Day 6 Princeton to Naperville – Phil Graham of Team Canada

First of all, who knew Illinois had hills??? I came to this Tour expecting corn fields and soybeans, and miles and miles of flat. Instead I found hills, history, scenery, and lots of corn fields, soybeans and miles and miles of flat. It has been great, and I’ve been asked to summarize Day 6, Princeton to Naperville, on behalf of Team Canada. This year we were fewer in number, but strong in character with me, Warren Hoselton, Marian Makar, and in support, Joanna Nakeff.

After a challenge ride on Day 5 that lived up to its name with 110 miles of headwinds, and the “regular” ride that was almost as tough, it was a tired crowd that gathered in front of the AmericInn in Princeton under threatening skies to roll out on the fourth near-century ride in a row. Escorted by the local police, and the local trolley driver Coach Kizer who adopted the Tour as his own, we headed into the rain to City County Park for a tree dedication. Team Canada’s own Warren took on the ceremonial duties, and added some Canadian embellishments, including the famous “the roots, the roots, the roots are on fire” chant. With references to the great Canadian Beaver, he brought the international spirit to the tree dedications.

We had an 81-mile day to lunch, which is extraordinary, but fried chicken at the rest breaks carried us all through in style. And the weather cleared up, except for one scary looking system that brewed up mid-morning. It looked the opening scene of The Wizard of Oz, and the winds scattered the group I was riding in all over the road, but the winds passed as quickly as they came. Then the sun came out and the temperature climbed. And climbed. Lunch in the air conditioned Village Grind coffee shop in Oswego was a great relief from the heat, and Oswego Cyclery was a great host. The best part of the 81-mile ride to lunch was the fact that we only had 20 miles to go to the end of the day’s ride, which included a tree dedication in the TREE Fund’s home town of Naperville, at their beautiful Riverwalk Park.

I’d like to say that I hammered all day and rolled in first, but in reality we rode in much larger groups today and kept a steady but strong pace, and all rolled in together. You might say that it was because we were all tired after a tough day the day before, but in truth we were neutralizing the peleton to protest the obviously biased course officiating (right Joanna!) that say a certain fast rider disqualified in Stage 2 for going off route. Of course, this was after the very same official told me, or should I say “that anonymous fast rider,” to turn left at Bell School Road. That and a litany of other pretty sketchy official rulings just put the peleton in a rebellious mood.

Day 6 is also the last full day of the Tour, with the celebratory ride into the ISA Field Day tomorrow. Our dinner at the Morton Arboretum was a chance for us all to reminisce over the week’s adventures, recognize standout accomplishments like Dick Rideout’s first century since his accident (and then his second and third), and to start thinking about next year.

As usual, it has been a slice. From Team Canada, thanks for a great STIHL Tour des Trees.

Moline to Princeton: Jim Skiera, ISA Executive Director, Illinois

I am a first timer and just finished up my third consecutive 100-mile day. I feel both exhausted and awesome. Exhausted, as it was a warm and windy day — much of the ride was into a head wind. Awesome, as the training paid off and I made it through all three.

If you are considering doing the Tour des Trees I would highly recommend you don’t wait as long as I did. I have been thinking about it for 10 years, so just do it. The ride itself is not only good exercise, it is a wonderful social experience. I don’t believe you can mix with a better bunch of people, all with similar passions — trees and cycling.

I would liken the experience to a cycling emersion class. I learned more about cycling on the first day of the tour then I did during the five months I trained to participate. The support people are always willing to help. Mechanics are on the ready if you have a problem with your bike, and the seasoned riders welcome you and offer tips throughout the ride to make you a better cyclist. They really helped me kick up my game. I’m hooked and plan to participate again next year. I also raised valuable funds to support tree research — it is a double win.

Day 3 Rockford to Galena: Doreen ‘Captain’ Crenshaw and Tom Ordway, Team Indiana

Day Three. The best day thus far for Team Indiana! 62 plus riders headed out on a misty cool morning for one of the longest days on the 2010 Chicago Loop tour. The ‘Captain’ rallied the Team – totaling two, only one of whom bothered to show – to be ready for stretches with Maggie Harthoorn at the crack of dawn. Thanks, Maggie! Of those total tour participants, not all made it through the regimen and some had to sag to the starting position at Illinois Beach Resort. Now, by Day Three, the Fast, the Slow and the Ugly groups have started to take shape. We won’t name names…yet.

Stuart Crow’s mentoring program appears to be gaining some momentum, bringing in the next generation of tour riders. It has been fun seeing young riders, like 14-year-old Jeffrey May, join us and make us look and feel older than we already are. Hopefully, Jeffrey will inherit all of the best habits from the Texas crew, like 5 AM coffee, hammer’in SAG support, bikes for whoever might need one, etc. The bad habits can be left behind, such as …(edited portion of blog, ha!)

Amy Kraak has officially joined the Tour des Trees support crew, offering a wide assortment of tasty snacks to hot and weary road riders. When not helping with rider support, she rides a tandem with her dad Thom, making her the youngest Tour rider on record!

Despite the rainy road conditions in the morning, riders rode without incident. The road rash from the past two days is healing nicely, thank you very much. The skies cleared in the afternoon, allowing riders to push and pull through the change in terrain. In other words, we finally hit some hills…as Andy mentioned above, the horizontalized locality was made vertical!

The end of the ride day is always a welcome site. Isaac Harthoorn made up for the lack of markings by steering all riders into the back ‘servants’ entrance of the DeSoto House on Main Street in Galena, IL. Dinner, hosted by Utility Lines Construction Services with the support of Silver Sponsor ITC, was most graciously devoured by most. Thanks to Maggie and Isaac’s dad, John.

As the week progresses, Team Indiana will begin to grow in number, as we will welcoming Mr. Scott Bennett, Chuck Dykes and Andy Callahan.

This has been another great ride, memory maker and reason to get more people to ride next year and really put pressure on Paul to do another really great job.

Signed, Team Indiana

Day 4 – Galena to Moline: Andy Kittsley …

… Sez: Today, day four of the Tour, started and found us breakfasted and eager for the challenge of the day. Unfortunately, the first thing was to get out of Galena.
Galena, for those of you who have not been lucky enough to visit this place, is a charming 19th century gem. With, like 70% of the buildings of the village listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Anyway, like I was saying, getting out of this wonderland is another story. There are two ways out of Galena. One is on a packet boat on the Mississippi River. The other way is UP.
We were told the boat wasn’t an option.
Up we went, our bellies filled with breakfast supplied by the Desoto Hotel.
A bit about the Hotel. This is a great old creaky hotel in downtown which has hosted generals (Ulysses S. Grant’s house is a few blocks away), and presidents, just take my word for it ‘cause I didn’t write their names down. Anyway, all the rooms are named for persons real or imaginary (Tom Thumb for one, Booker T. Washington for another).
We stayed here about 9 years ago on the Minneapolis to Milwaukee Tour. Those of us who rode then were happy to be there again.
When we left the town, up we went. Climbing a few hundred feet in a half a mile doesn’t translate well. So imagine a sprint from street level to the top of the Empire State Building with a belly full of food, and you get an idea.
We got to the top.
Vistas of the Miss-ippi River were tantalizing because we knew that eventually all that climbing would mean a zoom-zoom to the bottom. And zoom-zoom describes it.
Land speed records were shattered for several riders, posting speeds in excess of 50 mph.
Fifty miles an hour on a bike with tires about an inch wide is seriously exciting fun.
And at least one van owned by someone in Illinois was damaged when it pulled out in front of Quadzilla. He was not going 50 mph, but did a bunch of damage to the van anyhow, and some to his own self, too – as you might imagine. But he says he’ll be ready to roll tomorrow.
After the verticality of the locality was horizontalized, the route became a shady rolling fun ride into Moline.
Moline, for the uninitiated, is a smallish Illinois city on the east side of the Miss-ippi, (across the river from the smallish Iowa city of Bettendorf). Moline used to make the Minneapolis-Moline Tractor in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. This farm tractor was way ahead of it’s time in that it was fully enclosed and climate-controlled. It looked like a Plymouth on steroids.
Others may have differing views, but so far this tour ranks in the top three for me.
So now we are at dinner. I’m hungry. Love to all!

Day 6 – Nashua, NH to Randolph, MA (via Boston)

By Scott McPhee, Millis, MA

Raining hard with a strong wind — I covered up with rain gear and headed out with the rest of the hardy souls. We rode safely to TCIA headquarters in Londonderry for a snack stop, tour of the facility and tree planting. They were all very nice. We shared some special moments with Terrill Collier on a video conference call via Skype. We all wished him well and looked forward to seeing him soon. He (Terrill) was the one who encouraged me to join the Tour des Trees.

We set out fast and hard (still in the rain) for Lexington, with Clem Desjardins in the lead position. It was a good ride with five of us working a pace line. We enjoyed the historic scenery in Concord and Lexington. After lunch and planting a tree, the sun came out and we headed to Boston Common.

My company, Hartney Greymont, and the Massachusetts Tree Wardens set up the break stop and tree planting ceremony there. My son, Shawn (22, and working at Hartney Greymont) was on the planting crew. My wife, Jennifer, and two other kids, Hadley and Braeden, were also there to share in the tree planting. The whole event turned out nicely, many thanks to Melissa Levangie.

We left through the beautiful streets of Boston and headed for the hotel in Randolph. I grew up in Randolph, but haven’t lived there since 1980. When we arrived, I looked down at my odometer and saw 90+ miles. I mentioned it to my friend and riding partner, Pete Orszulak, and told him that I had never done a “century” (100-mile ride). He said let’s go for it. Clem D. overheard us and was on board with us to set a blazing five miles out and five miles back. We hit the 100-mile mark back at the hotel. I was really excited to achieve this milestone with my good friend Pete O. and one of my riding mentors, Clem D., in my home town of Randolph.

As a first-time rider, I will cherish the memories of this Tour — the scenery, new friendships and all of the help and advice I received. I am also very appreciative of the advice I got from Jeff Carney who took me on my first group ride before the Tour started and answered my endless questions about biking and the Tour.

More on Day 5

from Mom’s number one Son

Actually, being the only son had nothing to do with the ranking; she said I was Number 1, and who am I to discount the opinion of an elder?

So Day 5 meant riding from Brattleboro, Vermont to Nashua, New Hampshire. Innocuous enough on the map, for sure, but any geologist can tell you that an east-west route across the drainages of the White Mountains means many ups, and many downs.

Up we pedaled over Monadnock ridge and then screamed down the other side, braking hard as the broken surface threatened to flatten tires, break spokes, or just bounce you into the woods at speed.

So that was exciting enough, but fun, being the contagion it is, continued. The next thing was Temple Mountain. More broken surface, but this time it was being paved!
Good thing – Bad thing. Good thing, the surface was now smooth, but it was still tacky and our wheels were gluing to it. Bad thing – they had paved over some of the route marks.

All in all, the Tour pulled into the hotel like the segments of a slinky toy. Everyone smiling and flushed with the success of their effort.

This morning looks different somehow, though, the sky is dripping, the sun is obscured. The riders are comparing notes on what to wear, and are the batteries in their lights well charged. Hmmm, it’s gonna be a sloppy ride to Boston.

Andy Kittsley, Orlando FL

Day Five – Brattleboro, VT to Nashua, NH

by Team Canada

Once again Team Canada is being represented by a strong contingent of 7 riders spanning our 2 coasts. Phil Graham and Dave Hein from B.C. Jim Urbanowsky from New Brunswick and Marian Makar, Greg Hill, John McNeil and Warren Hoselton all from the Greater Toronto area. As tradition has it Team Canada will look back at the 5 days and highlight some of our memories.

Warren Hoselton:
This being my 7th tour, I have come to fully appreciate the tour synergy and how it snowballs each day. It started from the spectacular ferry ride/marine landing at 35th Street and the launch out of Central Park and the ultra-urban riding of NYC to the “hills of hell” from Mt. Kisco to Waterbury. And then there was the torrential downpour for 70 miles to Springfield, CT. On day 3, I was bracing myself for the locusts, but it was a gorgeous 80-mile ride into Brattleboro, VT. Today was another 80 miler into Nashua N.H. Some of the snapshots from my mind’s eye include: Seeing the NYC skyscape as we sailed into the harbour; the hustle and bustle of the Central Park 6-mile loop; the endless hills of day 2; and the welcome warmth of a simple shower after 70 miles of liquid sunshine.

Marian Makar:
This is also my 7th tour and I truly love seeing all the familiar faces that have become my Tour Family. The first memorable tour experience this year was when Tom Ordway was wondering if I had lost my Canadian flag that was mounted on my bike on the first day of riding. I told him that I indeed had lost my flag and then he proceeded to tell me that my roommate, a very sweet American who lives in Pennsylvania, had willfully and recklessly run over it with her tire while cycling. Tom witnessed what she did, picked up the tire streaked flag as he rode by so he could show me the evidence. The running over of the flag has now become an international incident. On a more serious note, I do want to thank all of my riding buds who have taken care of me during this year’s Tour. Warren and Greg who many times stay back to ride with me and pull me along. Dan who came back up the mountain looking for me when I blew out my front tire descending Mount Tom. Melissa, who showed up just in time on her motorcycle, to change my flat on the mountain. Sara who kept me company through endless miles of riding. Kathy and the rest of the support team who are always there when you need them. Paul who always makes sure I get my “special” meal. And last but not least, Kristin, my roommate, who put up with me this week. It takes a lot of people to take care of a princess.  

Greg Hill:
Riding through New England is a real treat and anyone who enjoys riding should take the time to experience the scenery and hospitality. I have never been to New York and to be introduced by taking the ferry from New Jersey, past the Stature of Liberty, riding a 6-mile loop through Central Park …down Madison Avenue and through Harlem was worth the price of admission. Over the past few days we have had more than our fair share of hills, rough roads and torrential rainfall. In fact, if it weren’t for our traveling massage therapists (generously sponsored by West Coast Arborists), there would likely be many riding in pain and a few riding in the van.
Riding through New Hampshire reminds me of my first Tour des Trees in 1994…Stowe, Vermont to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s been great to reminisce with one of the riders from that Tour, Mike Skivington. Mike is a powerful rider who is so enthusiastic about the sport he sometimes loses track of his calorie intake. In fact, on the 1994 Tour, Mike unfortunately “bonked” at the end of one day after riding a few extra miles and Team Canada of the day took it upon themselves to watch out for him. Mike is back again this year and Team Canada has again been monitoring him closely….indeed even Gord Hunter, a rider from the 1994 ride has called several times to encourage Mike to stay focused. Mike was so delirious after bonking that when he first saw Gordo he called him Captain Hingrinder and the nickname has stuck to this day. This is a testament to the closeness of the Tour family ….the Tree Family.
Dave Hein:
Fabulous Tour!!!

Phil Graham:
Tour number 5 for me, and once again it has been awesome. I have had supper with Chuck Leavell, ridden in more rain than I can remember ever seeing in one day, climbed more than a few hills (even if they aren’t British Columbia style mountains), and renewed old friendships. Oh, and with the huge numbers of new Tour riders this year, I’ve made lots of new friends as well. There’s Big Ring Ben, who climbs every hill in a monster gear, and Aussie Dave who is doing his best to convince us all to ride in Australia in 2011. Sounds pretty inviting, especially if he throws some shrimp on the barbie for us! I’ve had a chance to ride with all the hammerheads, and enjoyed every second of it, rain or no rain.
John McNeil:
Being the “urbane” forester of the Team, I arrived at Central Park, not by bike, but on New York’s subway system with my family, who came along to cheer on Dad and all the riders at Central Park. A proud moment! My bike was late for the official start, however, in the spirit of the Tour, Greg road back to the Park and ‘pulled’ me through the Bronx to catch up. This spirit of positive energy is evident every day: from the offers to “break wind” by Fraser to ease the effort on a windy stretch of road in Connecticut to Jim making time to soak in the taste of a microbrewery tucked beside a wonderful roadside waterfall in Vermont. My thanks and appreciation to my Tour Family.
James Urbanowsky – NB Power – Fredericton, NB
The “Spirit of the Tour” is one of life’s great treats. Unimaginable efforts at many levels, from fund raising and training, to riding the Tour. But one element that is constantly apparent, is the “spirit” that pervades all that we are doing. Our mechanics work tirelessly into the night to ensure each bike is performing. They even replaced my entire drive-train for $100. Our ‘donated’ massage therapists have given each one of us personal treatments, lovingly designed to melt away our pains. Our road support crews are always right where we need more water and food. The road signage, tour luggage crews, admin staff, all right on the ball. And the riders themselves, assisting every rider who stops for any reason along the way, with flat tires, gear problems, chain problems, or plain old exhaustion Other parts of the Tour are equally enjoyable. The food has been plentiful and tasty. The scenery constantly rolling with incredible homes and endless trees. And what rider doesn’t love the 300 miles uphill through New England. Finally, from a rider’s perspective, the Tour comes down to the people. The mutual support, respect, and daily humour are what makes the pain go away and what allows us to be at our best when we arrive in a community to plant a tree and support an educational event with a bunch of young children. The STIHL Tour des Trees is a fulfilling event, both for the TREE Fund and tree research, and for the many people involved along the way. Hope to see more of you on the Tour in the future. May the Force be with you.

Tuesday — the day from …

By John Leffingwell, Oakland, CA

Well, maybe that is a bit of hyperbole, but I have to admit that if it is raining at home (the San Francisco Bay Area, CA), I don’t get on the bike. Probably would have been a good idea to stay off the bike, but there is the pride of riding the entire Tour, grinding out every mile and claiming that sweet, sweet victory at the end. Too bad I let my ego get in the way, because it was a tough day to grind it out. The rain started light as we left Waterbury, CT, picked up after an hour and then it was just a steady downpour the rest of the day. First the body is wet, then the shoes fill with water and pretty soon the spray coming off the rider in front is a rooster tail from which there is no escape. The good part was that it wasn’t a particularly cold rain, and as long as I was moving, I was fine.

I have to admit a certain amount of guilt about our brief – as brief as possible – stops at the planned events. Those behind the scenes work extremely hard to coordinate the media and local dignitaries for tree plantings and photo ops, and there was just no way to we could stop and hang out for a half hour waiting for the events to happen. However, the day was not a total loss. It was a memorable day and considering the conditions, it was a mercifully quick pace – 80 miles in about four and a half hours. Good people to ride with also make the miles go by quickly.

If Tuesday was the day from …., Wednesday made up for it. Rolling hills, lovely weather and a really fast pace!!! Ok, got to ride now, more to follow.

Day Four – Springfield, MA to Brattleboro, VT

By Deanna Zoerb, a newbie from East Aurora, NY

This being my first Tour, I haven’t known exactly what to expect from day-to-day, but I would say that so far, this has been the most beautiful day for me! We left Massachusetts with some clouds in the sky and I was really praying that we weren’t going to get any more rain (had enough of that yesterday!).

Anyways, as we wound our way through the hills and fields of Massachusetts, I couldn’t stop looking around and thinking how lucky I was to see all of this beauty! I was riding with a great group who were enjoying everything as much as I was. We even had our own tour guide – Clem Desjardins – who was telling the history of the area as we pedaled along. We stopped at a great little place, the Montague Mill bookstore/café/bar for a great photo by the river.

As we headed toward Vermont, another rider and I actually met up with a local rider from Brattleboro who was just out for his daily ride. He was telling us more about the area and told us if we needed anything, where to go. I would say that one of the greatest things about being on this Tour is the people you meet who are your ‘Tour mates’ and the wonderful people you meet along the way!

Day Three – Waterbury, CT to Springfield, MA

By Ben Tresselt III
Lancaster, PA

For us, going the 70-plus miles from Waterbury, Connecticut to Springfield, Massachusetts started out innocent enough.
When I took my bags outside at 6:45 am to be loaded into the trailer, the skies were in a heavy overcast, breezy and somewhat cool. Asking Carlos of Northeast STIHL, one of our luggage truck drivers, if it was going to rain, he said, “Yes, and in some places it’s predicted to be up to two inches.” Well, it wasn’t raining at that time, so I was hopeful for the best.
Our route took us quickly out of the city and within 30 minutes our overcast skies turned from an intermittent shower to a full rain. After 60 minutes on route, it became an unrelenting windy downpour all the way to Springfield, which was at least three and a half hours riding time away!
I have ridden in the rain before, although not for three and a half hours and never on completely unfamiliar roads. Needless to say, it was a very challenging, unnerving, unpleasant and a very uncomfortable journey. The small group of four riders that I was with to the end intentionally stayed together, even if we had to slow down considerably to wait for a rider. It was not the time or the place to let anyone drop behind.
In what felt a lot longer than three and a half hours, drenched, we finally arrived at the beautiful Sheraton hotel in downtown Springfield. To our dismay, we found out that in our zeal to get out of the rain we were so early that none of our rooms were ready for us to use! Fortunately, our luggage was there (thanks Carlos!) and with some quick thinking from one of our riding Canadian friends, we quickly realized that we could shower and change in the health club, which we did right away.
Even with the extreme weather and unfamiliar roads, everyone who started the day’s route arrived to Springfield safely and without any serious incidents. A few flat tires did occur, one of which happened to yours truly. However, according to our tour director Paul Wood, this was the first time ever since he has been directing the Tour des Trees! Quite an accomplishment on such an adverse cycling day! Cheers to all the riders who accomplished this noteworthy feat!