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

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my friends on my MySpace page -- yes, I have one, but only primarily to bring people to this site (And, no, I am not too old to have a MySpace or Facebook page!) -- encouraged people to stop dwelling on the bad things or things that need improvement and try just being thankful for what you do have and that you are alive.

In addition to being alive, I'm grateful for:

• My family, whom I'll see tomorrow for Thanksgiving and the joint celebrations of my nephew and oldest niece, both of whom turn 17 this year.
• My friends. My odd hours keep me with connecting with you as well as I would like, but be sure you are frequently on my mind.
• My ability to ride a bike.
• My ability to play a leadership role in the Tour de Stooges and the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society.
• My job. Even though the newspaper industry is going through a difficult transition as more people rely on the Internet for news and advertising, it still gives me a lot of satisfaction to design a strong front page that draws people to read our paper.
• My faith, which keeps me anchored when things get a bit crazy.

I'm sure I can think of more if I had time, but I need to get back to work. I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S.: For those of you who live in the St. Louis area, KPLR-TV, Channel 11, will be having a Three Stooges marathon from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST Thursday. Thanksgiving is a great day for TV viewing -- if you're a guy!

Labels: family, friends, Thanksgiving, Three Stooges

Roger 0 comments links to this post 6:51 PM

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Odds and ends

This post may be a bit longer than normal, but that's OK. Over the next three or four weeks, the posts will be few and far between because of the work I'm doing on Tour de Stooges and Tour de Grape.

So far, about 250 people have signed up for Tour de Stooges, and we're expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 people. I just hope we have enough parking for everyone because McKendree College will be having several events that day as well, so I'm busy finding some alternative parking spots for the ride. Both McKendree and the Tour de Stooges have experienced tremendous growth in the 10 years since the ride began, so we hope to keep everyone as happy as possible.

There's plenty of spots left for one-day and two-day options for Tour de Grape, so if you're looking for an interesting ride May 12-13 around Ste. Genevieve and Farmington, Mo., and want to help a good cause, this is a ride for you.

Here's some more odds and ends for you:

BYE, BYE COLD WEATHER (I HOPE!): The abnormally cold weather we've had in the Midwest, plus work responsibilities that forced me to work a couple of day shifts, kept me from getting any decent miles on the bike last week.

Today, the sun decided to make an appearance, and the temperatures jumped back into the 50s, so I got in a 20-mile ride today. Because it's spring in the Midwest, it meant it was a windy ride. Rides tend to be breezy around here until the corn grows high enough to serve as a wind block.

Corn also serves another purpose for Midwest cyclists. It provides cover and -- in a pinch -- toilet paper for those times you have to go when you're miles from the nearest restroom. I found out the hard way today that I should be packing a few squares of toilet paper along with my duct tape. I was able to make do with some other paper I had in my bag, but toilet paper does the job much better

Trust me on that one!

BABES WEDNESDAY EVENING RIDES: The Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society starts its 2007 season of Wednesday Evening Rides this week on the trails of Madison County.

The April 18 and April 25 rides will start at the Metro East Park and Recreation Building in Collinsville. If you're looking for a good ride with a good group of people, show up at 6 p.m. and we'll take off at 6:15 p.m. Ride 10-25 miles on smooth trails. Newcomers are very welcome. After the ride, we'll have dinner, probably at the nearby Culver's Restaurant.

SPIRITUALITY ON A SIMPLE LEVEL: Being a Catholic means lots of ritual. I think that's a good thing because it ties us in with the people who have worshiped Christ over the centuries.

My parish here in Belleville is St. Peter's Cathedral, but I rarely go there. It's not that I have a problem with the current bishop here in the Belleville Diocese, the priests at Cathedral or the more formal ritual you get at the Cathedral, but it's more an issue of the Mass times being too early for me. As design editor of the Belleville News-Democrat, I have to work Saturday evenings for our big Sunday paper. That means I don't get to bed until 2 or 3 a.m., so getting up in the morning is difficult. (It's also a big reason why I don't make it to very many of Trailnet's Bicycle Fun Club rides.)

Fortunately, Corpus Christi Church in Shiloh has a 6 p.m. Mass, and I truly get a lot out of it. Corpus Christi is probably the best-kept secret in the area. The church building itself is very small, dating from 1913 the days when Shiloh was a tiny village of about 390 people. The building isn't even half the size of the parish I attended in my hometown of Brighton, Ill. Between 1990 and today, Shiloh has grown from abut 3,400 people to about 11,000.

Monsignor Jim Marguson does a great job of saying a lot with a minimum of words, a quality I appreciate as an editor! In addition, music director Drew Cowell does a great job of keeping the music fresh. He isn't afraid to spring unfamiliar songs on the congregation, but he's such a strong leader that people catch on quickly.

The message was clear: The world would be a much better place if we would learn to accept and forgive one another.

JUST MARRIED: My heartiest congratulations go out to longtime friend Steve Whitworth and Jill Moon, who got married Saturday. Steve, an assistant city editor at The (Alton, Ill.) Telegraph, has been a good friend of mine since our college days at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Steve's not a cyclist, but he is an avid birder. Here's hoping Steve and Jill have many happy years together.

Labels: Belleville Area Bicycling Eating Society, Catholic, cycling, friends

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:59 PM

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Hello daylight-saving time!

To celebrate the return of daylight-saving time and to celebrate the birthday of Doug Kaufman -- albeit three weeks late -- we rode our bikes 42 miles from Alton, Ill., to Pere Marquette State Park on Sunday.

This amazing crew -- Brad Weisenstein, Roger "The Answer Man" Schlueter, yours truly and Doug -- decided to ignore common sense and ride all the way to the park's lodge for lunch. Since most of us had very few outdoor miles in 2007, it would have made more sense to ride the 26-mile round trip from Alton to Grafton. But since it was such an amazing day and since we had an extra hour of sunlight, we decided to go for broke.

Before we left Brad's house about noon, Doug had tried to tell me that I should ride my mountain bike instead of my road bike. Yes, I knew from plenty of first-hand experience that taking a road bike on the trails along the Great River Road often means a flat tire, but I took the road bike anyway.

Not surprisingly, Doug was right. About 19 miles into the mile, I had a flat. We couldn't find a piece of glass or a rock in the tire, so I wasn't sure what caused it. Although the path along the trail is paved, there's usually lots of debris on it. I know the locals don't like it, but I can understand why a lot of the people who ride road bikes in that area take the road rather than the trail.

Brad already was in jovial mood before the flat, singing such '70s classics as "Cherokee People." I can't remember whether it was Doug or Roger S. who said that we needed a handyman to help me with my flat, but that inspired Brad to start singing "The Candy Man."

"Who can take a sunrise. Sprinkle it in dew. Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The Candy Man. ... The Candy Man can. The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good."

"Now you got that stupid song in my head," Doug told Brad.

Unfortunately, that song stayed in Brad's head, too, and he kept singing it much of the rest of the way back to Alton.

After a filling meal at the Pere Marquette Lodge, we pointed our trusty steeds back toward Alton. Now the trip back home took a bit longer than the trip to the lodge because of the wind, the fact we didn't have enough outdoor miles under our belts before this ride, among other things.

Those other things were a big flock of migrating pelicans that found a temporary home in the shallow waters of the Mississippi River near Piasa Harbor. I didn't get a count, but there were easily several hundred pelicans making their temporary home here before continuing north toward Canada. We also found a great blue heron or two, along with several other birds taking advantage of the sources of food.

For a brief time, it was even warm enough for me to shed my jacket and show off my brand new orange jersey that Doug gave me for Christmas.

"At least you don't have to worry about any hunters shooting at you," Doug said.

Yes, but I will have to worry about people like Doug giving me lots of grief for this extremely loud orange jersey. Even with Doug shooting into the sun with the Illinois River in the background, you can see how bright it is. You can only imagine how it stands out in the sunshine.

The ride left my wrists, shoulders and butt sore and my legs tight, but all those things shall pass. As my old friend Linda Bowden once said, it was "shock therapy" to get all the cycling muscles back into gear. I'm looking forward to some good riding the next few weeks to get me ready for the Oklahoma FreeWheel ride in June.

P.S.: Thanks to Doug for providing the photos from this fine ride!

Labels: cycling, friends, Great River Road

Roger 2 comments links to this post 12:44 AM