tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:43:00 +0000http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/blog.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)Blogger664125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-3882584062597627502Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:37:00 +00002008-07-21T23:43:00.880-05:00League of Illinois BicyclistssafetyTour de DonutadvocacyOver the couple of weeks, I've been doing a lot of thinking about cyclists and their obligations to follow the rules of the road. One of the reasons why I do a lot of thinking about things like that is my role in leading one of the St. Louis area's largest group rides, the Tour de Stooges, and other smaller rides for the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society. Here's what got me thinking: http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/rules-of-road.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-4275151279786530675Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:55:00 +00002008-07-21T23:36:27.360-05:00Tour de DonutJust moments ago, I checked out the Tour de Donut Web site and the results for the 20th annual event are finally online from last Saturday's event in Staunton, Ill. In case you're wondering, here's the adjusted time adjusted time winners, the people I consider the true winners of the Tour de Donut: Men's 40-under: Bradley (Steven) Meinke, 33 donuts, -0:25:06Men's 40-49: Steve Stryker, 20 donuts, http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-de-donut-results-finally-up.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-2164207886891036512Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:33:00 +00002008-07-18T19:51:10.675-05:00Tour of MissouriracingThe Tour of Missouri already has grown from a six-day to a seven-day event in just one year. If that wasn't enough, the Tour of Missouri is adding a women's criterium race to the mix. The women's race will take place Monday, Sept. 8 in the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. The race will be a 55-minute plus 5-laps event slated to start at 1:30 p.m. "Starting while Stage 1 of the men's event is http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-of-missouri-adds-womens-criterium.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-4787464575687677508Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +00002008-07-17T18:39:43.806-05:00Kansas CitysafetyMissourifatal accidentsadvocacyA Jackson County, Mo., jury deliberated for five hours before finding William K. Johnson not guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of cyclists Larry Gaunt, 59, and Larry's grandaughter, Sierra Gaunt, 14, the Kansas City Star reported in today's editions. On Aug. 6, Larry Gaunt was helping Sierra prepare for an MS-150 bike ride, a long-distance ride that benefits victims http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/driver-acquitted-in-deaths-of-cyclists.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-8909355234934829540Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:14:00 +00002008-07-15T19:28:21.358-05:00Tour de BellevilleIf you live in or near the metro-east and want to go out to dinner Wednesday night, consider going to the Chevy's Restaurant at 1305 Central Parkway Drive in O'Fallon, Ill., and help out the Tour de Belleville and its goal of installing signal lights on key intersections on the city's bike paths. From 4 to 10 p.m., Chevy's will be giving 15% of each person's bill to the Tour de Belleville -- if http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/eat-out-tomorrow-and-help-tour-de.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-1233233200620732177Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:31:00 +00002008-07-14T13:05:33.830-05:00Old Chain of Rocks BridgeTrailnetIllinoisSt. LouisFunding cutbacks for the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge have Madison Mayor John Hamm concerned, the Granite City Press-Record reports. Trailnet officials recently had told the mayor that it didn't have enough money to pay the Madison Police Department to open and close the bridge. He said it had threatened to close the bridge except on special occasions. On June 23, Trailnet curtailed the bridge's http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/old-chain-of-rocks-bridges-financial.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-71495167143554881Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:42:00 +00002008-07-14T12:15:17.709-05:00Tour de FranceIllinoisracingYes, indeed, Christian Vande Velde is the pride of the Land of Lincoln, as far as the cycling world is concerned! Vande Velde, a native of the Chicago suburb of Lemont, is just 38 seconds behind new Tour de France leader Cadel Evans after today's Stage 10, which featured the difficult climbs of the Col de Tourmalet and Hautacam. Evans and Vande Velde finished in the same group that finished 2:17http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/doing-land-of-lincoln-proud.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-1740950215089373912Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:07:00 +00002008-07-12T19:46:32.996-05:00Tour de DonutDNF Those are the most disappointing letters for a cyclist, whether it be in the Tour de France or, in my case, the Tour de Donut. Because of a defective tire on my sister's tandem bike that we were unable to repair, my nephew, Julius Parod, and I had to abandon this year's 20th annual Tour de Donut in Staunton, Ill. We ate 12 donuts between us -- a half-dozen each at the Prairietown donut stophttp://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-de-donut-dnf.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-9103478478686397591Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:33:00 +00002008-07-10T20:41:37.329-05:00Tour de BellevilletourssafetyFor the third straight year, I offer these tips for those of you who are planning to do the Tour de Belleville tomorrow night. These tips can be put to use on other big nighttime rides such as the L.A.T.E. Ride this weekend in Chicago or the Moonlight Ramble on Aug. 16-17 in St. Louis: Tips for newbies: If you're a slower rider, try to ride as far to the right as safely possible so faster http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-de-belleville-safety-tips.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-8736844744761922191Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:53:00 +00002008-07-09T13:23:48.352-05:00St. Louisbicycle ridesadvocacyTrends always are a bit slow in coming to St. Louis -- mullets remain a popular hair style in pockets of the St. Louis area -- but the city is getting its version of the World Naked Bike Ride. The St. Louis edition of the World Naked Bike Ride is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2, at the city's Tower Grove Park. The ride is slated to begin at 9 p.m. at the park's Pool Pavilion near the north http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/world-naked-bike-ride-coming-to-st.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-2218563894596721017Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:07:00 +00002008-07-07T13:00:33.924-05:00Tour of MissouriTour de FrancecyclingracingI was surprised to see this morning that American racer and Tour de France rookie Will Frischkorn not only came in second in today's Stage 3, but is sitting in third place in the general classification. If that wasn't enough, Frischkorn was named the most aggressive rider of the stage, and his American-based squad, Team Garmin-Chipotle, is leading the team classsification. Just who is Will http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/will-frischkorn-whos-he.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-9157635546118663264Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:39:00 +00002008-07-06T22:40:09.687-05:00UtahTour de DonutThere will not one, but two, Tour de Donut races this Saturday, July 12. The first one, of course, is the 20th edition of the original Tour de Donut, which will be run in Staunton, Ill. The second one is the Inaugural Utah Tour de Donut in American Fork, Utah, which is located between Salt Lake City and Provo. Unlike the Staunton version of the Tour de Donut, which gives competitors a 5-minutehttp://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-de-donut-comes-to-utah.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-8856201305706956687Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:53:00 +00002008-07-04T14:46:54.243-05:00Tour de FrancecyclingracingDayPortPlayer.newPlayer({articleID:"72142",playerInstanceID:"8147AD6F-483B-6CC3-07BA-880F34AD8D61",domain:"oln.dayport.com"}); Part of the reason I include the news feed that I do in the right column of this blog is because I know sources such as VeloNews can provide much better coverage of the Tour de France than I can in this humble little blog. Nevertheless, here's my two cents worth on the http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/dayportplayer.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-7279373850010043942Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:59:00 +00002008-07-03T11:30:08.997-05:00Canadafatal accidentsDaniel Hurtubise had been living with juvenile diabetes (Type 1) since the age of 15. Daniel, 50, and his family had embarked on the Ride of a Lifetime, a cross-Canada fundraising bike trip to raise $500,000 for diabetes research and to show that diabetes doesn’t have to stop people from living an active lifestyle. Daniel, friend Robert Carrier and two of Daniel's children, Alexandre and Sonia, http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/bicycle-tragedy-in-canada.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-8310836191510116414Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:50:00 +00002008-07-03T12:51:03.903-05:00Tour de BellevilleThe third annual Tour de Belleville ride is set to roll at 9 p.m. Friday, July 11, and you have until this Saturday, July 5, to sign up online at the regular price of $15. After that, the cost of the ride goes up to $25 a person. In addition to online registration, you can sign up at the Bicycle World bike shop, 4516 W. Main St. in Belleville, where a registration party is planned for Saturday. http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/tour-de-belleville-deadline-approaching.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-337885594617455064Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:07:00 +00002008-07-01T22:46:46.645-05:00IllinoisSt. Louisbicycle ridesTour de DonutAnyone who's visited this Web site for any length of time knows that I think donuts and cycling are a sweet combination! The 20th anniversary of the original Tour de Donut is coming up July 12 in beautiful Staunton, Ill., and I couldn't think of a better way of getting ready for the event by taking part Sunday in the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society's Donut Trail ride through South http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/07/on-donut-trail-part-ii.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-5392293359215769957Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:07:00 +00002008-06-28T23:55:16.211-05:00safetyBellevilleadvocacyCyclist Larry Luecking wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in today's edition of the Belleville News-Democrat. In it, he complains about road conditions on West Boulevard in the eastern part of the city. (In case you're wondering why West Boulevard is in east Belleville, the road is named after a gentleman named West.) After a recent resurfacing of West Boulevard, the surface of the roadhttp://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/belleville-roadwork-danger-for-cyclists.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-396249493690995721Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:26:00 +00002008-06-26T10:57:59.416-05:00toursIowabicyclingWhen supervisors in Crawford County, Iowa, banned RAGBRAI, the Des Moines Register's Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, it spurred a debate between counties concerned about liability issues and cyclists who are asserting their rights to ride on Iowa roads. On Saturday, nearly 100 cyclists staged a protest ride against the RAGBRAI ban. Crawford County supervisors voted to ban the annual ride last http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/bicycle-battles-in-iowa.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-6524768848588548716Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:51:00 +00002008-06-24T08:50:21.493-05:00newspaperstoursKaty TrailbicyclingMissouriAs you can see, the Missouri River keeps on rolling along -- albeit a bit higher than normal -- along the Katy Trail. Yes, I did ride the Katy Trail last week. I hope to have the full article up on the Web site later this week, but here's a brief summary. In some ways, it was the kind of ride where everything that could go wrong did. For example, I wasn't happy to find out that when I got to http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/back-from-katy-trail.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-6785744069230393937Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:48:00 +00002008-06-23T11:47:24.531-05:00Tour of MissouricyclingracingOrganizers of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race Sept. 8-14 say this year's course will be "deceivingly tougher" than the course for last year's inaugural event. For one, the race has grown from six to seven stages, and organizers say there are more hills this year. That won't be comfort to the racers, many of whom were surprised by how hilly Missouri can be. This year's Tour of Missouri startshttp://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/tour-of-missouri-to-be-deceivingly.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-4084453402406241000Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:39:00 +00002008-06-15T22:57:57.838-05:00toursKaty TrailMissouriIn a matter of hours, I will begin the Missouri Department of Natural Resource's Katy Trail Ride in St. Charles, Mo. Monday's trek takes us through the thick of Missouri's Wine Country as it passes through Augusta and continues on to Hermann. This ride will mark at least a couple of firsts for me. This ride will be the first I've ever done on my mountain bike, a Raleigh M-80. Nearly all of my http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/ride-west-on-katy-trail.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-6142458406671221022Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:03:00 +00002008-06-14T11:41:38.301-05:00RAAMracingRace Across America solo men's leader Jure Robic made it to the Mississippi River at 9:22 a.m. CDT today. He's on his way to Greenville, Ill., and he's expected to arrive there sometime between 11:50 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. today. He now has about a 200-mile lead over David Haase, who has passed the Camdenton, Mo., time station. The Mississippi River is well over its banks and still rising, putting http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/robic-crosses-mississippi-river.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-713941330342886975Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:20:00 +00002008-06-14T03:32:25.766-05:00RAAMMissouriracing Will Race Across America riders be in for a soggy surprise when they approach the Mississippi River this weekend? UPDATE: Longtime ultramarathon supporter Mike Hahn, who is overseeing the volunteers at the Mississippi River time station, tells me that RAAM officials have found a detour around the flooded part of Highway 94, so the race will go on! The above video from The (Alton, Ill.) http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/raam-may-be-in-for-wet-surprise.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-8456638799611990134Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:16:00 +00002008-06-13T17:22:16.997-05:00IllinoispoliticsadvocacyScott Hays is running for a District 1 seat on the Champaign County (Ill.) Board, and he's campaigning by bicycle -- and kayak and foot. "In an effort to really get to know all of District 1, I have set a goal to cross District 1 by many different routes and in many different ways," Hays says on his Web site. "This includes by bicycle, by kayak, on foot and any other means. .... If you see me, http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/campaigning-by-bicycle.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5276525.post-657840826402934054Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:25:00 +00002008-06-12T14:47:33.808-05:00RAAMracingSlovenian Jure Robic is continuing his dominance of the Race Across America. Robic, the defending champion and a three-time winner, arrived in Bucklin, Kan., at 2:07 p.m. CDT. Robic's closest competitor in the men's solo division, David Hasse, is more than 200 miles behind him. If Robic maintains his overall pace or his current pace, he should be arriving at the Mississippi River time station http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/HTML/2008/06/robic-keeps-rolling-at-raam.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Roger)