The second annual Daisy Buchanan Longest Day of the Year Ride will take place on June 20, 2009.  The ride will start at sunrise, about 5:15 am (that means we are pedaling at that time), and end when it gets dark, about 8:45 pm.  This is meant to be a fun casual ride, but it will be a long day.  Things you need to know are below.

 What is the route?

The ride will start at my house in Antioch.  We will take the backroads of Wisconsin to the Robert McClory Bike Path. We will take that down to the North Shore Bike Path that leads from Lake Forest to Highland Park. We will ride through Northbrook, on roads, to the North Branch Trail. We will take the North Branch Trail into Chicago. We will cut through Chicago to the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT). We will ride slightly south on the DPRT to Grand Avenue. We will cut over on Grand to Gene and Jude's Hotdogs for lunch. There is also a McDonald's there.  We will then ride the DPRT north all the way through Cook County and Lake County.  We will estimate the amount of daylight left once in Lake County on the DPRT.  We may add path mileage there if needed to make it to sunset.  We will then take the roads of Wisconsin back to my house.

The estimated mileage is about 140 miles.  It could be more, it could be less.  I am not sure.  Last year we hit 135 miles.  We did encounter the "mud bog of doom" and road the Illinois Prairie Path which was straight into the wind.  Thus, I expect we will get more miles in this year.

At the end of the ride, my mom has volunteered to make pasta, meatballs and burgers, just as she did for us last year.

Maps that are available for the route can be found here. (5 MB in PDF format)

What kind of support will there be?

None.  I repeat... NONE!!!  You are responsible for your own support.  Yes, as a group we will be willing to wait for people to change flats and work on problems, but you are totally responsible for having everything you need.  We may pass three bike shops on the route (Glen Ellyn, Chicago, Lake Forest), but there are no guarantees.  You should bring everything you need to deal with mechanical issues.  You should also have a cell phone and a person that can pick you up anywhere on the route.  If you end up having a problem that cannot be fixed, you need to have your own way to get back home.  I would make sure you have an abundance of tubes, a pump (or a lot of co2 cartridges), a tire, tools (especially a chain tool) and anything else you might need,  not to mention identification, cash and credit card.  You should also pack a first aid kit.

All of this also goes for clothing options.  It will be a long day and you should pack for all types of weather.  The weather can be very different from 5 am in Gurnee to noon in Glen Ellyn to 7 pm in Lake Forest.  Bring the clothing you need.  Expect the worst and hope for the best.

What about food and hydration?

Since most of the route we are taking is on recognized paths, there should be places to stop for water, but be prepared to go long periods of time without water being available.  Having not ridden every inch of this route, I cannot say for sure that there is water everywhere, but we do cut through a lot of forest preserves which generally have water at the least.

As far as food, we will be stopping about three times to eat.  Exact locations cannot be determined as there is no way to determine how fast we will be moving.  We will try to adhere to a timed eating schedule of 8:30 am for breakfast, 1:15 pm for lunch and 6 pm for dinner.  Bring cash for eating. 

How should I train to get ready?

I have no idea.  The pace should be casual, but the day is still a long one.  Thus, you should assume the total route will be at least 130 miles.  The casual pace should help offset any muscular fatigue in the legs and on the aerobic system.  As far as your contact points (hands, feet, butt, ect), it will still be time in the saddle.

Why is it named after Daisy Buchanan?

Daisy Buchanan is a character from the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan, and they are rich.  Not just rich like they are wealthy, but rich like they could never squander the amount of money they have.  Thus, their lifestyle is very care-free.  In one part of the book, in order to emphaize how shallow the life of Daisy Buchanan really is, she is talking about the longest day of the year.  To paraphrase, she says something like, "We should plan something for the longest day of the year.  Don't you hate that it comes around and you always seem to miss it.  We need to plan something."  Thus, since the whole goal of this ride is to be out on your bike from sunrise to sunset on the longest day of the year (or as close to it as the weekend allows), the name seemed applicable.

One last thing

There is no ride leader and nobody is responsible for you except you.  This is just a bike ride among friends through the trails of the Chicagoland area.  You are responsible for yourself.

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