Chilly weather can't stop cycling club
By Roger McBain (Contact)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A gray curtain of cloud blocked the sun, the mercury held around 40 degrees and a sharp, icy breeze cut through chill air, making it feel like it was in the 30s.
Well, maybe not perfect, but good enough for the dozen cyclists who mustered Saturday at the St. Philip's Inn to pedal 10 to 30 miles through Posey County, Ind.
At a little after 11 a.m., Terence McGinnis, the "grand pooh-bah and concierge" for the Tour d'Eville, self-billed as "Evansville's least exclusive bicycling disorganization," put a cigarette-sized, silver cylinder to his lips, took a deep breath and then blew.
The shrill pitch that came out signaled for the riders push off on a route that would bring most of them back in about an hour and a half.
Dressed in layers of Spandex, nylon, microfleece, wool and acrylics, some wearing a couple of pairs of gloves, and all topped off with bicycle helmets, the riders took to the asphalt and chip-and-sealed county roads, pedaling their own distances at their own paces.
Some averaging 13 to 15 mph, others pushed 20 on aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber bikes weighing less than 17 pounds.
For cyclists such as David Hack, a Madisonville, Ky., man who once rode a New Year's ride when the thermometer froze at zero, it was no big deal. He dressed Saturday much as he had for the New Year's ride — in layers. His hands overheated Saturday, he said, "and I took off a pair of gloves."
It was the coldest ride yet, however, for Lisa Corcoran and John Nelli of Evansville and for Brian Greulich and his 13-year-old son, Nikolaus, who drove from their home in Santa Claus, Ind., for the outing.
Corcoran, who said she is a beginning rider, pedaled about 10 miles. Nelli, who said he has lost 60 pounds since he took up bicycling about two years ago, rode a longer route. Both were glad to get out of the cold, however, and into the St. Philip's Inn, to warm up and have lunch with other cyclists after the ride.
They ate in the family room, because of Nikolaus' age, but the group often rejoins in the bar to have a beer like that in the foaming glass featured in the logo McGinnis designed for the Tour d'Eville's jerseys and for its Web site, at www.tourdetaverns.com.
The after-ride gatherings and on-the-road conversations are key to the camaraderie that brings riders out for Tour d'Eville rides, says McGinnis.
They'd spread the word on their Web site, where McGinnis posts ride schedules, route maps and information about the group, described as an informal "disorganization" with "no dues, no don'ts, no meetings and no pace lines."
It's all the outgrowth of an informal team formed in 1998 for the Great Pumpkin Metric, an annual ride put on by the Evansville Bicycle Club, an older, larger organization that uses money raised from dues and Great Pumpkin registrations to fund a variety of community biking projects. They include purchasing adult tricycles for people with special needs and buying bike education and safety materials for school and community workshops club members volunteer for.
Both bike groups pedal year-round, sometimes joining one another's rides.
The Tour d'Eville's routes range from 15 to 30 miles, all beginning and ending at a half-dozen area taverns, which McGinnis refers to as "clubhouses." They ride every Saturday, April through October, with 19-mile Tuesday and Thursday evening rides from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The schedule cuts back to alternate Saturdays in November through March, weather permitting. Winter rides typically get 12 to 15 riders, compared to the 25 to 35 cyclists who turn out Saturdays the rest of the year.
McGinnis sends out e-mails if wind or weather look too extreme for a ride. He never really cancels a ride, he said. "I just say, 'If you want to go, go ahead; we just won't be there.'"
By Roger McBain (Contact)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A gray curtain of cloud blocked the sun, the mercury held around 40 degrees and a sharp, icy breeze cut through chill air, making it feel like it was in the 30s.
Well, maybe not perfect, but good enough for the dozen cyclists who mustered Saturday at the St. Philip's Inn to pedal 10 to 30 miles through Posey County, Ind.
At a little after 11 a.m., Terence McGinnis, the "grand pooh-bah and concierge" for the Tour d'Eville, self-billed as "Evansville's least exclusive bicycling disorganization," put a cigarette-sized, silver cylinder to his lips, took a deep breath and then blew.
The shrill pitch that came out signaled for the riders push off on a route that would bring most of them back in about an hour and a half.
Dressed in layers of Spandex, nylon, microfleece, wool and acrylics, some wearing a couple of pairs of gloves, and all topped off with bicycle helmets, the riders took to the asphalt and chip-and-sealed county roads, pedaling their own distances at their own paces.
Some averaging 13 to 15 mph, others pushed 20 on aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber bikes weighing less than 17 pounds.
For cyclists such as David Hack, a Madisonville, Ky., man who once rode a New Year's ride when the thermometer froze at zero, it was no big deal. He dressed Saturday much as he had for the New Year's ride — in layers. His hands overheated Saturday, he said, "and I took off a pair of gloves."
It was the coldest ride yet, however, for Lisa Corcoran and John Nelli of Evansville and for Brian Greulich and his 13-year-old son, Nikolaus, who drove from their home in Santa Claus, Ind., for the outing.
Corcoran, who said she is a beginning rider, pedaled about 10 miles. Nelli, who said he has lost 60 pounds since he took up bicycling about two years ago, rode a longer route. Both were glad to get out of the cold, however, and into the St. Philip's Inn, to warm up and have lunch with other cyclists after the ride.
They ate in the family room, because of Nikolaus' age, but the group often rejoins in the bar to have a beer like that in the foaming glass featured in the logo McGinnis designed for the Tour d'Eville's jerseys and for its Web site, at www.tourdetaverns.com.
The after-ride gatherings and on-the-road conversations are key to the camaraderie that brings riders out for Tour d'Eville rides, says McGinnis.
They'd spread the word on their Web site, where McGinnis posts ride schedules, route maps and information about the group, described as an informal "disorganization" with "no dues, no don'ts, no meetings and no pace lines."
It's all the outgrowth of an informal team formed in 1998 for the Great Pumpkin Metric, an annual ride put on by the Evansville Bicycle Club, an older, larger organization that uses money raised from dues and Great Pumpkin registrations to fund a variety of community biking projects. They include purchasing adult tricycles for people with special needs and buying bike education and safety materials for school and community workshops club members volunteer for.
Both bike groups pedal year-round, sometimes joining one another's rides.
The Tour d'Eville's routes range from 15 to 30 miles, all beginning and ending at a half-dozen area taverns, which McGinnis refers to as "clubhouses." They ride every Saturday, April through October, with 19-mile Tuesday and Thursday evening rides from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The schedule cuts back to alternate Saturdays in November through March, weather permitting. Winter rides typically get 12 to 15 riders, compared to the 25 to 35 cyclists who turn out Saturdays the rest of the year.
McGinnis sends out e-mails if wind or weather look too extreme for a ride. He never really cancels a ride, he said. "I just say, 'If you want to go, go ahead; we just won't be there.'"
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