 10-year-old Lone Peak bike trunk.

I actually should have retired it Friday because the zippers finally gave out before the start of the ride to scout the Tour de Grape route in the Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Chester, Ill., area, but I couldn't make it to a bike shop in time to buy a new one. That meant the trunk had one more day of duty. I had to borrow a couple of safety pins to make sure it still stayed shut and that my cargo -- my camera, my billfold, my tools and spare tubes, a couple of energy bars and my jacket -- didn't spill on the roads between Lebanon and Highland, Ill.

The Lone Peak bike trunk took a lot of abuse. One many of my weeklong tours, I stuffed the bag to the max with my camera, my billfold, my tools and spare tubes, a couple of energy bars or gels, tour maps, my jacket and leg warmers. It survived the heat of Arizona 10 years ago this week. It survived several days of rain on tours in Nebraska, Quebec and Florida. It survived numerous training rides in the Belleville area. It even survived two accidents, with contents intact.

Yes, the Lone Peak shared thousands of miles with me, and it served me well.

The bike shop where I do the bulk of my purchases, Touring Cyclist in Fairview Heights, Ill., no longer carries Lone Peak, so I had to move on. I bought a Banjo Brothers bike trunk. Unlike the Lone Peak, the Banjo Brothers bag expands for those days I need to carry extra gear. It also has side pockets, an inside key clip a loop for attaching my rear light and a shoulder strap.

Here's hoping the Banjo Brothers will survive as long as the Lone Peak.

As for the Lebanon Fall Festival Ride, it was another great day for another great ride. I'm kind of biased about the routes we used because they're the same ones we use for the Tour de Stooges. The Fall Festival ride has the same great scenery without all the frills such as marked routes, SAG support and rest stops stocked with water, fruit, cookies and candy.

It's good every once in a while to be able to actually ride one of the Stooge routes. While I spend plenty of time on the Tour de Stooges routes on the first Saturday in May and the days before the ride, they're in a car marking routes, making sure riders are OK and delivering food and water to and from the various rest stops. I have yet to ride my bike the day of the ride, and I don't anticipate being able to ride it on the first Saturday in May anytime soon.

I and several other people took the 42-mile route, more commonly known as the Shemp Shortcut. My friends Arlene Willmann and Thomas Carter waited for me in Highland, and we took a detour to the House of Plenty restaurant. The restaurant makes tasty sandwiches and even better desserts. The oatmeal pie is a culinary work of art, in my humble view.

After the ride, I took some photos of downtown Lebanon for the Tour de Stooges Web site and took my first-ever tour of the Mermaid House, a building dating the from 1830 best known for the fact Charles Dickens stayed there in 1842.

All in all, it was a good way to say goodbye to the Lone Peak bike trunk.

Roger 1 comments links to this post 9:52 AM

Friday, October 06, 2006

Great day ... great ride

As a week of vacation nears its end, I must say it's been a good week away from the Belleville News-Democrat. It's been a "working" vacation of sorts as I've done some Web site work and other preparations for the Tour de Stooges, the site for the documentary "Tour de Donut: Gluttons for Punishment" and the site for the Tour de Grape, which makes its debut May 12-13, 2007.

Part of the "work" today involved riding the route for the second day of the Tour de Grape, which will be a major fund-raiser for HavenHouse St. Louis, an organization that provides lodging for families of children receiving treatment at St. Louis-area hospitals. Joining me on the ride were HavenHouse Executive Director Kathy Sindel and her husband, Charley, and their friends Larry and Mary Jo Keith.

We couldn't have asked for a better day for cycling. The high temperature hit a seasonable 68 degrees with plenty of sunshine.

But the route we did today was even better. We started the ride in historic Ste. Genevieve, Mo., past several French-style home built in the 1700s. We proceeded down to St. Mary, then to the bridge linking Missouri with Chester, Ill. Chester is the home of the Popeye Statue, which honors Chester native and Popeye creator Elize Segar. Segar based Popeye on a real-life Chester resident, Frank "Rocky" Fiegel.

We passed the Menard Correctional Center, the home of some of Illinois' most dangerous criminals. The imposing structure left an impression with my cycling partners. We then passed the Pierre Menard home, which was the home of Illinois' first lieutenant governor. Kaskaskia was Illinois' first state capital, from 1818 to 1820. Most of the original village was destroyed in the late 1800s when the Mississippi River changed its course, but the Menard home was on high enough ground to survive the shift.

We then climbed into the small town of Ellis Grove and ate lunch at the Pop-A-Top bar and grill. Then the went back down into the scenic Mississippi River valley, enjoying a tailwind and the beautiful bluffs on one side and acres and acres of farmland on the other. We are planning two options for the route, a short one of 45 miles and a longer one of 60 miles that will take cyclists to Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, a restored French Colonial fort.

We did the 45-mile version and took the Modoc Ferry back into Ste. Genevieve. All in all, we all thought this route will be winner with Tour de Grape participants. Most of the route is flat, but there are enough hills to keep you honest. The French Colonial history of the region will provide plenty of opportunities to stop and learn about the early white settlers in the region.

Tour de Grape's first day will take people to the rolling-to-hilly countryside near Farmington and Fredericktown, Mo. We agreed the first day will be more challenging for cyclists, especially for an early season ride, but we thought people likely will enjoy the second day even more because all the reasons listed above.

It is probably a good thing I did this ride instead of going over to Elletsville, Ind., for the Hilly Hundred ride. Hilly is one of my favorite rides because of the great routes, food and live music, but I would not have been in good enough shape to enjoy the ride. I was climbing reasonably well before my July accident, but I have yet to recover that form in the weeks since then.

Here's hoping the folks on Hilly -- which include my older sister, Teresa Parod, and her son, Julius -- have a great weekend exploring the hills of Indiana.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:12 PM

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Elite bicycle racing coming to Missouri

Over the past few months, word has been filtering out that Missouri will be getting an elite cycling event -- the Tour of Missouri -- in September 2007.

The Missouri Bicycle Federation first reported that Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's office was actively pursuing the event back in March. In recent weeks, word has leaked out in various outlets: the STLBiking.com fourm, VeloNews and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI, the international governing body of cycling) 2007 calendar of events in North America and South America. On Wednesday, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported the event will be Sept. 11-16.

The Missouri Bicycle Racing Association has been working with the governor's office and Medalist Sports, the company that puts on top U.S. events such as the Ford Tour of Georgia and the Amgen Tour of California, in developing the Tour of Missouri. MOBRA President Mike Weiss recently informed me more details about the event should be released next week.

In the past, elite riders such as Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie have riden either in the Tour of Georgia or the Tour of California.

It's great that the state of Missouri has recognized the value of the Tour of Georgia and the Tour of California to those states and wants the same thing for Missouri. A race through Missouri, particularly the southern part of the state, would provide plenty of challenges for elite cyclists. While the hills are short by elite racing standards -- they're plenty long for average cyclists such as myself -- many of them are plenty steep.

Here's hoping the people of Missouri and the rest of the Midwest get behind this race as the people of California and Georgia have gotten behind their races.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 8:56 AM

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

... But there's room for improvement

I recently wrote about the expansion of Madison County Transit's bicycle trails and the new maps that point out all the great loops possible from the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon, Ill., area.

As with all endeavors, there's room for improvement. Here's a couple of things I would like to see MCT address in the next few months:

• The condition of the MCT Nature Trail. It's been several months since I've ridden it, but there are several cracks in the section of the trail between Interstates 270 and 255 that can easily grab a road tire and cause a serious accident. I handed out the new MCT maps to several people on the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society's Ravissant Winery ride, and several cyclists mentioned the poor condition of the trail to me. Until MCT gets around to repairing that trail, cyclists on road bikes should use plenty of caution on that stretch of the Nature Trail.
• Lack of signage: The completion of the Goshen Trail opens up a lot of possibilities for cyclists it takes cyclists safely through the rapidly growing communities of Edwardsville and Glen Carbon. However, if you are not familiar with the region, it can be confusing to figure out which trail you need to take. At a minimum, MCT needs to put up signs at trail intersections to guide them on the proper trail. It would be even better if MCT also adds the mileage to certain key locations on the trails such as towns, parks, schools, universities, etc. Not everyone who rides the the trails will have a map, so the signs would be really helpful in guiding people on the 85 miles of trail MCT maintains.

These points are meant to be constructive criticism to help MCT make a great bicycle trail network even better. The people of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area are fortunate to have a governmental agency such as MCT committed to building and maintaining trails that provide lots of recreational opportunities for cyclists, runners and walkers.

Roger 1 comments links to this post 2:53 PM

New look for Tour de Stooges Web site

2007 will be the 10th anniversary of the Tour de Stooges bicycle ride, and I figured it will be appropriate to redesign the ride's Web site. I posted the revamped site this morning, and I invite you take a look.

The 2007 ride will be on Saturday, May 5, at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill. Registration for the ride likely will open Feb. 1. Because this is the 10th anniversary of the ride, we are hoping to add a few surprises for 2007.

In the scheme of things, I'm not blazing new trails in the world of Web Design with this site, but they're new trails for me. It is the first site I've created that uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for all design elements of the site. All my previous sites, including this page, use tables to set the location of elements of the page. For all you non-computer geek types, what using a CSS-based design as opposed to a table-based design means is that it takes less time for the page to load. It also makes it easier for me to change the look of the site if I need to.

I've also added a page describing the Haunted Hostel party.

I'm excited about the Tour de Stooges' new site, and I'm even more excited about the ride! Hope to see you there.

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:16 AM