Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mine subsidence damages Tour de Coal's home base

I was saddened to find out today at STLToday.com that Benld Elementary School -- the home base of the annual Tour de Coal ride in Benld, Ill. -- was severely damaged Saturday, probably by mine subsidence. Most likely, the school will be closed for the rest of the year.

Paul Skeans -- superintendent of the Gillespie School District, a co-organizer of the Tour de Coal and one of my cycling buddies -- was really proud of the building. Up until Saturday, it was a nice, modern building -- it opened in 2002 -- that served its students and staff well, and it was a great place for a home base for a bike ride.

But, sadly, it's not surprising that mine subsidence damages buildings in the Benld-Gillespie area, which is located roughly halfway between St. Louis and Springfield, Ill. The region is dotted with dozens of old coal mines, hence the name of the ride. Mine subsidence also is common in communities in the metro-east, including Belleville, O'Fallon, Collinsville and Glen Carbon, because of the many abandoned coal mines in the region.

"Floors heaved, floors cracked and floors are separated," Paul told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today. "Walls are splitting apart. It's like there's been an earthquake."

I'm pulling for Paul and the students, teachers and leaders of the Gillespie School District that repairs the school needs will be ready for the start of the 2009-10 school year. But it sounds as if the building is in such bad shape that the district may need to build a brand new building.

By the way, this year's Tour de Coal is slated for Saturday, Sept. 26, and registration is now open for the event. We hope we don't find another location to be the host of this year's ride.

Labels: Illinois, Tour de Coal

Roger 0 comments 12:29 PM

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sean Penn as Larry? Hmmm!

OK, I know this is supposed to be a bicycling blog. But since I lead a bicycle ride called the Tour de Stooges and -- as of Monday -- own all 90 Three Stooges shorts featuring Curly and 16 of 70 shorts with Shemp, I think it's appropriate for me to comment about the upcoming Three Stooges film being made by the Farrelly brothers.

For about a decade, the Farrelly brothers have been trying to make a movie about the classic comedy trio, and they finally may be close to getting it done.

Variety reported that MGM and the Farrelly brothers have signed Sean Penn to play the role of Larry. Negotiations are under way with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard, and with Benicio Del Toro to play Moe.

If everything goes as planned, Variety reports production will begin in early fall for a release sometime in 2010.

The choice of Sean Penn to play Larry is an interesting one. "I resemble that," is what Penn might say to comparisons between him and Larry Fine. I'm wondering how he'll do, however, in a second-banana role, as Larry normally played to Moe, Curly and Shemp. Maybe the Farrellys will more fully develop Larry's persona to fit Penn's talents, but to me, Penn seems more of a Moe than a Curly as far as demeanor goes.

Some Stooge purists say it's a horrible idea to try to make a new Three Stooges movie. The jury still is out for me.

I consider myself a student of the Stooges of sorts, and a close viewing of early Stooges films reveals they were somewhat risque for their day, particularly with double entendres. And yet, the Stooges also had a sense of innocence about them. The challenge for the Farrellys will be to get the proper balance of the risque, the innocent and -- of course -- the slapstick to make it work.

Below is a clip of the original Three Stooges. You be the judge!

Labels: Three Stooges

Roger 0 comments 9:53 PM

Monday, March 23, 2009

The hard knocks of cycling

A couple of high-profile folks have had a rough go on the bike in the last couple of days.

Of course, there's Lance Armstrong. Armstrong suffered a broken collarbone during the first stage of the Tour of Castilla y Leon in central Spain on Monday, an injury that could threaten to disrupt his bid to win a record eighth Tour de France title this summer as well as racing in the Giro d'Italia.

The 37-year-old fell along with several other riders about 32 miles from the finish line. You can see video here. (Hat tip to Fritz over at Cyclelicious!)

Secondly, "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer had a run-in with a deer while bicycling on Long Island this weekend, injuring his shoulder and forcing him to miss the Monday show, NBC reported.

"He was riding his bike over the weekend and he had a run-in with a deer," co-host Meredith Vieira said, according to the NBC Web site report.

Labels: accidents

Roger 0 comments 7:35 PM

Sunday, March 22, 2009

On the trails of Madison County

Yes, that's me in the rear view mirror of Doug Kaufman's bike as we rode 37.5 miles on the trails of Madison County.

Doug's birthday was more than a month ago, but several of his good friends got together today for a ride on the trails of Madison County. Since I know the trail system very well, I got to pick today's route.

Joining us on today's ride were Roger "The Answer Man" Schlueter, Brad and Kathy Weisenstein, and their youngest daughter, Rose.

We started on the Nature Trail on the southern edge of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I first wanted to take the gang on a 31-mile circuit on the Nature, Schoolhouse and Goshen trails, but I was quickly vetoed on that idea. It turned out the rest of the folks didn't want to ride to Granite City, despite my assurances that most of the Nature Trail was nice.

Instead, we headed up to Edwardsville to the Goshen Trail, shown at left, and I decided we were going to hop on the Heritage Trail and take that to Marine.

Things started out well, but Doug noticed my seat seemed a bit low. It was. When we got to the Heritage Trail intersection, I decided to try to fix it. I got the seat where I wanted it, but I put too much muscle into tightening the bolt. It broke.

Fortunately, we were close enough to The Cyclery bicycle shop in Edwardsville to get a new seat post attachment. It added a bit of distance to the ride, but that was OK. Soon, we were on our way to Marine.

I took a bit of ribbing for my pronunciation of Marine. It sounded a bit like "Maureen" to them. Maureen is a friend of ours who was invited to come along, but she didn't. "Maureen's in St. Louis," my friends reminded me.

The Heritage Trail between Glen Carbon and Silver Creek is a bit rough because it is an oil-and-chip trail maintained by the village of Glen Carbon. Between Silver Creek and Marine, it is an asphalt trail maintained by Madison County Transit. Despite the rough trail, everyone enjoyed the scenic trail.

We stopped for lunch at the Parkview Cafe in Marine. We got there shortly before closing time -- 2 p.m. -- but the folks there were happy to serve us!

We had a pleasant surprise on the way back. Most of the time during the spring, the wind blows from the west or the south in this part of the world. Today, the wind was coming from the east and made our ride a lot more enjoyable.

On the way back, my friends told me I had a wardrobe malfunction in my bike shorts. Fortunately, it was warm enough to take off my jacket and wrap it around my waist to hide the malfunction.

"Make sure you destroy those shorts when you get home," Doug said.

Rose was a real trooper today! By the time we returned to the Goshen Trail intersection, Rose was game. Even though she's an eighth-grader, she agreed with the rest of us that we wanted to take the Heritage Trail to downtown Glen Carbon, then ride the Nickel Plate Trail back to Edwardsville. That added about 3 miles to the ride.

It wasn't the fastest ride I've ever done, but it was one of the more enjoyable. It's always fun to ride with Brad, Doug and Roger, and having Kathy along was great. Kathy rode with her aunt on the 1985 version of the Bicycle Across the Magnificent Miles of Illinois ride that went from Chicago to Edwardsville, the first weeklong ride I ever did.

"This bike likes to go far," Kathy said while on the road. Here's hoping that Kathy's able to do a weeklong ride again sometime in the near future!

In honor of his birthday, Doug treated us to cans of guava juice at the end of the ride. Cheers!


From left, Doug Kaufman, Roger Schlueter, Roger Kramer,
Brad Weisenstein, Kathy Weisenstein and Rose Weisenstein.

Labels: bicycle rides, Illinois, MCT Trails

Roger 1 comments 9:23 PM

Thursday, March 19, 2009

News on the St. Louis bicycle racing scene

O'Fallon Grand Prix: I know I'm a few days late reporting this, but Metro-East Cycling got some good news from the O'Fallon (Ill.) City Council on Monday. The City Council voted 12-2 to approve the race.

"I think the fears are overgrown and overdramatic," Ward 3 Alderman Rick Reckamp was quoted as saying in the Belleville News-Democrat. "I don't think there should be a problem. The event was well-run last year."

The two aldermen who voted against the race were concerned about the vounteers who will work event and that teenagers would be directing traffic. Metro-East Cycling assured civic leaders that no one younger than 18 would be volunteering at intersections.

Tour of Hermann: While I was out and about delivering Tour de Stooges brochures today and yesterday, I saw lots of fliers for the Tour of Hermann Ominum Stage Race on April 18-19 in beautiful in the heart of Missouri's beautiful wine country.

Two stages, a time trial and a criterium race, will be run April 18 in Hermann. A road race will take place on the 19th on a rather challenging course that uses Highways H, E, VV and 100. It's about as challening of a course as you're going to get in the Midwest. There are a wide range of categories available for men and an open women's category. If you need an early season challenge, this is it!

Labels: cycling, Illinois, Missouri, racing

Roger 0 comments 2:33 PM

Friday, March 13, 2009

Tour de Donut registration open

Ladies and gentlemen, registration for the 21st annual Tour de Donut is open! The ride takes place July 11 in Staunton, Ill.

For some reason, the Boeing Employee's Bicycle Club doesn't have a link to the registration page yet, but you can sign up for the ride through BikeReg.com. If you sign up by June 15, the ride costs $20 per person and $40 per tandem team. After that, the price goes up to $30 per person and $50 per tandem team.

Ride organizers are hoping for 1,000 riders this year, and they plan to add more categories this year so more people can win prizes.

Although the event has been duplicated in other parts of the country, this is the original Tour de Donut that I had a role in creating some 20 years ago. The Boeing Employee's Bicycle Club has done a great job of taking the ride to a higher level, and the city of Staunton does a great job of getting behind the ride.

For those of you who are on Facebook and have done the Tour de Donut, there's a new group -- I Survived the Tour de Donut -- that some of those great Staunton volunteers have created. If you've survived the Tour de Donut and want to brag about it, this is the group for you!

Labels: Tour de Donut

Roger 0 comments 2:31 PM

Astana signs up for Tour of Missouri

The Tour of Missouri scored a major coup this week with the signing of Lance Armstrong's team, Astana, for this year's event.

"This is a big development for the Tour of Missouri," said Chris Aronhalt, the managing partner of event organizer Medalist Sports in a press release. "To have the participation of Astana is yet another huge step for this race. The Tour of Missouri's reputation is evidently very solid in the minds of the top teams and riders. To have Team Astana join the already great line-up of teams is good for all coming to see the 2009 Tour of Missouri."

Tour of Missouri organizers did not say whether Armstrong would indeed race in Missouri.

In addition to Armstrong, Astana is the team of top American Levi Leipheimer, who has won three straight overall titles in the Amgen Tour of California. Astana's roster also includes 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain, who raced in the inaugural Tour of Missouri, and Tour de France podium finisher Andreas Kloden of Germany.

“We are very much looking forward to coming to the Tour of Missouri. We like to compete in the big American races,” said Johan Bruyneel, the general manager of Team Astana. “The Tour of Missouri is a very good race and will be competitive this year looking at the initial roster of teams. As always, we will bring a very good team to compete for the win.”

Labels: Lance Armstrong, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 12:42 AM

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

O'Fallon mulls Grand Prix bicycle race

The Metro-East Cycling club wants to put on the second annual Grand Prix bicycle race on May 30 in O'Fallon, but the Belleville News-Democrat reports that some aldermen think the club has to do more to insure the safety of participants and spectators before they will back the event.

"Last year, there were teenagers standing in the street stopping and directing traffic," Ward 5 Alderman Dennis Renner said during an O'Fallon City Council Community Development Committee meeting. "The council tightened restrictions on charities collecting money at intersections because they were afraid someone was going to get hurt. So how can we allow teenagers to stand in the street and direct traffic?"

Organizer Steve Schmidt says the club will require volunteers to be at least 18 years old this year and will be given swimming noodles to make them more visible, but Alderman Michael Bennett isn't convinced the swimming noodles are enough to make them visible.

Police Chief John Betten was skeptical about the race last year, but he has no qualms about allowing the race this year. "I had not seen how one of these events is orchestrated or how they come off. But it went surprisingly well and seeing it helped put a lot of those fears to rest," Betten said during the meeting.

The full City Council will vote on allowing this year's race at Monday's council meeting. Last year, the race drew about 250 participants and spectators, and race organizers hope to draw 400 people this year.

Labels: cycling, Illinois, racing

Roger 1 comments 1:01 AM

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Wheels of Glory III

The last (at least for now) of Will Cycle for Charity's Wheels of Glory indoor cycling series takes place Wednesday (March 11) at the Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Ave. in St. Louis. The doors open at 5 p.m., registration begins at 7 o'clock, and racing begins at 8 o'clock.

Registration is $5, and proceeds will go toward the St. Louis City Open Studio and Gallery, a non-profit arts organization located in Tower Grove Park that is dedicated to providing accessible arts education to children in a safe environment. Funds generated from the Wheels of Glory race will go toward operational expenses and scholarship awards.

Will Cycle for Charity is a nonprofit group of St. Louis cyclists who are donating their time and skills for St. Louis-area charitable organizations through cycling events.

Labels: advocacy, St. Louis

Roger 1 comments 7:06 PM

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Complete RAGBRAI 2009 route revealed

Want to see where I will be cycling this summer? The Des Moines Register has revealed the full route for RAGBRAI XXXVI. You can click on the link to see the full map.

Here's a summation of the route:

• Sunday, July 19 -- Starting city: Council Bluffs. Ending city: Red Oak. Other towns visited: Mineola, Henderson and Emerson. Climb: 3,684 feet. Distance: 52.6 miles.
• Monday, July 20 -- Starting city: Red Oak. Ending city: Greenfield. Other towns visited: Stanton, Villisca, Nodaway, Corning, Prescott, Williamson and Fontanelle. Climb: 5,096 feet. Distance: 72.6 miles.
• Tuesday, July 21 -- Starting city: Greenfield. Ending city: Indianola. Other towns visited: Orient, Macksburg, East Peru, Truro, St. Charles, St. Marys, Martensdale and Prole. Climb: 4,470 feet. Distance: 77.1 miles.
• Wednesday, July 22 -- Starting city: Indianola. Ending city: Chariton. Other towns visited: Ackworth, Sandyville, Milo, Lacona and Oakley. Climb: 2,182 feet. Distance: 44.4 miles.
• Thursday, July 23 -- Starting city: Chariton. Ending city: Ottumwa. Other towns visited: Millerton, Bethlehem, Confidence, Iconium, Honey Creek Resort State Park, Moravia, Rathbun Lake, Unionville and Blakesburg. Climb: 3,388 feet. Distance: 76.9 miles.
• Friday, July 24 -- Starting city: Ottumwa. Ending city: Mount Pleasant. Other towns visited: Hedrick, Martinsburg, Pekin, Packwood, Pleasant Plain, Brighton, Germanville and Lockridge. Climb: 2,841 feet. Distance: 75.5 miles.
• Saturday, July 25 -- Starting city: Mount Pleasant. Ending city: Burlington. Other towns visited: New London, Lowell and Geode State Park. Climb: 1,145 feet. Distance: 43.2 miles.

I am hoping my second visit to Mount Pleasant will be a bit more pleasant than my first. Back in the '70s, my dad took the family up to the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion to see the old steam-powered threshing machines. He even borrowed a camper from a buddy of his so we could stay overnight.

I have to admit I the old steam engines fascinated me, and I even enjoyed the concert that night by Country-Western music legend Hank Snow.

Alas, I spoiled the trip for my dad, through no fault of my own. The combination of steam and coal smoke during the day and rain that night aggravated my childhood asthma. As I tried to go to sleep in the camper, I started wheezing, forcing my dad to drive home in the middle of the night.

I've also been to Brighton, Iowa. In 1969, a group from Brighton, Iowa, visited my hometown of Brighton, Ill., to participate in the community's centennial celebration. In 1970, my family and several other folks from Brighton, Ill., returned the favor and rode in the centennial parade for Brighton, Iowa.

Labels: Iowa, RAGBRAI

Roger 0 comments 5:56 PM

Friday, March 06, 2009

Tour of Missouri announces 4 teams

Garmin-Slipstream, led by defending champion and Illinois native Christian Vande Velde, was the first cycling team committed to this year's Tour of Missouri, and three other teams have joined the fray, race organizers announced Thursday.

Another American team, Columbia-High Road, the Italian team Liquigas, as well as the Swiss-based Cervelo Test Team will be in this year's event, which begins Sept. 7 in St. Louis and ends Sept. 13 in Kansas City.

"We have had record interest in the event, which has precipitated the early announcement of the first teams committed to participate," Chris Aronhalt, the managing partner of event organizer Medalist Sports, said in a press release. "The stature of the Tour of Missouri continues to grow, and the participation of top teams like Columbia-High Road, Garmin-Slipstream, Liquigas, and Cervelo -- all teams expected to race in the Tour de France this year -- justifies this event’s world-class reputation. We anticipate the announcement of more teams in the next couple weeks."

In addition to Vande Velde, Garmin-Slipstream also will feature Canadian Svein Tuft, who finished third overall in last year’s race.

Liquigas, an entrant into last year’s race, is one of Italy’s top teams and last year was led by Czech Republic’s Roman Kreuziger, who won the Best Young Rider jersey.

Last year, Columbia-High Road was the top team in the Tour of Missouri on the strength of Mark Cavendish's three stage wins and Michael Barry's one win. George Hincapie, who won the inagural Tour of Missouri in 2007 while riding for Discovery Channel, also rides for Columbia-High Road.

The Cervelo Test Team will be a first-time entrant into the Tour of Missouri. Cervelo’s team features 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre, top Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, who already has won a stage of the Amgen Tour of California and Het Volk event this year, and Dominque Rollin, who finished third overall in the 2007 Tour of Missouri and won the Michelob Ultra King of the Mountain jersey last year.

Race rosters will not be announced until August but team directors are already talking about sending many of their top stars, Aronhalt said.

Labels: Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 12:06 AM

Thursday, March 05, 2009

It's time to Share the Road

We're going to get a sneak peak of spring here in the metro-east in the next few days. That, along with the switch to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday morning, means there should be more cyclists out on the road.

I'm passing along some tips from the League of Illinois Bicyclists, with commentary from me in italics:

For those who want to ride their bicycles on the road, it’s good to be reminded of the rules of the road. Bicyclists are legal vehicles on the road and have all the rights and responsibilities of motorists. They should observe traffic signs and traffic laws, signal turns, ride with the traffic and ride in a straight line, except when making turns. Bicyclists fare best when they act and are treated like motorists. That’s because road safety for everyone depends on all vehicles, cars and bikes, behaving predictably, obeying traffic laws and sharing the road.

Typical traffic no-no’s for bicyclists are: riding against the traffic instead of with the traffic, failure to observe red lights and stop signs, blocking traffic on a busy road by not riding in a single file with other cyclists, failure to use hand signals when turning or slowing, no headlights, taillights or reflectors for night riding and riding with earphones.

As a cyclist and motorist here in Belleville, I see way too many instances of people riding against traffic. The main offenders here are children and people who ride bikes because of DUI convictions or other unfortunate circumstances. Parents, police and educators need to teach children the rules of the road when in comes to cycling. People convicted of DUI should be given a copy of the state's "Safe Bicycling in Illinois" booklet.

I plead guilty to occasionally rolling through a stop sign, but I always stop at intersections where there's a strong likelihood there will be traffic. As a whole, the cycling community needs to do a much better job of paying attention to stop signs and traffic signals.

Riding two abreast is legal in Illinois as long as the reasonable and normal movement of traffic is not impeded. Otherwise, you must ride single file. Riding more than two abreast is illegal on most Illinois roads. Cyclists on group rides sometimes lose sight of the law and create problems for themselves and motorists.

Remember that one bicyclist’s bad behavior on the road affects the public’s opinion of all bicyclists. Amen to that.

Typical motorists’ mistakes are: failure to pass bicyclists safely by giving them at least three feet of space, passing a bicyclist then making an immediate right turn in front of the bicyclist, failure to yield when making a left turn in front of an oncoming bicyclist, opening a car door into a bicyclist’s path, failure to scan for bicyclists at intersections and crosswalks, parking in bike lanes and speeding.

True, motorists often don't pay attention to cyclists, and they need more education about the rights of bicyclists to be on the road.

Let's hope cyclists and motorists alike have safe travels during the 2009 cycling season.

Labels: advocacy, League of Illinois Bicyclists, safety

Roger 0 comments 12:14 AM

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Train the Trainer

The League of Illinois Bicyclists says bike rodeos are a commonly recognized event for kids, often serving as the only bicycle safety education they receive. It's only fitting that the people who lead those event know the basics on how to ride a bike safely and legally.

That's why LIB has scheduled a series of Train the Trainer sessions throughout the state. Here's a schedule of those in or near the metro-east:

• April 8, 3 p.m., Litchfield City Hall
• April 8, 7:30 p.m., Alton (location to be determined)
• April 9, 4 p.m., Collinsville Area Recreation District offices
• April 9, 7:30 p.m., Belleville City Hall

You can see the full list of locations here.

Labels: League of Illinois Bicyclists, safety

Roger 0 comments 11:55 PM