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Saturday, June 5, 2010
Syscon 2010 Double-Century (Almost) Bike Ride 2010 - Here we Come! When: Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th, 2010 Where: Elmhurst, IL to Utica, IL Who: Friends of Syscon Why: To help people less fortunate than us, for fun, for health. Check out the 2008 Ride Picture Gallery.  Welcome to the general information page for the Syscon 2010 Double-Century (Almost) Bike Ride. These pages contain the current information regarding the ride.In addition to the fellowship, fun, and health aspects of this ride, we raise money for an excellent cause - truly helping transition homeless families to self-sufficiency through Daybreak of Elmhurst. This is a demanding ride and requires some preparation and training, but anyone can do it who has the heart and the interest. This year, we have added two weeks of training to the schedule which will help those of us that have let the winter fat store up just a little too much. The Ride On the first day we ride approximately 100 miles. We then stay at a hotel and reverse the route to return the next day. Most of the ride is along Illinois country roads. See my comments from the 2007 ride for a more detailed description. We are doing this ride for helping those less fortunate than us, fun, fellowship, and exercise. That is all there is really to it. Syscon is going to cover the cost of lodging, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Sunday, and a SAG van with a driver to carry our supplies and give a respite to anyone who may need it. To make this a bit more fun and beneficial, in addition to the training rides, the riders will meet together twice before the actual ride. Once to share training ideas and the second time to do an orientation on the route and schedule a week before the ride. Training There is a training schedule posted, and there is a significant time requirement to get in shape. This is a significant effort and you need to be ready for it. However, everyone that actually follows the schedule and does all the training rides will be able to do the double century without a problem - at least that has been our experience to date. Do What You Can You don't have to commit to the full ride if you do not wish to. If you don't want to train for 200 miles of riding in one weekend or you don't think you can make it the full ride, plan to do one of the two days - or even just a partial of one of the days. Join us for one of each of the two training rides each weekend or just stop a little earlier during the training rides. What is important is to get out and ride! Requirements Since I am going to suggest a route and Syscon is going to sponsor some of the expenses of this trip, we are going to have to deal with the legal side of things - namely a waiver of liability. It will be required that all of the riders on this trip sign a waiver prior to leaving on the trip. Secondly, I'm going to ask everyone that rides to wear a helmet. I have had two crashes where my helmet has prevented significant injury to me, so I am personally convinced of the value of having something of a buffer between my skull and the concrete on the road (or a tree, rock, etc.). I'm asking everyone to commit to wearing a helmet during the training and the ride just so I don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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Friday, May 29, 2009
May 30th and 31st Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend Saturday When: Saturday, May 30th - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 57 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn, Fermilab, Batavia - then North to St. Charles, and Return Sunday When: Sunday, May 31st - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 57 miles Route: West on St. Charles Road to Smith Road and into South Elgin, St. Charles, and Back The Big Triangle This week - with only four weeks of training left - we are going to ride the "triangle" from Elmhurst to Batavia to St. Charles and back. We spend a small portion of the ride along Fox River. There are three more weeks of long rides left and then a light week and then the double-century. Are you ready? Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
May 23rd and 24th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend Saturday When: Saturday, May 23rd - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 51 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then to Fermilab. Sunday When: Sunday, May 24th - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 51 miles Route: West on St. Charles Road to Smith Road and into South Elgin, St. Charles, and Back 50 miles and Counting Last week, we had some great weather for riding. The rides were a little shorter than the target mileage, but on Sunday, with Louie pushing the pace, we had some hard riding (at least for us). It was a great work out. Now we are over 50 miles on the training rides. This is a fun distance. We get to some less travelled areas and some interesting places - like Fermilab. There are places with miles before stop signs and lights, so we can set up a pace line and move at a pretty good pace without interruption. Plus, the average person is pretty impressed when you say you went out and rode 50 miles that day! Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
May 2nd and 3rd Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend Saturday When: Saturday, May 2nd - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 37 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Winfield. Sunday When: Sunday, May 3rd - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 6:30am Target Distance: 37 miles Route: West on St. Charles Road into Carol Stream Starting to Build Mileage I still remember the first year we did this ride and the 15 mile round-trip to the Glen Ellyn coffee shop seemed like a days good work. Now as we build our training mileage, as we get into 35, 40, 45 miles it is exciting and interesting, not terrifying. With these longer rides, we can do some very interesting routes and on Sunday, we are going to take one of our favorite rides along St. Charles road. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 25th and 26th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend Saturday When: Saturday, April 25th - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:00am Target Distance: 33 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Winfield. Sunday When: Sunday, April 26th - COMPLETED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:00am Target Distance: 33 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Winfield Let's tackle the Hill During this time of the year, the weather is almost always our first concern when planning for riding. Soon we will be past this as we move fully into spring and the suprise snowfalls and cold days are a thing of the past. This weekend, it looks like our weather challenge will be the wind. Good. With this week of training, we will have caught up to our target mileage after losing the first week due to weather. We will be going 33 miles with a route into Winfield. There is a nice hill that we do two or three times in a loop in Winfield and that will be our target for this week. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
April 11th and 12th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend Saturday When: Saturday, April 11th Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:30am Target Distance: 25 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Wheaton. Sunday When: Sunday, April 12th - CANCELLED Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:30am Target Distance: 25 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Wheaton. A Good Weekend to Ride It was cold on Saturday, but four struck out at 7:30 and started riding. One of our new riders, Mike, had a little crash but survived. Fortunately Mike does not seem discouraged about continuing the ride. Sunday was even colder in the morning. The cold, combined Easter events, killed this ride. Hopefully some of you had a chance to ride in the afternoon which turned out quite nice. I'm still getting a lot of people talking to me about riding, but not everyone seems to be getting out and doing it yet. The weather is warming up and the mileage is getting longer, so come and join us as soon as you can. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon, training
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Sunday, June 8, 2008
Syscon 2008 Double-Century (Almost) Bike Ride GENERAL INFORMATION - DONE!When: Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th, 2008 Where: Elmhurst, IL to Utica, IL Who: Friends of Syscon Why: To help people less fortunate than us, for fun, for health. Check out the 2008 Ride Picture Gallery. Welcome to the general information page for the Syscon 2008 Double-Century (Almost) Bike Ride. These pages contain the current information regarding the ride.This year, we are using this ride to raise money for an excellent cause - truly helping transition homeless families to self-sufficiency through Daybreak of Elmhurst. This is a demanding ride and requires some preparation and training, but anyone can do it who has the heart and the interest. The Ride On the first day we ride approximately 100 miles. We then stay at a hotel and reverse the route to return the next day. Most of the ride is along Illinois country roads. See my comments for a more detailed description. We are doing this ride for helping those less fortunate than us, fun, fellowship, and exercise. That is all there is really to it. Syscon is going to cover the cost of lodging, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Sunday, and a SAG van with a driver to carry our supplies and give a respite to anyone who may need it. To make this a bit more fun and beneficial, in addition to the training rides, the riders will meet together twice before the actual ride. Once to share training ideas and the second time to do an orientation on the route and schedule a week before the ride. Do What You Can You don't have to commit to the full ride if you do not wish to. If you don't want to train for 200 miles of riding in one weekend or you don't think you can make it the full ride, plan to do one of the two days - or even just a partial of one of the days. Join us for one of each of the two training rides each weekend or just stop a little earlier during the training rides. What is important is to get out and ride! Requirements Since I am going to suggest a route and Syscon is going to sponsor some of the expenses of this trip, we are going to have to deal with the legal side of things - namely a waiver of liability. It will be required that all of the riders on this trip sign a waiver prior to leaving on the trip. Secondly, I'm going to ask everyone that rides to wear a helmet. I took a very bad spill last summer riding and am personally convinced of the value of having something of a buffer between my skull and the concrete on the road (or a tree, rock, etc.). I'm asking everyone to commit to wearing a helmet during the training and the ride just so I don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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2008 Picture Gallery - Syscon Double-Century (Almost) We started out on Saturday with four-and-a-half riders. From left to right - Chad, Matt, Tim, Larry, and Joe (our half rider). Joe said his ankle was broken and he was still in recovery, but it looks fine in this picture to me.  Our first stop was for breakfast in Oswego, IL. Here Chad looks relaxed a comfortable. Hmmm, that might change in the next 60 or 70 miles. South of Oswego, we have a water break. Here is Chad who trained with us last year but did not get to do the ride and Tim who is new to biking. Below is Larry (with a few ominous clouds in the background.)   Pete was our SAG van driver. He was fabulous - staying ahead of us and providing us with fresh water and food. At the end of the ride, he greeted us with cold beer at the hotel.  This is the rest stop in Morris, IL - about 68 miles into the ride. Joe is mugging for the camera and looks nice and fresh because he hasn't ridden a single mile yet! (Remember - he is the one recovering from a "broken" ankle.)  Loading up on water for the last 40 miles of the trip. There was cloud cover, but the temperature was in the low 90's. It was hot and we had to drink continuously.  This is on a great little bridge on Old Stage Road between Morris and Seneca. This is one of the best stretches of road on the trip. It is a small two-lane road that winds along side the Illinois river, although there are only glimpses of the river here and there. Matt had a little trouble with some dog poop stuck in his shoe cleats. Here he is just west of the bridge trying to clean them out. We still all tried to ride upwind of him for the rest of the day A half-mile further west from the bridge we came upon a car accident that had just occurred. A Chevy Impala had somehow flipped over into the roadside ditch. Although the emergency response had not yet arrived, another motorist had extracted the young woman who was driving and she looked OK. I suspect she will slow down in the future. It was Matt's claim that if he hadn't had to stop to clean his cleats, the driver would have taken a few of us with her.  We have arrived in Utica!  Joe - who rode the fewest miles of the day - was the first to make himself comfortable at the Willow Inn... (Not a pretty site.)  Ironically, Joe, who rode only 37 miles on this day, and Pete who rode only the van on this day, were the first to head to town for dinner.  Duffy's Tavern - best darn Prime Rib in the state. At least, that is what it tastes like after 100 miles of riding. They also have an impressive collection of beers to wash it down with. Joe seems to know somebody everywhere! We walked into Duffy's and the table next to us was one of Joe's old tennis buddies We were in quite the mood - boisterous and hungry when we came in to eat. The server was gracious and joined in the fun.  Here we are heading out for Day 2 - sore butts and all. The conditions were fabulous for the first 65 miles of the ride home. The wind at our back, the sun was out, and open road. Unfortunately, we were hit with very severe weather just outside of Oswego and had to get rescued by Larry's wife, Cathy.  Following the ride on Sunday night, Joe and his wife Sheila graciously offered to host a reception for the riders and all the Daybreak people at their house. Here, Joe is telling Matt how difficult it was to ride for 37 miles on a broken ankle...  Tim, a new rider with us this year, is a runner and clearly in great shape. However he discovered a few muscle groups used in biking that are not used in running.  The end of the day - Matt and his wife Pam head home with many more stories to tell from this years ride. Labels: bike ride, double century, picture, syscon
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Saturday, June 7, 2008
2008 Training RidesTraining ConceptsWe are going to use the weekend training rides to build up to the distance we need to do the double century. Using a common recommended approach of building up to 75% of the target ride, we will do two long rides each weekend using this target schedule:  Make sure to get in the additional miles on your own during the week to stay on training. If you don't think you can train for both days of the trip, just train for one day (Saturday) and then you can ride home in the SAG van. To train for one day, do one of the two long weekend rides per week and train do half of the remaining days mileage during the week days. Training Links Here are some of the good articles and links on endurance training and long-distance biking: A good basic guide from Ultra Cycling Magazine. Other good links from Ultra Cycling Magazine: Nutrition for a Century or a Double Eating for a Century, Brevet or Double Century Water and Salt Intake During Exercise Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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Daybreak of ElmhurstDaybreak of Elmhurst - Helping Families be Self-SufficientIf you really believe in the hope of the United States and changing peoples lives, read on... From Homelessness to Self-Sufficiency Is there anything more honorable than to reach out and help someone out of the endless cycle of poverty, homelessness, and welfare into a self-sufficient, productive, and valued member of society? I spent a month in two of the most difficult and turbulent countries of Africa - Mozambique and Rwanda - for World Relief when they were a client of Syscon. It was there that I had the life-changing realization that it is absolutely unique to the United States and a very few other Western nations that a person - if they truly want to and have the desire, self-discipline, and a little bit of luck - can lift themselves from poverty to self-sufficiency. Our ride this year will honor and support this irreplaceable freedom and opportunity. When one of our Syscon Team riders, Joe Berkemeyer (Siemens), suggested that we support Daybreak of Elmhurst with our ride, I was enthusiastic. Here was an organization whose sole purpose was to help people break free of the welfare cycle. Participants in the Daybreak of Elmhurst must pass rigorous criteria with financial budgets, work ethics, and reliability to qualify for the program. In return, they receive free housing for up to two years in apartments paid for by Daybreak of Elmhurst as well as mentoring by two volunteer mentors. To date, Daybreak of Elmhurst has helped over 35 families move from the welfare system to self-sufficiency. The entire organization is staffed by volunteers - including the mentors. Every dime collected goes directly to supporting the participants of the program. This is a good solid organization with no fluff or frills - just a fundamental idea that they execute extremely well. Please consider supporting this organization with a donation for our ride. Syscon is paying all of the costs of the meals, lodging, and jerseys for the riders. We will all ride about 1000 miles in an eleven week training period to get ready. On June 7th and 8th, we will ride 200 miles on our bikes from Geneva, up and around DeKalb and then down to Utica, Illinois by Starved Rock State Park and we would appreciate your help. Joe Berkemeyer - the driving force behind this effort and one of the riders - is challenging us to triple our effort from last year. Our goal for this year is to raise $18,000 for Daybreak of Elmhurst. E-mail me, Larry Wendt, if you are willing to support us with any donation or if you would like any further information. Some examples are: $0.50/mile = $100; $1.00/mile = $200; $5.00/mile = $1,000 However, we will gratefully accept any donation of any size. Checks should be made out to "Daybreak of Elmhurst", PO Box 2033, Elmhurst, IL 60126. You may mail the check directly to Daybreak or send it to us here at Syscon and we will forward it to the organization. If you do send it directly to the organization, please let us know so we can track our progress towards our goal. Larry Wendt President, Syscon, Inc. Rider in the 2008 Syscon Double-Century Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
May 17th and 18th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday Sunday 55 miles this weekend - each day. I've backed off the target mileage a little bit for this weekend since we missed last week. I don't remember when we had so much bad weather during the training period. Saturday I was out of town, so hopefully everyone rode when and if they could. Sunday was cold and just a plain old storm. It was not realistically rideable. Personally, I won't be pushing the pace too much because I have 7 days of vacation fat and sloth right now (and it was well worth it!). This week, we shoot for 55 miles. This is a little below the target, but we need to do some catch up time after this last week. See the training schedule for the remaining weeks. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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10:37 AM
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Thursday, May 8, 2008
May 10th and 11th Training Rides - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHERThe Rides for This Weekend CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER Saturday Sunday 57 miles this weekend - each day. We are not in a hurry, so we will stop a couple of times to take a break and we won't leave anyone behind. Last week Saturday still had some good winds, but not nearly as challenging as the prior week. Matt and I were the only riders although Joe stopped by to say hello. His cast is off, but he won't be riding for a few weeks yet. We completed 51 miles - again going through Fermi Lab. An moment of poetic justice was when a car flew by us on the road through Fermi Lab where the speed limit is 35 and shortly after a cop was on his tail. We passed him - pulled over - about a mile further down the road - no doubt getting a ticket from the officer. Sunday was much a beautiful day and we headed west on the St. Charles road route. Nine miles out, Matt lost the bolt on his crank and he was down for the ride. That is not a field repair within my ability or tools. After getting Matt his car and sending him on his way, I completed 35 miles before I had to leave for the day. This week, we shoot for 57 miles. See the training schedule for the remaining weeks. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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Friday, May 2, 2008
May 3rd and 4th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday 51 miles this weekend - each day. If you can make these rides, you can do the double-century. We will stop a couple of times to take a break and we won't leave anyone behind. Last week Saturday had very, very challenging 15 to 20mph winds with gusts up to 30mph. Matt and I were the only riders and as we hit Fermi Lab with its wide open plains, we had our heads down pumping as hard was we could to make 10 to 12 miles per hour. My heart was cruising steadily at 150bpm. I cannot believe how hard we had to work. Sunday was much better and the same ride was more enjoyable. It was still cold (I'm getting sick of this crummy weather), but no rain as was originally predicted. We hit 45.8 miles both days doing the same ride from Elmhurst to Fermi Lab and back. This week, we break the 50 mile mark. See the training schedule for the remaining weeks. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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5:53 AM
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
April 26th and 27th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday Believe it or not, this weekend coming up is the half-way point of the training. We are shooting for 46 miles at a decent pace. Are you up for the challenge? Last week, I rode by myself on Saturday. Since I was alone, I stretched the distance from the targeted 30 miles to 46. It was an excellent ride going out to Fermi Lab - little wind, reasonably warm and sunshine peaking out between the clouds. I was feeling good and continued on to Fermi Lab but - of course - the minute I turned around the wind whipped up into a good headwind. Shortly after the rain started and I had a long, wet ride home. Sunday was great. Chad, Matt, and I had a solid ride for 35 miles in sunshine that has been sorely missed for the last few weeks. This week, we are at the half-way point. 46 miles and building fast. See the training schedule for the remaining weeks. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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8:37 PM
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
April 19th and 20th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday Sunday A Short Ride and a Chance to Jump In Again We anticipated a character builder last weekend with the weather - and we sure had that. There was actual snow on Saturday - mixed with rain and it was cold. No other riders showed up and I just didn't have enough character to ride by myself in that mess! Sunday was not much better, but at least it was not snowing and the rain had let up. Matt and I rode the full 41 miles. We had lots of wind and hard little pellets of sleet hitting us at points in the ride. None-the-less, we had a pretty decent time and got about 3 miles west of Route 59 in West Chicago. In the past, we have taken this week (week 5) as a rest week and done only a short ride of 20 miles. Since we have missed three rides due to weather in the past four weeks, we are going to compromise a bit on this one. We are going to go for 30 miles at an easy pace. This is an excellent time to join us for the first time if you are still contemplating training with us for the ride. Say, if you have a bet or something like that.... After this week we will return to the training schedule for the remaining weeks. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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6:01 AM
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Saturday, April 12, 2008
April 12th and 13th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend SAT - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER SUN - COMPLETED Saturday Building Character We had two beautiful days for riding last weekend. On Saturday, we had four riders and hit about 37 miles. On Sunday, Kent joined us for the first time and we hit 36 miles. However, the weather looks pretty crummy for this upcoming ride. Perhaps 42-44 degrees and rainy. I figure this will be a "character building" weekend. Remember, our 2006 ride started in cold rainy weather just like this - and it was at the beginning of June. There is precendent and we should definitely keep riding as long as it is not dangerous. For this week, we have caught up with the training schedule and go for 41 miles. We are still sticking with a flat, easy route. We will have rest stops at the Glen Ellyn Starbucks and the Wheaton Caribou Coffee Shop. If anyone is too tired to continue, they can rest while the rest of the group continues and then loops back to pick them up. We will be trying the later times again this weekend to allow a bit of warm up. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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10:49 AM
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Saturday, April 5, 2008
April 5th and 6th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday Last week was a tough first week. We had five riders - Larry, Louie, Matt, Chad, and Paul - on Saturday and found the great hill in Winfield on Summit. This is a hill of about a 6 to 7% grade and about a 1/4 mile long - a perfect training hill in the middle of the ride. Chad trained with us last year but could not make the ride. He has a brand new Specialized road bike and is serious about riding this year. Paul is a brand new rider and used a road bike and clips for the very first time on this ride. I think he found a few new places to be sore by the end of the ride. Sunday was cold and rainy - about 38 degrees and rain is not a very fun time to ride. For this one, there were just three of us and we all wanted to give up after the first few miles. But mutual peer pressure did the trick and we did the entire ride. For this week, we will catch up a little ground on the training schedule and shoot for 35 miles - just two miles short of the 37 target for the day. The weather looks like it will be absolutely perfect, so it should be a lot of fun. Again, we will stick with a flat, easy route. We will have rest stops at the Glen Ellyn Starbucks and the Wheaton Caribou Coffee Shop. If anyone is too tired to continue, they can rest while the rest of the group continues and then loops back to pick them up. This worked out well last week. There is no shame in resting while other riders go on. By the time we ride the double century, we will all be cruising! We will be trying the later times again this weekend to allow a bit of warm up. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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7:23 PM
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Saturday, March 29, 2008
March 29th and 30th Training Rides - COMPLETEDThe Rides for This Weekend COMPLETED Saturday If this is your first ride with us, see the notes from last weeks ride on what to expect. Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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4:50 AM
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Saturday, March 22, 2008
March 22nd and 23rd - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHERThe Rides for This Weekend - CANCELLED! WEATHER UPDATE! (3/21 12:27pm) - The weather for this weekend is bad. In general we will not ride in snow or if it is below 38 Degrees. Unfortunately, we are going to have to cancel this weeks rides due to weather. For those of you who are now breathing a sigh of relief - just remember, this means we have to do 200 miles with one less week of training! Get on those stationary bikes this weekend! Saturday - CANCELLED When: Saturday, March 22nd Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:00am Target Distance: 30 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Wheaton. Sunday - CANCELLED When: Saturday, March 23rd (Easter! But we will be done by 9:30) Starting Location: 296 E. Van Buren, Elmhurst Starting Time: 7:00am Target Distance: 30 miles Route: West into Glen Ellyn and then Wheaton. What to Expect The first rides of the season are always the most painful. We are shooting for 30 miles, but if you don't make the full distance, don't worry about it! Trust me, if you stick with the training schedule, you will be in shape to make the full ride on June 7th and 8th. Also, everyone misses some of the training rides - we are all busy. That's OK, particularly if you make up the lost mileage on your own during the week. For these first few rides, there are several places we will be able to stop and rest. If you need to, you can rest while the other riders go further and then come back to pick you up. We generally ride regardless of the weather. If it is cold, make sure to wear several layers and long biking pants. Below 40-45 degrees and a face mask is a big help. We have found that Under Armour Cold Gear is the best layer to start with in cold weather. My personal rule of thumb for layers is: Below 45 degrees - Under Armour Cold Gear (long sleeve turtle neck), a biking jersey, a cotton or fleece sweater or sweat shirt, and finally a wind/water-proof windbreaker jacket; long-fingered biking gloves; face mask. 45 to 55 degrees - Under Armour Cold Gear, a biking jersey, windbreaker jacket; regular gloves 55 and Up - biking jersey and a windbreaker jacket. The jackets that have removable sleeves are really nice because we experience quite a range of temperatures when we start early in the morning and ride into the late morning. Other key equipment:
Labels: bike ride, double century, syscon, training
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11:31 AM
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Monday, June 11, 2007
2007 Double-Century Picture GalleryJune 9th and 10th was a beautiful weekend to ride. We started in DeKalb, IL and rode west to Savannah, IL along the Mississippi river. We started out six strong...
from left to right is Kurt, Matt, Larry, Joe, Louie, and Peter. A pretty motley crew, if I have to say so myself.
Water was a problem on this ride. My route had some logistical mistakes including not having
We called Joe the "Energizer Bunny" but he was out cold on this rest stop. We were at the 80 mile point and waiting for my son, Chris, to show up with more water - we had run out.
The next day, we took an alternative route home which Joe said had no hills. We'll...he was wrong. Still, we made it back minus a couple of riders who took their leave a little earlier in the ride.
Submitted by Larry Wendt Labels: bike ride, double century, picture, syscon
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5:33 PM
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Saturday, June 9, 2007
Daybreak of Elmhurst - 2007 Fund Raising Results!Daybreak of Elmhurst - Helping Families be Self-SufficientThrough the generous support of many people, we earned over $5,600 for Daybreak during our 2007 ride greatly exceeding our goal of $3,000. Thank you all for your generous support! Read more about Daybreak of Elmhurst and our upcoming 2008 Double-Century ride. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, elmhurst, syscon
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Syscon 2007 Double-Century (Almost) GENERAL INFORMATION When: Saturday and Sunday, June 9th and 10th, 2007 Where: DeKalb to Savanna, IL (on the Mississippi) Who: Friends of Syscon Why: To help people less fortunate than us, for fun, for health. Welcome to the general information page for the Syscon 2007 Double-Century (Almost) Bike Ride. These pages contain the current information regarding the ride. This year, we are using this ride to raise money for an excellent cause - truly helping transition homeless families to self-sufficiency through Daybreak of Elmhurst. This is a demanding ride and requires some preparation and training, but anyone can do it who has the heart and the interest. The Ride On the first day we ride approximately 100 miles. We then stay at a hotel and reverse the route to return the next day. Most of the ride is along Illinois country roads. See my comments for a more detailed description. We are doing this ride for helping those less fortunate than us, fun, fellowship, and exercise. That is all there is really to it. Syscon is going to cover the cost of lodging, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Sunday, and a SAG van with a driver to carry our supplies and give a respite to anyone who may need it. To make this a bit more fun and beneficial, in addition to the training rides, the riders will meet together twice before the actual ride. Once to share training ideas and the second time to do an orientation on the route and schedule a week before the ride. Do What You Can You don't have to commit to the full ride if you do not wish to. If you don't want to train for 200 miles of riding in one weekend or you don't think you can make it the full ride, plan to do one of the two days - or even just a partial of one of the days. Join us for one of each of the two training rides each weekend or just stop a little earlier during the training rides. What is important is to get out and ride! Requirements Since I am going to suggest a route and Syscon is going to sponsor some of the expenses of this trip, we are going to have to deal with the legal side of things - namely a waiver of liability. It will be required that all of the riders on this trip sign a waiver prior to leaving on the trip. Secondly, I'm going to ask everyone that rides to wear a helmet. I took a very bad spill last summer riding and am personally convinced of the value of having something of a buffer between my skull and the concrete on the road (or a tree, rock, etc.). I'm asking everyone to commit to wearing a helmet during the training and the ride just so I don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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2007 RouteRoute DescriptionThe route has been determined with one or two sections yet to be confirmed. We will be starting in DeKalb. We will then head west through Oregon, Polo, Milledgeville, Chadwick, and finally into Savanna. Ride Details Saturday, June 9th 7:00am Meet in DeKalb. We will provide a parking location where we can leave our cars for the duration of the trip. ~7:30am On the road! ~10:00am Stop in Oregon for breakfast. ~2:30pm Stop in Chadwick for another meal. ~5:00pm Arrive in Savanna. Great dinner! Sunday, June 10th 6:00am Coffee and then on the road! ~7:30am Breakfast in Milledgeville. ~10:00am Oregon for rest stop. ~2:30pm Arrive back in Crystal Lake. 2:30 to 5:45m Drive to Larry's house in Elmhurst. Showers for all that want them, change. 6:00pm Dinner, Drink, and Party for all riders, friends of riders, contributors to Daybreak, and Daybreak friends. At Joe's house in north Elmhurst. Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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2007 Route Map Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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2007 Training RidesTraining ConceptsWe are going to use the weekend training rides to build up to the distance we need to do the double century. Using a common recommended approach of building up to 75% of the target ride, we will do two long rides each weekend using this target schedule:  Make sure to get in the additional miles on your own during the week to stay on training. If you don't think you can train for both days of the trip, just train for one day (Saturday) and then you can ride home in the SAG van. To train for one day, do one of the two long weekend rides per week and train do half of the remaining days mileage during the week days. Training Links Here are some of the good articles and links on endurance training and long-distance biking: A good basic guide from Ultra Cycling Magazine. Other good links from Ultra Cycling Magazine: Nutrition for a Century or a Double Eating for a Century, Brevet or Double Century Water and Salt Intake During Exercise Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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2007 Completed Rides Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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Larry's Comments on 2007 Ride The first time I made an attempt at a double-century (We call it an "almost" because a true double-century is completed in a single day) was in early October of 2005. I recorded 95 miles going down to Utica from Elmhurst with a total riding time of 6 hours and 43 minutes - an average of 14.2 mph for the distance of the ride. It was a good ride, but I had some trouble with my seat - both on my bike and my body. I stayed at The Willow Inn in Utica, which was a nice serviceable hotel. Dinner was at the local pub where I had an enormous prime rib dinner for twenty bucks. The next day I sat on my bike and knew I was in trouble with respect to sitting on that seat for another 7 hours or so. I gave it a try and ended up going about 35 miles to Morris, but that was it. I had to call in the cavalry (in the form of my son, Chris, who will be driving the SAG van for us this year) to get a ride home from Morris. My personal goal for 2006 was to make it there and back with endurance and "rear-end endurance" to spare. In the spring of 2007 several friends committed with me to train for and make the same ride. I realized that I had done a very poor job training. With a little bit of research I came up with an eleven week training plan slowly increasing the mileage by 10% each week to reach 75% of the total target mileage. We did the training rides back to back on Saturday and Sunday together and each rider was responsible to ride during the week. What became apparent immediately was that the first ride of the weekend was easy compared to the ride the next day. It was that second ride each week that toughened us up. The training was fun - and though demanding - within the reach of every rider. We had two riders that had never done any distance riding at all - Matt and Lou - and none of us were what you might think of as "athletes." Yet we made tremendous progress over the 12 weeks. We started barely able to make a 30 mile ride at an average of 13 mph. By the end of the training we could turn in rides in excess of 60 miles at 15 mph or faster. In addition, this year we will ride for a good cause, Daybreak of Elmhurst. We will take our time and stop often to enjoy the ride. This is a race everyone can win just by participating. (law) Labels: bike ride, daybreak, double century, syscon
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1:30 PM
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Louie topped us all in terms of the "pro-biker" look. A far cry from last year when Louie went on his first ride with us. He has taken to biking like a brick to mortar and is now leading the pack when we ride. 
adequate stops for water along the way. It is hard to remember that 30 miles between towns on a bicycle is an hour-and-a-half of hard riding instead of 20 minutes in air-conditioned comfort of a car. This was a perspective we were reminded of several times along the way.
