Prologue
After posting the ride to EBC back on Feb.02 in the dark days of winter, the ride day had finally arrived.
There was quite a crowd - biggest turnout yet - when I arrived at the ride start, with at least 8 riders who have done this ride one or more times before: Steve Omori, Hollie Long, Bill Fisher, Jay Lumkes, Rob Weiss, Brian Swanson, Rich Gordon, and myself
I forgot how long it can take to get everyone to sign the ride sheet, so the ride start of 5:30 AM was delayed slightly as I collected all the signatures.
Naperville to Sycamore (45 miles, 2:46) - arrived 8:12
We rolled out of TJ / Casey's parking lot at 5:39 AM heading down Washington on a fine morning.
By my count there were 17 of us, including "Team Garmin" - a group of six riders all wearing green Garmin jerseys including members John Yoon, Byung Kim, John Kim, and guests Bob Hwang, Sang Kim, and Cy Lee.
We cruised through Fermilab as the sun was coming up and then it was down through Batavia.
As we hit some little hills on Western the group started to break up a bit, and even more so as we went up Burr.
On Corron I met us with rider #18 (Rob Schaller) who had ridden down from Algonquin to join us. Rob was wearing his distinctive "Badgers Ripped My Fleche" jersey from a 24-hour ride we did together back in 2016.
RobS and I passed Team Garmin which was stopped on Corron for some reason.
As we headed west on McDonald Team Garmin went ahead, then the lead group rejoined us, they had stopped at Walgreens back on Peck road.
Some of us rejoined this group and hammered our way into Sycamore, and passed Team Garmin as they were again stopped (I think one of the group had fallen off the back with a flat tire).
Most of us stopped in Sycamore at a Marathon station (RobS headed for the bakery on IL-64) for drinks and snacks.
After a 13 minute stop we were back on the road.
Sycamore to Oregon (36 miles, 81 total, 2:28, 5:01 total) - arrived 10:40
Then it was on to Oregon. We passed the bakery and saw RobS's bike outside. At this point it was the lead group (Bill, Jay, Brian), Rob Weiss,Steve, and myself.
With RobS still at the bakery, behind RobS were Michelle Chambers and Paul Leguillon. and behind them were Hollie and Rich.
There are some long gradual climbs on this section, and the lead group pulled away again, and I was riding with RobW, Steve, and RobS most of the way to Oregon.
This stretch is mostly long gradual rolling hills to the west, with lots of nice views. We had a modest tailwind and that was quite nice.
At some point TG passed us and we caught up to them in Oregon, but the LG had come and gone.
After an 8 minute stop at a BP we got back on the road.
Oregon to Dixon (24 miles, 105 total, 1:40, 6:41 total) - arrived 12:20
We all left together, thenTG went ahead as we now started the nicest section of the ride, with some good climbs and some fun curvy descents
Heading south on Ridge road, TG had broken up a bit and the riders in front missed the turn onto Penn Cove. We rode past the stopped riders, made the turn, and found later that they all followed the other riders and took a different, more trafficy route into Dixon.
RobS fell behind a bit and told me he planned to stop at Culvers, and Steve also fell back a bit on the hills.
Then it was the descent into Dixon and down to the Rock River where we caught up to LG at Subway. Someone reported that TG was over at McDonalds.
After a stop of around 33 minutes we left Subway.
Dixon was holding their Petunia Festival that weekend and one feature was a Dog Jump Contest. Bill Fisher wanted to see this so after Subway we made our way down to the riverfront where there was a platform built at one end of a large rectangular above-ground pool. Dogs competed by running down the platform to the end where their owner tossed something out over the water and the dogs made flying leaps off the platform. I think we saw one dog jump 26 feet!
Dixon to Ashton (16 miles, 121 total, 1:36, total 8:17) - arrived 13:56
We then made our way across the river where they had rides and stuff setup on the other side. After a couple of dead ends we found our way through and headed out of town.
This is another nice stretch, with some good climbs and scenery, passing through the Nachusa Grassland. Sadly we did not see any buffalo, just cows.
Once again LG pulled away and we rode on to Ashton, with a bit of a headwind now.
When we got to Ashton we stopped at a Casey's to find the LG lounging around taking a break.
We always seem to find some nice cycling-friendly people in Ashton and this was no exception, as a few people enquired about our ride.
After a 17 minute stop we took off, just after the LG left.
Ashton to Hinckley (37 miles, 158 total, 2:28, total 10:55) - arrived 16:34
This is the longest section of the ride. First you head south a bit, then a long stretch east on Reynolds, then a jog down IL-251, then an even longer east stretch on Lee.
Not long after leaving Ashton, TG surged past on Reynolds but one rider dropped off and started riding with us. I had my head down riding east into a mild headwind, and when we got to IL-251 that TG rider we nowhere to be seen.
We found later that this rider (don't know which one) had some mechanical issues and phoned home for a pickup.
Once we got on Lee it was pretty nice despite the heat, and the headwind, because after a flat stretch there are a lot of long gradual climbs, varying but pretty good road surfaces, and very little traffic.
After a while we came up on TG stopped on Lee in the shade. They were down to four riders - one was riding with Michelle and Paul, and the other was the one that stopped somewhere on Reynolds.
As they conferred what to do we pressed on to Hinckley - and were quite suprised when LG pulls up from behind. They had been stopped by a train a ways back, and had gone off to the side to wait in the shade, and we had gone past them.
So the pace picked up a bit and we rode in with them to Hinckley - for the long anticipated Dairy Joy stop!
Most of us stopped here for some cool refreshment there as the day had gotten quite warm. I had a delicious chocolate shake, then RobW and I met up with Steve.
Before taking off I said goodbye to RobS who was headed north back to Algonquin.
After a 33 minute break we were on to Yorkville, riding with RobW and Steve.
Hinckley to Yorkville (20 miles, 178 total, 1:39, 12:34 total) - arrived 18:13
We pedalled on through the countryside, passing through Plano then past Silver Springs park and on to Yorkville.
We were still feeling pretty good but ready for the last leg.
In Yorkville we once again caught up to the LG. TG came in and then took off. RobW went ahead with the LG but I elected to stay behind with Steve.
I had been checking in with Hollie and Rich and they were doing fine, just riding at a slower pace.
No word from the middle trio of Michelle, Paul, and TG member.
Steve was not feeling the love of the ride at this point but he soldiered on.
As we got close to the end, I noticed that my ride time was just under 12 hours, so on Modaff I picked up the pace to keep it below 12 hours.
I made it to the finish with a ride time of 11:57:29, just after 8 PM,so I met my primary goal of a daylight finish. Steve came in a few minutes later.
Epilogue
RobW reported that the LG got in around 7:45.
After Steve and I got in, I saw three member of TG across the parking lot so I rode over to chat with them. They said they had a great time, and would be back next year - with a new kit.
Later I heard that Michelle and TG member got in around 9:30 (with lights). Paul had to cut it short but still got in 189 miles.
Hollie and Rich (with lights and reflective gear) got in around midnight! Way to persevere!! They have both done brevets and are used to nightime iding.
EBC Members (10): Steve Omori, Hollie Long, Bill Fisher, Rob Crancich, Byung Kim, John Yoom, Jay Lumkes, Rob Weiss, John Kim, Eric Peterson
EBC Guests (8): Paul Leguillon, Michelle Chambers, Rob Schaller, Bob Hwang, Brian Swanson, Sang Kim, Rich Gordon, Cy Lee
Regards,
Eric
PS Why is the subject : Naperville Ride Report - 2018 Double Century #1? Because 12 days later three of us (Bill, Jay, and I) did this ride a second time, led by Vince. I'll let Vince do that ride report.