The Blog Page

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

 

Tour de Stooges registration open!

Registration for the 2010 Tour de Stooges bicycle ride is open!

The 13th edition of the Tour de Stooges takes place Saturday, May 1, at Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill.

We've made it more economical to attend this year's ride. If you pre-register for the ride, the cost is $20 for adults, $10 for children 5-12 and $50 for a family pack (2 adults, 2 children). On the day of the ride, the cost is $25 for adults, $15 for children and $60 for the family pack.

T-shirts will be sold separately. The cost is $10 for people who pre-register and $15 day-of-ride. We recommend you buy your shirt in advance because quantities likely will be limited the day of the ride.

To register online or by mail, go to the Tour de Stooges site, follow the links to registration page and follow the instructions for registering.

The Tour de Stooges consists of five routes -- 17, 22, 30, 42 and 64 miles -- through the rural countryside ine Madison, St. Clair and Clinton counties. After the ride, we serve you lunch and all the slapstick comedy you can stand!

Hope to see you May 1 in Highland!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:45 PM

Sunday, November 29, 2009

2009 cycling season in review

This year wasn't my best when it comes to cycling. My finances didn't allow me to take a weeklong trip this year; my hope was to have done RAGBRAI, but that fell through because my money had to be spent elsewhere.

Except for the diehards, the cycling season in the St. Louis area generally ends in early November. We were lucky to have a mild November, so the season went a little bit longer than normal. Here's hoping for a few mild days in December, including next Sunday when Interstate 64/Highway 40 in St. Louis is open to bikes for one day only before it's reopened to cars next Monday.

Without a multiday highlight ride this year, I had to look at individual rides for my highlights of the year.

Longest ride of the year: OK, a 60-mile ride normally wouldn't be my longest ride of the year, but it was this year. That came in July, when I rode connected Madison County Transit trails, including the Quercus Grove Trail extension, from Collinsville to Staunton and back.

As a metro-east cycling enthusiast, it thrilled me to know that you can ride from Collinsville to Staunton and back on trails and designated road routes. As I wrote earlier this year, it is now possible to ride from downtown St. Louis to Staunton on bike trails or designated on-road bike routes.

The ride was noteworthy because I didn't start until after 4 p.m. and rode the last eight miles after sunset. That was because I had to fix a flat tire on the Quercus Grove Trail between Hamel and Edwardsville on the way back home.

Most interesting rides: Those took place in the Chicago area Nov. 11-12. On the 11th, I rode 20-plus miles on the Green Bay Trail between Evanston and Highland Park, and I followed that up with a 30-mile ride from Evanston to downtown Chicago and back.

I rode my sister Teresa's hybrid on both rides, and that seemed to be a good choice. I was surprised that so much of the Green Bay Trail is crushed limestone. I guess I'm really spoiled by the MCT trails down here. Still, because it runs along the Metra lines that head north from Chicago through Evanston and into Wisconsin, it is relatively secluded and yet give you easy access to the downtown areas of the northern suburbs.

I particularly was impressed with the ride from Evanston to downtown Chicago. My initial plan was to do a short ride through the Northwestern University campus and along the lake because my back was hurting. But once I started riding, the pain subsided and I decided to ride into the Chicago. The question was how to get from Evanston to the Lakefront Trail, and I was surprised how well the on-road bike routes are marked in Evanston and Chicago. I had no problem at all finding my way to the Lakefront Trail, and I was impressed how cars and bicycles could co-exist on the roads I traveled up there.

I felt truly fortunate the same mild weather that extended the cycling season in the St. Louis area also blessed the Chicago area that week.

Favorite club ride: I enjoy every ride I do with the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society because it a chance to see some of the nice rural scenery in St. Clair, Madison, Monroe and Clinton counties.

However, the rides I particularly enjoyed were the rides I led out of the Lau-Nae Winery in Red Bud, Ill. The closing of Ravissant Winery in Belleville forced us to find new sites for our Winery Rides in addition to the Hidden Lake Winery near Aviston.

I wasn't familiar with all the roads in the Red Bud area, so an initial search on Google reveals some routes with promise. However, I learned quickly that just because it shows up on a map, it doesn't mean the roads are suitable for road bikes. Three of the roads that looked promising degraded to dirt and gravel, Fortunately, that allowed me to find some roads that our riders enjoyed,

Many of the roads north and west of Red Bud are filled with rolling hills -- nothing really difficult, but hilly enough to make things interesting. There's some pretty country in Randolph and Monroe counties, and the folks at Lau-Nae were very happy to have us.

Tour de Stooges: Our numbers were considerably lower this year -- 375, compared to the 600 to 700 we're used to getting. However, the quality of the ride ranked among the highest of the 12 editions of the Tour de Stooges I've led. Despite forecasts of 30 to 80 percent of rain, the people who came out saw lots of sunshine and little wind.

I'm looking forward to the 13th edition on May 1, and I can tell you we are making some changes to the ride to make it more affordable for those of you on a budget.

Labels: Belleville Area Bicycling Eating Society, bicycle rides, Chicago, MCT Trails, Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:29 PM

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tour de Stooges deadlines approaching

I'm starting to get geared up for the Tour de Stooges. My house is cluttered with water jugs, tire pumps, first aid kits and two cases of spray paint. Early next week, food will be added to the piles of supplies,

We're expecting another nice crowd on Saturday, May 2, at Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill., for the 12th running of the Tour de Stooges. We hope you can join us this year on one of our five routes -- 15, 22, 31, 42 and 64 miles -- and for lunch and all the slapstick comedy you can stand.

Two pre-registration deadlines are fast approaching. For those of you who want to register by mail, you needed to get your forms filled out and in the mail by Friday (April 24). For those of you who want to register online, the deadline is noon April 29.

The cost of the ride is $30 for adults and $20 for children 5-12. If you pre-register for the ride, we'll throw in the T-shirt pictured above. Click on the picture to see a bigger image of the shirt.

If you wait until the day of the ride, the cost of the ride remains the same, but you'll have to buy the shirt separately for $20. It's definitely worth your while to pre-register for the event!

I'm sure many of you are waiting to see what the forecast is for May 2 to commit yourselves. If you were on last year's ride, you'll definitely remember the west wind that blew 15 to 25 mph all day long. We hope the day's a bit calmer so everyone will enjoy the ride!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 6:49 PM

Friday, January 02, 2009

Tour de Stooges registration open!

Four months from today, cyclists will be touring the roads of Madison, Clinton and St. Clair counties on the 12th edition of the Tour de Stooges bicycle ride.

The ride takes place Saturday, May 2, at Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill., the second year Highland has been the host of the event. Other than stiff winds of 15-20 mph that slowed people down a bit, the new location got lots of rave reviews. We're pleased to announce Cygan-Delaney Catering of Highland, which provided the great lunch last year, will be back to serve lunch again.

Once again, the Tour de Stooges features five routes ranging from 15 to 64 miles. And, of course, after the ride, you can enjoy all the slapstick comedy you can stand.

Registration for the ride opened today. You can sign up for the ride online or download a form and register by mail. The cost of the ride is $30 for adults and $20 for children 5-12. The first 500 pre-registered riders will receive T-shirts. You also can sign up the day of the ride, but T-shirts will have to be purchased separately for $25 each.

We hope to see you May 2 in Highland!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:06 PM

Friday, April 25, 2008

Stooging, not blogging

I've been way too busy this week to do a lot of meaningful blogging, so here's a summary of the week so far:

Tour de Stooges: With the event almost a week away, most of my time not spent at the Belleville News-Democrat or in bed has been spent ironing out final details of the Tour de Stooges on Saturday, May 3, in beautiful Highland, Ill. We have well more than 200 pre-registered riders so far, and we expect a big rush before online registration closes at noon Wednesday.

Bicycle World: My old buddy Hal Leventhal at the Belleville, Ill.-based Bicycle World wanted a Web site, and now he has one: bellevillebicycleworld.com. The version I created for him is a rough draft just to get something on the Web. I'll be working on the real version of the site after Tour de Stooges dies down.

Roger's on Twitter: I decided to create a Twitter site. Why, I really don't know what I'll end up doing with that site, but I'll probably use it to promote items on this site plus briefly discuss personal things that don't really fit on this blog. So far, my only two followers are Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. I'm sure they really care what's going on in my life, but I'm following them just for the fun of it. If you have a Twitter site and want to follow me, be my guest!

Belleville News-Democrat: My employer has a knack of throwing special projects my way either in the weeks before Tour de Stooges or when I go on vacation, but both of these projects I'm working on are worth the effort I'm putting into them. I can't publicly discuss them at the moment because I don't want to tip off the competition, but they will be of interest to our readers.

Don't expect to see too much here in the coming week, but I hope you're keeping up with the news about Tour de Georgia on the news feeds in the right-hand column and seeing what other bicycle bloggers have to say.

Labels: Belleville, Tour de Stooges, Web site

Roger 1 comments links to this post 12:35 AM

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Think spring!

Today is the first day of spring. Woo-hoo!

Although we're expecting some late-winter temperatures for Easter weekend here in Belleville, Ill, the tide is gradually turning. It's time to be thinking about group rides. Here's some St. Louis area rides to whet your appetite:

• The Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society opens its 2008 season of Wednesday Evening Rides on April 2. During April, our rides will start at the Metro East Parks and Recreation Center headquarters, 100 United Drive in Collinsville, and we'll be riding the Madison County Trails system. We'll meet at 6 p.m. and take off at 6:15, although people may leave earlier if they want to get more miles in.
• Trailnet's Bicycle Fun Club opens its 2008 season on Sunday, April 13, with the Prairie Pedal Bicycle Ride in Hamel, Ill. Hamel is a small community just off Interstate 55 about 7 miles north of Edwardsville. Registration is from 8:30 to 10 a.m.
  
• The Team HopeRide for a Cure will take place Saturday, April 26, in Maryville, Ill. This fund-raising ride for the American Cancer Society includes routes of 13, 26 and 62 miles on the Madison County Trails system. Registration will take place from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Maryville. The cost of the ride is $15 ($20 day of ride) for adults and $40 ($50 day of event) for families. for more information and to get a flier, contact Mike Green at mjgreen6@charter.net or call Dean Mc Peak at 618-920-3418 or Robin Warfield at 618-781-1075.
• Early registration is strong for the Tour de Stooges on Saturday, May 3, at the ride's new home, Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill. The cost of the ride is $30 for adults and $20 for children, and if you pre-register for the ride, you will get a T-shirt in addition to lunch, rest stops and slapstick comedy. Tour de Stooges is the opening event of the Gateway Council of Hostelling International's new series of recreational rides, which includes the Strawberry Fields Forever ride on May 24 at Eckert's Country Store in Belleville.
• For those of you who love to ride centuries, the Gateway Council's 5-Star Century Series gets started Saturday, May 17, with the Indian Crossing Century in Portage des Sioux, Mo., and continues with the Flat-as-a-Pancake Century on May 31 in New Baden, Ill.
• Finally, there's The Gerry Frierdich Road to Recovery Bicycle Ride on Sunday, June 1, in Belleville. The ride is a fund-raiser for Gerry Frierdich, a Belleville photographer who was paralyzed from the chest down when a pickup truck struck his recumbent bicycle on Aug. 19, 2007.

If you know of any other great spring rides that people should know about, feel free to post them in the comments.

It's time to get out and ride!

Labels: Belleville Area Bicycling Eating Society, bicycle rides, Gateway Council of Hostelling International, St. Louis, Tour de Stooges, Trailnet

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:43 AM

Friday, November 30, 2007

Tour de Stooges has a new home

I'm pleased to announce today that the Tour de Stooges bicycle ride has a new home: Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill.

Why are moving the ride from its old home at McKendree University in Lebanon to Highland? The simple answer is that the ride and McKendree outgrew each other.

When the ride began in 1997, we drew about 150 riders. The 2007 version of the ride drew about 700 riders. At the same time, McKendree added more students, buildings and programs. While McKendree did a great job of handling our crowd this year, university officials determined they would not be able to handle the ride in future years because of the university's growth.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed about McKendree's decision. Having the ride at McKendree was a major factor in the ride's success. Having an indoor facility with restrooms for registration was a big plus. Even bigger was the fact we were able to use McKendree's cafeteria for our all-you-can-eat buffet at a very reasonable price.

Fortunately, we are leaving McKendree on good terms. Special thanks go out to Ed Willett, McKendree's director of operations, and Shazad Baig, Sodexho's campus service/food services manager, for their willingness to work with us. Ed's and Shazad's staffs always met the challenges we presented.

Another factor in the success of the ride is the scenic course, and keeping as much of that course as possible was a goal in finding a new home.

At first, we looked at O'Fallon, Ill., because it's the closest community to Lebanon with potential facilities to handle our crowd. Unfortunately, there were significant availability, traffic and safety issues. That, along with the city's rapid growth, probably would mean we have to move the ride again in a few years.

That led us to Highland. That community always was a part of the longer routes, and many cyclists told me they really enjoyed riding through Highland. Lindendale Park is the home of the Madison County Fair and plays host to many events during the year, ranging from stock car racing to the Art in the Park festival. While Highland is a growing community, the roads in and near the park are safe for cyclists. Lindendale Park has plenty of parking for large crowds.

While the shorter routes have changed, we've kept many of the same roads we've used in the past for the longer routes. We've also changed the Moe Metric to avoid one community where we've had problems with a road hazard in recent years.

We still will serve a lunch after the ride, but it won't be a all-you-can-eat brunch as it was in the past. It's nearly impossible to match the deal we had with Sodexho at McKendree, but we've found a caterer in the Highland area that will be able to give us a good meal, complete with tea and lemonade. Soda and beer will sold by the Helvetia Sharpshooters, which operates the pavilions at Lindendale Park.

We think you'll enjoy our new home and our new routes, and we hope to see you May 3 in Highland!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 1 comments links to this post 12:36 PM

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Tour de Stooges 2007

I'm just now starting to recover from this year's Tour de Stooges in Lebanon, Ill., which took place Saturday, May 5. We had a record-shattering attendance of more than 620 cyclists, which pushed me and our dedicated volunteers to the max.

We had some challenges this year that made the ride a bit more difficult for the riders and our volunteers. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience they caused for our participants.

The biggest of the challenges was parking. Because of several events that were to have taken place Saturday at McKendree College, the college had restricted parking at our lots. That meant we would have to put people on nearby private lots or on the street. We did catch a break because of several days of rain before the ride made athletic fields unplayable, which meant McKendree could open up some lots for us. McKendree opened up the lots as soon as it found out the events were canceled, but not before some people already had parked on the streets.

I personally want to thank Ed Willett, McKendree's director of operators, for coming out early, opening the lots and helping us guide people to them. McKendree's security officers also were a big help in guiding people to the right places.

A few people were disappointed that we ran out of bananas at our Highland rest stop, although we had plenty of oranges and other snacks available at that stop. While we do our best to estimate how much people will eat of a particular item, it's difficult to know for sure. And, of course, any time you throw T-shirts or other clothing items into the mix, there's a special set of issues there.

But from what I could tell, the overwhelming majority of people had a positive experience Saturday. The fact that the ride has had steady growth tells me we're doing something right. I think people enjoy the scenic routes we have. The roads have some hills to keep things interesting, but they're not so big to be intimidating to new cyclists.

And, of course, there's The Three Stooges. While a lot of people sat around talking to friends, the ride continues to introduce people to classic slapstick comedy or to bring back memories of classic episodes they may not have seen in years.

There will be some big changes in the ride in 2008, but I really can't write about those right now until we finalize them. Whatever we do, the changes are intended to make the event better than it is now.

Again, a big thanks go out to all our volunteers, and a bigger thanks go to all of you who attended the ride!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:38 AM

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Discounts for Tour de Stooges

Just a reminder that you have a week to take advantage of discounts of up to $10 for the Tour de Stooges bicycle ride, which is on Saturday, May 5, at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill.

If you register before April 1, the registration fees are:

• $12 for Hostelling International members and McKendree College students and staff.
• $15 for non-members.
• $7 for children ages 5-12.
• $7 for non-riders who want to eat at the buffet and watch Stooge films.
• Children younger than 5 are free.
• $35 Family Pack for two adults and two children 5-12. Additional adults and children pay full price.

If you sign up for the Tour de Stooges between April 1 and May 4, you still can get a discount of up to $5.

The other benefit of signing up before April 1 is that you get a $5 discount off your T-shirt. If you order your T-shirt before April 1, the cost of the shirt is $20 and you will receive your shirt the day of the ride. After April 1, the shirt will cost $25 and you may not get your shirt the day of the ride.

We've already had great response to pre-registration, and we hope to see you in Lebanon on May 5!

Labels: cycling, Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 1:25 PM

Friday, January 26, 2007

Busy, busy, busy

The Tour de Stooges and the Tour de Grape are more than three months away, the Tour de Belleville is about six months away, and the Tour de Coal ride is about eight months away. But I haven't written much here because of planning and other projects related to those three rides.

Because of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation's Bike Swap Meet on Sunday at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, Ill., I had to pick up the pace on getting the brochure on Tour de Stooges ready to go. I normally don't print those until late February or early March, but the meet and the deep discounts we're offering for early registration have forced me to get them printed this week.

The swap meet also forced me to attempt to fix the problem with the mailing list for the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society so I can get the word out about the meet and upcoming events. I had to download an update to the Dada Mail program we use to send the newsletters, and as far as I'm aware, just about everyone received it.

I will be spending all day at the Tour de Grape booth at the meet. I have to work solo because the rest of the ride main organizers will be recovering from HavenHouse St. Louis' annual HopeFest auction that raises money for the group, which provides lodging for the families of children receiving treatment at St. Louis-area hospitals. Meanwhile, Gateway Council of Hostelling International-USA Executive Director Mark Cockson and hardy volunteers will be giving out information about that group's great rides, including Tour de Stooges and Cycle Across Missouri.

From what I understand, some people over at STLBikeFed were a little concerned about having the event in Illinois instead of Missouri. I don't think that's a big worry. People from Missouri are used to coming to Illinois for weekend bicycle rides, and it's not that difficult to drive from downtown St. Louis to Collinsville. I'm certain the Gateway Center will be a much nicer venue for the event than the previous sites, and it will help build the visibility of STLBikeFed on this side of the river.

On Monday and Tuesday, I met with organizers of Tour de Belleville and Tour de Coal.

This year's Tour de Belleville will be Friday, July 13, and will feature routes of 7 and 14. Money raised from the event will be used to purchase emergency phones for the Richland Creek Greenway/MetroLink Trail. Last year was the first year for the event, and it drew about 500 cyclists.

Tour de Coal, also in its second year, will be Saturday, Sept. 22, in Benld, Ill. Organizers were encouraged by the turnout on a cool, cloudy day, and they're expecting a nice turnout for the event. Tour de Coal features routes of 15, 30 and 63 through the flat-to-rolling rural scenery of southern Macoupin County.

Here's hoping next week I have more time to spend on the indoor trainer!

Labels: cycling, Gateway Council of Hostelling International, Illinois, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, Tour de Coal, Tour de Grape, Tour de Stooges

Roger 1 comments links to this post 12:20 AM

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Tour de Stooges registration open!

Yes, I am aware that the Tour de Stooges is four months away -- May 5, to be precise -- but registration for the event is now open!

It's worth your while to sign up for the ride in advance. You can save up to $10 off the cost of the ride if you sign up before April 1 and up to $5 off if you sign up between April 1 and May 4. In addition, you get $5 off the cost of your T-shirt if you order before April 1. Once again, you can sign up online through the Gateway Council of Hostelling International's online store or by downloading our PDF registration form, both accessible through the ride's registration page.

All-U, which created an original design for our T-shirt last year, will do so again this year. This will be a special version of the shirt because 2007 is the 10th anniversary of Tour de Stooges. We also plan to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. Louis-native Joe Besser, the only Stooge who wasn't born on the East Coast.

We are planning plenty of new surprises in 2007, including an awards presentation to honor people who given countless hours over the years to make the ride the success it has been.

We hope to see you in May at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill., for a fun day of cycling.

Labels: cycling, Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 7:00 PM