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Southern Illinois Cycling...

Shawn Gossman

Shawn Gossman

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In your opinion, what is the one thing that would make Southern Illinois better for cycling?

If you could add or change one thing to make cycling better in this region, what would it be?
 
More bike infrastructure, bike rentals (especially in the vienna/tunnel hill area), people organizing/attending group rides for newer riders/people not wanting to ride 20+ mph. My wife leads the C group from BS-carterville, and that group is regularly growing with new riders. She and Trish work to help get people comfortable in groups, riding pacelines, and in general gaining confidence on the bike.

Many of the people have never ridden 15 miles, then they go out with the group, get chatting, learn to draft and 15 is done before they know it. I hear it every week.

EDIT: Lastly, ladies in cycling. We have a lot of lady cyclists in the area (I see them all the time), and we need to find a way to draw them to these rides to grow the community.
 
Rom said:
More bike infrastructure, bike rentals (especially in the vienna/tunnel hill area), people organizing/attending group rides for newer riders/people not wanting to ride 20+ mph. My wife leads the C group from BS-carterville, and that group is regularly growing with new riders. She and Trish work to help get people comfortable in groups, riding pacelines, and in general gaining confidence on the bike.

Many of the people have never ridden 15 miles, then they go out with the group, get chatting, learn to draft and 15 is done before they know it. I hear it every week.

EDIT: Lastly, ladies in cycling. We have a lot of lady cyclists in the area (I see them all the time), and we need to find a way to draw them to these rides to grow the community.
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I love all of your suggestions!

I do think we're starting to see some infrastructure improvements in the bigger cities in Southern Illinois.

Bike rentals would be a great idea! If I could afford to get into that, I definitely would.
 
yea just setting up a building that rents ebikes there in vienna would probably do okay
 
Rom said:
yea just setting up a building that rents ebikes there in vienna would probably do okay
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I agree. E-Bikes and even regular bikes. There is an old gas station across the street from Ned's Shed. If I had that and the capital, I'd be a bike shop + rental shop right there. I'd restore it to make it look like it did as a gas station, too. Maybe put a couple of air tanks where the pumps would have been.

I think that would make people stop for sightseeing and if they're into cycling or want to ride the trail, I have them there already. :D
 
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Shawn Gossman said:
Should be by the late week.

Yesterday's ride wasn't too bad though. But I constantly had to wipe sweat from my face. Good seeing you!
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You too buddy, but all that being said. Paducah isn't that much closer than Carterville, you should come up and do the Saturday morning rides.
 
Rom said:
You too buddy, but all that being said. Paducah isn't that much closer than Carterville, you should come up and do the Saturday morning rides.
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Me and wife like to spend the weekends together, so I rarely do bike stuff then. I do need to get over there and MTB at Touch some more.
 
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Shawn Gossman said:
In your opinion, what is the one thing that would make Southern Illinois better for cycling?

If you could add or change one thing to make cycling better in this region, what would it be?
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I’m new to the group so I’m still getting caught up but do you guys have any scheduled group rides based out of the Marion area? If not let’s get that going!
 
LooneY said:
up so I’m still getting caught up but do you guys have any scheduled group rides based out of the Marion area? If not let’s get that going!
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Welcome. Yes we have a few depending on what you're wanting.

The Bike Surgeon of Southern Illinois (Carterville, IL) has multiple rides throughout the week:
  • Every Saturday morning there is an 8AM road ride (2.5 hour) A and (2 hour) B group (average 17 mph and 20 mph respectively) that typically goes out Spillway Road and a 9AM (1 hour) C group (average 12-15mph) that will ride around the refuge. These are no drop rides and open to various skill levels, in the A and B groups there are pacelines.
  • On Wednesdays when it doesn't rain there is a 6PM mountain bike ride at Touch of Nature (typically around 60-90 minutes). This ride is a no drop ride as well with many regroup points. There are also many groups, we've had as many as 5 different skill groups when the census is high.
  • When it rains through the day, but not in the evening, there is a road ride at the Carbondale airport. This is also a no drop ride with many regroup points. The route is typically kind of hilly, and the speeds are between 17-20 mph average.
Other Rides
  • On Thursday nights, we have a race simulation across the street from the Marion airport. This takes place on a quiet circuit at 6:30PM, very low traffic most of the time and lasts around 35-40 minutes. There is always a push to get more riders so we can separate the groups and allow everyone to be competitive with similar riders, rather than the natural splits that happen. An average speed of 17-20mph-ish for this ride doesn't necessarily tell the full picture of how this ride goes. The speed can swing between 15 and 30 pretty quickly depending on how the ride is playing out. This is a race simulation after all.
If you have any questions about any of these rides let me know and I'll do what I can to answer them.
 
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