Points rides-Classification as of August 16

	GC (top 15) - August 9	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	63	480
2	Joe	51	465
3	Jeremy	47	340
4	Francisco	36	275
5	Andreas	31	290
6	Dan	28	205
7	Bernard	26	190
8	Mickey	26	240
9	Jesse	24	120
10	Sarah	23	155
11	Araba	23	120
12	Joel	22	205
13	Philippe	22	205
14	Jonathan	19	85
15	Suchandra	19	85

Points ride-Classification after August 9

	GC (top 15) - August 9	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	59	445
2	Jeremy	47	340
3	Joe	47	430
4	Francisco	32	240
5	Andreas	31	290
6	Dan	28	205
7	Bernard	26	190
8	Mickey	26	240
9	Jesse	24	120
10	Sarah	23	155
11	Araba	23	120
12	Joel	22	205
13	Philippe	22	205
14	Jonathan	19	85
15	Suchandra	19	85

Points Ride August 9th

Proving that the points rides are never dull, we set off into uncharted territories this week. Okay, they were pretty charted, but we did ride a new (for the points ride) route, and we traveled with the Tatitos for the first half of it. We followed Team Tati's excellent route out to the riverside town of Willow Springs, where we found hills, trees (like foresty kinds of trees), hills, awesome roads, and some hills. Once there, we wished the Tatios well and took our own lap around the Palos Forest Preserve. On the way we rode up some more hills before heading back.

We were having so much fun, I neglected to take a single photo, but I feel compelled to relate that the points ride regulars are getting very strong! Thanks to Team Tati for having us along: I think I can speak for all the points riders when I say it was great riding with you!

Points ride classification - August 2

Time to update the general classification of the points ride series. Elisabet's maillot jaune is proving hard to grab. Regulars (and ride leaders) Jeremy and Joe continue to amass points, but Elisabet rarely misses a ride. Will Je-Jo be able to take the top spot when when she's temporarily gone in September?

Andreas quickly made it to the top ten, after attending several rides in a row. He shouldn't have any problem climbing to the top five and crossing the 500-mile mark if he can make it to the upcoming longer rides.

J is fighting hard for the lanterne rouge spot, accumulating -27 points (!!!!!) in a single ride. Whether he broke 27 different rules, or the same rule 27 times, I won't discuss. But it's not hard to believe that he could accomplish such feat in a single morning (those of you who've ridden with J know what I'm talking about...). Please don't do what J does.

	GC (top 15) - August 2	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	54	395
2	Jeremy	47	340
3	Joe	41	380
4	Francisco	32	240
5	Dan	28	205
6	Bernard	26	190
7	Mickey	26	190
8	Andreas	26	240
9	Jesse	24	120
10	Araba	23	120
11	Joel	22	205
12	Philippe	22	205
13	Jonathan	19	85
14	Suchandra	19	85
15	Charlie	18	170
48	J/Tati	-14	120

Points ride Aug 2

A nice points ride to Shererville Starbucks on Sat, joined by the (hard-core!) TATI crew for coffee while down there. Beautiful day, little traffic, good company, and we were back well before noon! Definitely, a success.

Points Ride July 20

We had a nice leisurely ride north, with a few other people on the path (including some Fleet Feet runners), but it wasn't as crazy as expected! Then up to Evanston to watch the racers. Great job! Super fun.

See you on the trail~
jeremy

Points ride classification-July 21

Below is the classification of the points ride, as of last weekend. Sorry I didn't post an update last week.

	Classement générale (top 15) - 20 juillet	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	45	310
2	Jeremy	42	290
3	Joe	38	345
4	Francisco	32	240
5	Dan	28	205
6	Bernard	26	190
7	Mickey	26	190
8	Jesse	24	120
9	Araba	23	120
10	Joel	22	205
11	Philippe	22	205
12	Jonathan	19	85
13	Suchandra	19	85
14	Charlie	18	170
15	Sarah	18	105

Points ride-June 29

Joe is slowly clawing his way into the top of the classification. He's now number 4, tied with Dan in points. (It certainly helps Joe that the Tati folks are busy with their strenuous training rides on weekends now.) The ranking is still commanded by Elisabeth, in spite of skipping this weekend's ride.

Only three people came to the latest ride (perhaps due to the anticipated rain?). Our brave riders endured rain and heat going north (and then south) to cover 70 miles. The hero of the day was Andreas, who rode longer than he ever has. He's now 23rd, with 11 points and 105 miles. Will our Greek man make it to the top ten?

Next weekend we put a hiatus in the series of points rides, since many folks will probably take advantage of the 4th of July holiday to go on a long weekend out of the city. We'll resume activities the weekend of 12-13 of July. We'll send an e-mail.

	Classement générale (top 15) - 29 juin	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	41	275
2	Jeremy	36	240
3	Francisco	32	240
4	Joe	28	260
5	Dan	28	205
6	Bernard	26	190
7	Mickey	26	190
8	Jesse	24	120
9	Araba	23	120
10	Joel	22	205
11	Philippe	22	205
12	Jonathan	19	85
13	Suchandra	19	85
14	Charlie	18	170
15	Sarah	18	105

Points ride classification-June 21

No major changes this week, as most of the participants in the top of the classification came to the ride and everyone got the same number of points, regardless of which ride they did. Everyone except... J, Mickey, Dan, Bernard and myself, who skipped a red light in a moment of excitement while trying to chase the lead pack, and so got penalized with -1 point. (Note to yourself: don't follow Mickey at the traffic lights.)

	Classement générale (top 15) - 21 juin	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	41	275
2	Jeremy	36	240
3	Francisco	32	240
4	Dan	28	205
5	Bernard	26	190
6	Mickey	26	190
7	Jesse	24	120
8	Araba	23	120
9	Joel	22	205
10	Philippe	22	205
11	Joe	21	190
12	Jonathan	19	85
13	Suchandra	19	85
14	Charlie	18	170
15	Sarah	18	105

Sat Points Ride

Great ride yesterday. Slow group had a leisurely ride north, a nice coffee, and an empty path southbound at 9am on Saturday--truly amazing! The few rain sprinkles sent the runners home, I think. Happy riding~

Points ride: classification as of June 14

	Classement générale (top 15) - 14 juin	Points	Miles
1	Elisabet	37	240
2	Jeremy	32	205
3	Francisco	29	170
4	Dan	25	135
5	Jesse	24	135
6	Araba	23	120
7	Bernard	23	120
8	Mickey	23	120
9	Joel	22	205
10	Philippe	22	205
11	Jonathan	19	85
12	Suchandra	19	85
13	Charlie	18	170
14	Joe	17	155
15	Ari	15	50

pre points ride June 7

Nice ride, all!

Points ride: June 7

The fifth ride of the series went in the casual spirit that characterizes this event.

Earlier this week I announced that I would grant an extra point to everyone who sported the UCVC jersey. I have to say, carrots work like a charm: twelve folks showed up in the club maglia. In fact, the only three who didn't are guests in this ride, not members of the club.

"People will do anything to get an extra point," Joel said. (Hmm..., I'm starting to get Machiavellian ideas...) Or maybe people just wanted to see me go insane with glee... I don't know.

The incident of the day was that one of the riders (actually, one of our guests) broke the rear derailleur and the chain. Our able mechanics McGyvered the drivetrain into a single speed, and our unfortunate friend was able to ride to Starbucks and back home--I'd give him an extra point if he were a UCVCer.

Below is a (partial) general classification. (The list of participants is getting longer and longer, so I'm only posting the points and mileage of people with more than ten points--the rest of you still have your points, I keep a full list in a spreadsheet.)

The classifica is now commanded by the Catalan mafia, with Elisabet ahead by just one point. Dan, Jeremy, Jesse, Araba and Bernard are close behind.

Classifica generale - June 7	Points	Miles
Elisabet	30	170
Francisco	29	170
Dan	25	135
Jeremy	25	135
Jesse	24	120
Araba	23	120
Bernard	23	120
Jonathan	19	85
Suchandra	19	85
Mickey	16	50
Ari	15	50
Joel	15	135
Philippe	15	135
Sarah	14	35
Noah	13	120
Charlie	11	100

According to the initial schedule, all our century rides were gonna take place in September (we had two in mind, the North Shore Century and the Apple Cider Century). I'd like to have another one in August, perhaps as an alternative option to a regular ride, for folks who have achieved sufficient endurance by then and can't wait...

Somebody mentioned the "Dairy Farm" or "Dairy Queen" ride, or something like that. Mickey mentioned another one, I can't remember the name. If you have suggestions about centuries that will take place in August, within two hours of Chicago, leave a comment or e-mail me.

Points ride: report and classification

It looks like there was pent-up demand for a regular recreational ride in the club, since we keep adding new people to the UCVC "Points ride." We hope we can keep it going.

Today we had a group of 12 folks who completed the whole ride as a group, which looked like a big crowd. (We had a couple of others who peeled off or came back on their own.)

We rode north to Metropolis Cafe, as planned, which was a predictable mistake. The path, which is usually crowded on weekends, was today extra busy due to the Avon Breast Cancer walk plus a race. It was a reminder of why we don't ride the path after 8am on weekends. For the future, we should either a) leave at 6am if we wanna go north, or b) go south.

In spite of the crowds, nobody crashed and we didn't hit anybody. We split into two groups on the way north, and we rode more or less all together on the way south, including some cycloX riding on the grass to avoid the Breast Cancer walkers.

Elisabeth continues as the maglia rossa of the competition (notice that I write rossa, which means red or maroon, not rosa, which means pink.)

Classifica generale - June 1	Points	Miles
Elisabeth	24	120
Araba	23	120
Bernard	23	120
Francisco	23	120
Dan	19	85
Jeremy	19	85
Jonathan	19	85
Suchandra	19	85
Jesse	18	70
Ari	15	50
Sarah	14	35
Carly	10	0
Devon	10	0
Mickey	10	0
Saud	10	0
Liam	10	0
Ricardo	10	0
James	10	0
Tim	10	0
Paige	10	0
Jason T.	10	0
Jason F.	10	0
Eric	10	0
Matthew C.	10	0
Matthew M.	10	0
Bruce	10	0
Robert F.	10	0
Jon	10	0
J/Tati	10	0
Joel	9	85
Noah	8	70
Charlie	5	50
Miles	5	50
John B.	5	50
Jeff N.	5	50
Claus	5	50
Rasi	5	50
Maris	4	35
Philippe	4	35
Joe	4	35
Andrew	4	35

Points ride--Classifica generale

Dopo la terza tappa of the "Points ride" series, including volunteering at Monsters, here's the new classification:

Classifica generale - ventiquattro di maggio	Points	Miles
Elisabeth	20	85
Araba	19	85
Bernard	19	85
Dan	19	85
Francisco	19	85
Jeremy	19	85
Jonathan	19	85
Ari	15	50
Suchandra	15	50
Jesse	14	35
Sarah	14	35
Aspen	10	0
Carly	10	0
Devon	10	0
Mickey	10	0
Saud	10	0
Liam	10	0
Ricardo	10	0
James	10	0
Tim	10	0
Paige	10	0
Jason T.	10	0
Jason F.	10	0
Eric	10	0
Matthew C.	10	0
Matthew M.	10	0
Bruce	10	0
Robert F.	10	0
Jon	10	0
J/Tati	10	0
Rasi	5	50
Charlie	5	50
Miles	5	50
John B.	5	50
Jeff N.	5	50
Claus	5	50
Noah	4	35

Points championship: first ride

The first ride felt like a success. We had a peculiar mix of alpha types and recreational folks, who got along surprisingly well as riders.

The group had to turn around near McCormick Place because there seemed to be some kind of walk or race on the path. So we went south to Calumet Park and then we rode the path south of there to that other park by the lake. But we still did 35 miles.

The racing types got rid of some of their testosterone at a couple of sprints and a mini-crit at Calumet Park. But overall they behaved, waiting for everyone and doing almost the whole ride as a group. Thank you guys for waiting.

Jesse turned out to be the offender of the day, skipping two red lights. Yes, they were pedestrian red lights, but we were using them to cross the road, so they still count. We'll let it pass this time, but remember: pedestrian red lights are still red lights.

Extra point of the day for Elisabeth, who rode without water. Somebody give a couple of bottle cages to this girl! (Orange would match nicely her Orbea frame...)

Some of us stopped for an après-ride café at Bon Jour.

Classification générale - May 3rd	Points	Miles
Elisabeth	5	35
Araba	4	35
Bernard	4	35
Dan	4	35
Francisco	4	35
Jeremy	4	35
Jesse	4	35
Jonathan	4	35
Noah	4	35
Sarah	4	35

UCVC points championship

Dan and I came up with the latest crazy idea to keep ourselves riding bikes for months on end. We proudly present the "UCVC Points Competition" --the name is provisional; we haven't found a sexy name other than the "UCVC Brioche Competition."

The idea is to have a series of weekly rides, on Saturdays, from this weekend until October. Every ride is assigned a certain number of points, based on distance and difficulty. Every person who comes to the ride earns the points assigned to that ride. The person who accumulates the most points by the end of the series becomes the championship winner. Dan and I will keep track of the points. THE FIRST RIDE IS THIS SATURDAY! See the schedule and other details below.

At the end of the season we'll have a dinner/awards ceremony, an *Ibex* champion jersey made especially for the occasion, trophies for everyone who accumulates at least 500 miles,... the whole shebang. Details are below. The schedule of rides is below too.

I am perfectly aware that this is one of those "grand plans" that don't take off in this beloved club of ours. I wanna give it a try anyway. I think there is a void in terms of activities organized by the club that we can fill.

The idea is actually not that crazy. In fact, it's inspired by the practice of neighborhood clubs in Spain, Italy and France. In Spain we call it "cicloturismo." (Rough translation: "cyclotourism." In spite of the name, it does NOT involve sightseeing, visiting places of cultural interest, or eating brioches out of a basket while your ride.) This championship is for people who don't compete, but still wanna feel the rush of riding fast in a pack. Or for people who do compete, but just feel like going out for a recreational ride once a week or once in a while.

Neither Dan nor I are sure that we'll be able to make it to every ride (we might be racing some weekend, or out of town) but we hope that the project gets some traction soon and some other person can lead for us in our absence.

I'll post this permanently on the website when I find the time.

Schedule:

An asterisk (*) means that we need to drive

-May 3: Metropolis (~35 miles). 4 points.

-May 10: Schererville (Starbucks) (~50 miles). 5 points.

-May 17: Monsters of the Midway (Volunteering, not racing. Racing doesn’t carry any points.) 10 points.

-May 24: Highland Park (~70 miles). Optional alternative: Bike the Drive (May 25). 7 points.

-May 31: Metropolis (~35 miles). 4 points.

-June 7: Schererville + short extra loop (~70 miles). 7 points.

-June 14: Italian coffee bar, Evanston (~40 miles). 4 points.

-June 21: Barrington ride* (70 miles). 8 points.

-June 28: Schererville (Starbucks) (~50 miles). 5 points.

-July 5: Fort Sheridan (70 miles). 7 points.

-July 12: Argonne ride* (70 miles?). 8 points.

-July 19: Schererville + short extra loop (~70 miles). 7 points.

-July 26: North suburbs route (basically the Team Judson route). (~100 miles). 10 points

-Aug 2: Metropolis (~35 miles). 4 points.

-Aug 9: Schererville (Starbucks) (~50 miles). 5 points.

-Aug 16: Barrington ride* (70 miles). 8 points.

-Aug 23: Schererville + long extra loop (~100 miles). 10 points. Note: Chicago Triathlon! Don’t use the path.

-Aug 30: Italian Coffee Bar, Evanston (~40 miles). 4 points.

-Sept 6: Highland Park (~70 miles). 7 points.

-Sept 13: Schererville (~50 miles). 5 points.

-September 21: North Shore Century (100 miles) Leaves from Evanston. 10 points. (Extra 5 points if you ride from Hyde Park to Evanston.)

-September 28: Apple Century Ride* (100 miles) Note: need to drive to Michigan. 10 points.

-October 4: Schererville (~50 miles). 5 points.

-October 11: Time Trial: bike path, from 55th to 72nd and back. 4 points.

-Dinner and awards ceremony (some time the following week)

-October 18: Champion Honorary Ride (the winner gets to ride to Metropolis in the champion’s maglia). No points.


Details:


-Italian, French and English are all official languages of the campionato.

-Every participant in a ride will earn the points assigned to the ride, as long as he or she follows the established corso, all the way. Two or three UCVC folks will keep track of the points.

-The winner of the championship is the person who accumulates the most points. In case of a tie (highly unlikely after such a long series of rides) the champion is the person who wins la course contre la montre (TT, see the calendar above).

-Everyone is welcome to participate —of course riders of Team TATI too! We only ask that you are able to ride safely dans le peloton. However, only members of UCVC can get points and sweet awards (sorry). The definition of UCVC member is on the club’s website.

-At the end of the campionato we will have a dinner/award ceremony and we will give the winner a UCVC maglia rossa (maroon jersey) especially designed for the occasion and a trophy. We might also give certificates to various categories (the least-young person, the best anecdote, the guy with the cutest Spanish accent, etc) and cycling swag... It depends on the resources that we can either spare from our budget or forage out there.

-Every eligible participant who accumulates at least 500 miles will receive a trofeo.

-Pénalisationnes: Minus 2 points for anyone who doesn’t stop at a red light (messengers and people in a hurry don’t get a waiver).

-We believe in gender equality. So, given that this championship is based purely on participation and guys don’t have an advantage over gurls, we won’t have a separate winner by gender. Unless… a male and a female are tied in points and the time trial needs to break the tie. In that case, there will be a winner award for the both the ragazzo and the ragazza, regardless of who wins the TT. (Exception: if Devon is the ragazza, she’ll have to win the TT.)

-Bad weather cancellation: On verra (in English, TBD).