Friday, December 31, 2004

The Marathon Begins!

Here's a news flash! I'm watching the Three Stooges Marathon on AMC!

I won't be able to watch the whole thing because I have to work this evening. And it's probably just as well. Even though I love the Stooges, I don't think I can watch 32 films in 12 hours!

But the marathon started out just fine with the film "Three Missing Links." In this film, the Stooges start out as inept janitors who wind up being the leading men in a jungle film. After they're fired as janitors for a movie studio, Curly tries to convince the studio president he's an actor by doing animal imitations. The scene where Curly portrays a chicken with his head cut off is absolutely precious!

I gotta go! It's time to watch "Some More of Samoa!"

Roger 0 comments 11:45 AM

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Three Stooges Marathon

Hey boys and some of you enlightened girls! American Movie Channels is airing its Three Stooges Marathon on New Year's Eve. I can't think of a better way to get in the mood to celebrate the New Year!

The marathon will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. CST Friday. To see the full schedule for the marathon, check out this link: Three Stooges Marathon schedule.

They're saving some of the best for last. For example, you can see such classics as "Men in Black," "Disorder in the Court" and "Violent is the Word for Curly" in the final two hours of the marathon. But there are some good ones earlier in the day, like "Three Sappy People" and "Oil to Bed, Oily to Rise."

And if you can't see the marathon, remember that the Tour de Stooges is only about four months away!

Roger 0 comments 3:57 PM

Monday, December 27, 2004

Hey Illinois residents, it's time to vote!

Illinois residents are getting a chance to vote online for the state reptile and the state amphibian. Illinois Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn and the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago have teamed up to offer up three candidates for state reptile and three candidates for state amphibian.

Your choices for state amphibian are the gray tree frog, the Eastern tiger salamander and the American toad. The choices for state reptile are the Eastern box turtle, common garter snake and the painted turtle.

I voted for the American toad and the Eastern box turtle. Many an American toad spent time on the front porch of our farmhouse near Brighton, and I have seen many an Eastern box turtle sitting on a log on my bicycle rides in Illinois.

If you plan on voting in this election, you better hurry. The deadline is Dec. 31.

Roger 0 comments 11:19 AM

Friday, December 24, 2004

Merry Christmas!

Let me say this: It took me a long time to get into the festive mood one should have during the Christmas season. But it finally hit me this morning as I wrapped presents and listened to Bruce Cockburn's and The Ventures' Christmas albums.

Many of my family and friends have also found it difficult to get into the holiday spirit this year. I'm not sure why. I have noticed a marked decrease in the number of Christmas cards I received this year. I think finances are tight for a lot of people, myself included, meaning they aren't as generous as they usually are.

It sounds like to me that people are some wrapped up in the commercialism and secularism that dominates Christmas in the United States. I found that what has helped me finally get into the spirit is focusing on love and sharing it with others. Sure, presents are nice, but Christmas is really about the bonds we share with our fellow human beings.

It also is about humility. If you believe in Christianity, you believe that Christ humbled himself to become man and to bring salvation to the world. It is that same humility that we should practice when dealing with family, friends, co-workers, etc. We should strive to serve and love as best we can.

In the spirit of humility, I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Roger 0 comments 11:17 AM

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Holiday Eating Tips

My good friend Pat Joiner forwarded these holiday eating tips to me, and I thought I would share them with you. I can assure you that if you follow these tips, you will have lots of incentives to start a vigorous training program in January so you will be ready for the 2005 cycling season! So, here they are:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. (I disagree with this one to some extent! If you are fortunate to have fruitcake made by monks, such as those at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Ky., or the Assumption Abbey in Ava, Mo., then you should eat as much as you want!)
10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Roger 0 comments 1:44 PM

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Bicycle Safety

I know many of you likely have seen this site before -- Michael Bluejay's BicycleSafe.com -- but I visited this site for the first time today. It has some interesting advice about how cyclists can avoid getting hit by automobiles.

I agree with much of the advice here, but there are conflicting points of view particularly from the people who support John Forester's Effective Cycling.

I think the keys here are to use some good old-fashioned common sense, to apply defensive driving techniques to cycling and to assume that the motorist has no clue you're out there or no clue about cyclists' rights to use the road.

Roger 0 comments 2:53 PM

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Bubba's Pampered Pedalers

Bubba Barron is one of bicycle touring's bigger-than-life characters. Not only is he a big man, he also has a big, gregarious personality to go along with it.

It was only fitting that Bubba began his own business in 2002, Bubba's Pampered Pedalers. After a 27-year career with the St. Louis County Police Department, he noticed the biggest complaint that people on weeklong cycling trips like RAGBRAI, the West Shoreline Tour and TRIRI have is having to put up their tents after a long day of cycling and having the tear down their dew-soaked tents first thing in the morning. That's when he decided to start a service in which he would provide a tent and an air mattress, put the tents up before they arrive, , tear them down when they take off the next morning and provide clean towels, beverages and a comfortable seat so cyclists could relax after 50, 60, 70 or more miles on the bike.

Bubba has announced the rides he will be servicing in 2005, including Cycle Zydeco in Louisiana, Bike Florida and Cycle North Carolina. You can see the full schedule here.

Bubba says "it's all good" in his Pamper Zone. And he is absolutely right. While I don't have any problems with putting up a tent and tearing it down, I have to admit it's a whole lot easier when someone else is doing the work. But the best part of the Pamper Zone is being able to bond with a group of fellow cyclists and develop some good friendships.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bubba in 1993 on the Cycle Across Missouri Parks ride, his first weeklong tour ever. He got a little tired of me and other cyclists saying "on your left," but Bubba has been a good friend of mine ever since. Since that first ride, Bubba has more than proven himself as a cyclist, having done a solo trip across the country and a difficult Great Arizona Bicycle Adventure ride.

Here's hoping I get to meet some of you in the Pamper Zone during 2005!

Roger 0 comments 3:52 PM

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Madison County Bicycle Trail pioneer

Edwardsville resident George Arnold has done plenty to promote bicycle trails in Madison County, and he's received some long overdue credit for the work he's done. A local chapter of the AARP hailed George as the "founding father of bike trails" in the county and presented him with a hand-carved plaque earlier this week. You can read about this in an article written by a friend of mine, Norma Mendoza of the Edwardsville Intelligencer: http://snipurl.com/bgmw.

Twenty years ago, when I was a reporter for the Intelligencer, I remember how George and a small group of volunteers struggled to keep the Madison County Nature Trail open. At that time, Madison County government had control of the trail, but the county didn't have the money to maintain the trail properly. It often was overgrown by weeds, and bridge vandalism was a serious problem.

Since then, the Madison County Transit District has taken over the trail and has turned it into a wonderful paved trail linking Edwardsville and Granite City. It probably is the most used of Madison County trails because of its link to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and other bicycle trails and safe cycling roads in Madison County.

Thank you, George, for all you've done to promote cycling in Madison County!

Roger 0 comments 1:56 PM

Belleville drivers

It never ceases to amaze me how few people know how to drive through the intersection of Illinois Street (Illinois Route 159) and Main Street in Belleville. Once people see that fountain in the middle of the intersection, they have no idea what to do.

Some people just ram their way through the intersection. Other people, once they're within the intersection, feel compelled to yield to the car wanting to enter the intersection. Once in a great while, you have someone who tries to treat the intersection as a roundabout. The combination of all of the above factors creates lots of confusion at that intersection, in which people have to drive around the fountain to get where they're going.

To me, it would make sense to treat the intersection as a roundabout. That would mean people entering the intersection would yield to people already in the intersection. To see how people should handle a roundabout, visit this site put together by the city of Santa Monica, Calif.

I really would like to see the Illinois Department of Transportation and the city of Belleville put yield signs at the intersection so people get the hint that people already in the intersection have the right of way. It would take away a lot of confusion at that intersection.

Roger 0 comments 4:32 AM

Friday, December 17, 2004

MetroLink and Madison County Trails

I think it's a great thing the people of Madison County are considering expanding MetroLink into their county. I think people see the benefits of MetroLink when they don't have to fight traffic on the Poplar Street and Martin Luther King bridges each morning to get to their jobs in St. Louis.

I don't have a need for MetroLink each day since I live about a mile and a half from my job, but I do use it when I go to St. Louis Cardinals games or go to the airport to catch a flight. I take pride when I'm able to make a trip out of town and not have to drive a car at all! On my recent two-week trip to California, I only had to drive a rental car for a day and a half, when I had to drive to Monterey and San Francisco. For everything else, including Yosemite National Park, I used either light rail, Amtrak, buses or airplanes.

Six potential routes are being considered in Madison County. Five of the six would link Granite City and Edwardsville, while the sixth would like Granite City and Alton. The problem with a MetroLink line in Madison County there is a great deal of distance among the major population centers -- Granite City, Collinsville, Edwardsville-Glen Carbon and Alton-Wood River. MetroLink was much easier to route in St. Clair County since the bulk of the population lives in a corridor between East St. Louis and Shiloh.

The bad news for cyclists is that most of the corridors that would serve Edwardsville probably would gobble up some of the Madison County Transit District's system of great bicycle trails. One corridor would take up most of the Madison County Nature Trail, which links Granite City and the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus. Another would take most of the Schoolhouse Trail, which now links Granite City, Collinsville and Maryville. Another would take up the Nickel Plate Trail, which links Glen Carbon and Edwardsville. While I think the Madison County Transit District is committed to providing a great network of cycling trails, I'm sure one of the reasons why the district worked to develop the trails so that it could quickly convert one of them for MetroLink use.

The good news for cyclists, however, is that it could take up to 20 years for MetroLink to get built in Madison County. To read more about the proposed expansion, read an article that appeared today in the Belleville News-Democrat.

Roger 0 comments 3:24 AM

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Cycling photographs

I stopped by the Big Shark bicycle shop in St. Louis early tonight, hoping that I would still get a chance to see some of the photographs exhibited at a Dec. 4 show there. Unfortunately, the photos were there for just one day.

Nevertheless, I did get the chance to meet Matt James, one of the photographers who had artwork at the exhibit and a bike mechanic at the shop. He pointed me to his Web site, http://www.mattjamesphotos.com, which has some very nice racing photos. I like his use of blur to portray the action of bicycle racing.

Just for kicks, I looked for some of the other photographers' Web site. John Musselman, the webmaster of STLBiking.com, has a lot of his cycling photos online. His photos are every bit as good as his Web site! Check out his photos here: http://www.pbase.com/stlbiking/root. Please visit both his site. John has been nothing but cooperative with in providing links to Roger Kramer's Favorite Cycling Tours as well as the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society and Tour de Stooges.

The other photographer whose work I was able to find online was Kim Morris. She has a knack of catching the emotion that often is present in bicycle racing, plus she regularly photographs events throughout the Midwest, which are available for sale. Check out her site, http://www.kimmorris.com.

Roger 0 comments 11:49 PM

Sunday, December 12, 2004

New RSS news feeds

I've decided to upgrade the news portion of this Blog and News page. The service I had wasn't bad, but the ease of the free RSS Digest made this decision an easy one. I'm able to put news feeds from a wide variety of sources with great cycling content, and I have the ability to add new ones when I find one I like.

The other great thing about it is that there are no ads. I only have to provide a link to RSS Digest With the old service, one out of every five links was an ad.

So, come back often and find out the newest cycling headlines!

Roger 1 comments 7:47 PM

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Yahoo's Most Popular Sites

I'm still amazed that this Web site is listed among Yahoo's Most Popular Cycling Travelogue sites! It amazing how this site has grown in the 3 1/2 years since I first put this site online.

The site started out humbly, as a final project for an HTML class I took at Southwestern Illinois College in 2001. The logo at the top of the page did not exist in those days. The background for the entire site was the tan that I currently use for the background for the articles, including this blog. Unfortunately, I no longer have the files of that site, and none of those pages were archived.

Later that semester, I took a course in Dreamweaver. That's when I created the original site for the Tour de Stooges, also as a final project. I liked the color scheme that I used for that site, which included the tan background for text and a maroon background for everything else. Shortly after the course, I used Dreamweaver to enhance the entire site. To see what the site looked like in June 2001, click on the link to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine's findings:

Roger Kramer's Favorite Cycling Tours
Tour de Stooges

Later, many people in the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society were having a hard time finding out when and where the riders were because of problems in distributing our parent organization's newsletter. I then decided to make the BABES part of the site to help our members find out about the rides and, for selfish reasons, bring more traffic to this site. See how the BABES site appeared in October 2001.

Over the years, I have strived to improve the appearance of the site. Along the way, I've had to re-edit some of the articles because of typos or missing words. My goal for 2005 is to do a significant redesign of the main site.

I want to thank all of you for helping Roger Kramer's Favorite Cycling Tours become a popular site in the bicycle touring community! I hope I continue to give you reasons to return to the site in the years to come!

Roger 0 comments 11:09 PM

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Let's hear it for saxophone players!

Tonight, I had the privilege of hearing my 14-year-old niece, Ani, play with the District 118 Jazz Band at Central Junior High in Belleville.

Ani and I share one thing in common: We both play alto saxophone!

The jazz band entertained the crowd who was filtering in for the District 188 holiday band concert for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. Ani had a short solo part in "Shadow of Your Smile," the song from the classic 1965 film "The Sandpipers." Her mom said she was nervous, but Ani still managed to hit it.

I was a pretty decent saxophone player in grade school and junior high. I even had a perfect score in a solo contest while I was in eighth grade. But my music career went downhill in high school after I got braces. The braces prevented me from being in tune while trying to hit a high A.

Ani has more musical talent than I do! She also plays clarinet and piano, and she's learning to play the guitar and the trumpet. I see music being a big part of her life for years for come.

Thursday night, Ani and the jazz band performs again, and the District 188 junior high band, in which she plays clarinet, also performs. I wish I could be there, but work calls.

Roger 0 comments 10:15 PM

Thursday, December 02, 2004

And speaking of McKendree College ...

The eighth edition of the Tour de Stooges bicycle tour will be Saturday, May 7, 2005, at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill. Once again, we'll start the ride at the Melvin Price Convocation Center, the same building where Harry Statham won his record-breaking 880th college basketball win on Dec. 1. After the ride, cyclists can enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet and all The Three Stooges films they can stand.

Over the years, McKendree College has been a wonderful host for the ride. College officials have bent over backwards to help us, and knowing I can rely on the college makes my job as a tour director much easier.

We hope to see you there May 7!

Roger 0 comments 6:33 PM

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Congratulations, Harry Statham

One coach lived under the microscope. The other toiled in relative obscurity at a small Illinois college.

The worlds of NCAA Division I basketball and NAIA basketball are far apart. But even if it was for just one night, this is a victory for the little guy.

Harry Statham, the men's basketball coach at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill., won his 880th basketball game Wednesday night, making him the winningest coach at a four-year college. Statham (pictured at left) surpassed legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith with McKendree's 83-72 win over Maryville University of St. Louis.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a major research university with more than 23,000 students. McKendree is a small college with an enrollment of about 1,500 students.

UNC draws the likes of Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Vince Carter. McKendree draws athletes that have been passed over or ignored by the big universities. Most likely, a McKendree basketball player's career ends the minute he takes off the Bearcat uniform for the last time.

Both Smith and Statham have gyms named after them. The Dean E. Smith Center holds 21,750 people. The Harry M. Statham Sports Center, enclosed within McKendree's Melvin Price Convocation Center, holds a mere 1,500 people.

And, yet, there are common threads between the men.

Smith and Statham had no need to resort to Bobby Knight-style antics to be successful. Smith and Statham prove that you can be decent people and still win. Both men expected their players to be the best they can be, both on the basketball court and in the classroom.

For one night, McKendree College experienced big-time basketball. The capacity crowd includes video crews from all the St. Louis TV news stations. They, along with photographers from the print media, stuck cameras close to Statham's first, just like Smith did on a much more regular basis.

The Bearcats came out tight, just as you would expect from a team under pressure to win No. 880 for Statham before a home crowd and a flock of media. They struggled to take the lead for much of the first half before building up to an 18-point lead in the second period.

Maryville clearly was the lesser team this night. That didn't mean Maryville played like a lesser team. Maryville's players knew they were a part of history and managed to pull to within nine points late in the second half.

But it was clear this would be Harry Statham's night. With about two minutes left in the game, McKendree students handed out purple sheets of paper -- McKendree's colors are purple and white -- with Statham's picture on one side and the number 880 on the other.

First, the crowd rose to its feet and chanted "Harry," "Harry," Harry," Harry." Then they chanted "Har-ry Stat-ham," "Har-ry Stat-ham," "Har-ry Stat-ham." Then they gave Statham a standing ovation once the game was over.

Statham accepted the game ball from the team's captains and congratulations from McKendree College President James Dennis and NAIA President Steve Baker, who presented Statham with a ball autographed by UCLA coaching legend John Wooden.

Then, the McKendree cheerleaders presented Statham with a huge cake and invited the fans to go on the floor to share it with him. Imagine that ever happening at a Division I school.

Later that evening, Statham and his Bearcats made ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day for their accomplishment.

As far as most people are, Smith will still be acknowledge as having the record, since he accomplished his feat in the NCAA. But those of us who live in Southwestern Illinois know who owns the record for four-year schools.

Perhaps it was Dean Smith himself who said it best in an interview with Belleville News-Democrat reporter David Wilhelm.

"It doesn't bother me in the least," Smith said of Statham overtaking him on the win chart. "I'm glad our teams did well. It's still coaching basketball, and everybody else is good at each level. I'm impressed. Coaches thank their players for these moments. I'm happy for Coach Statham."

And for those moments, McKendree was a big-time basketball school.

Roger 0 comments 11:18 PM