Demi-Dirt 200 August 18th, 2013

The long awaited Demi-Dirt came and went in a flash. I had to work at the restaurant on Saturday so I knew that I was not going to get a whole lot of sleep.  Jay on the otherhand was out in Chicago doing some festivities and he somehow told me he would meet me at my house at 3 a.m. 
Was he going to Sleep?? Was he crashing in my driveway? I dozed off to sleep and in a blink of the eye B.K.'s phone went off. My eyes were burning like hell. I jumped off the bed and made myself ready. By 3 am I was dressed and ready. Jay rolled into my driveway with the allnighter look on his face. 
We started the Demi-Dirt at exactly 330 am. DBD time. We rolled down Ogden and started to churn the pedals. Jay was on his trusty Prototype Gunnar while I was on my Rivendell Quickbeam. I was turning the 42x18 singlespeed and my legs liked it. We were riding on rte 64 while a small pickup truck creeped on us. It was Ron trying to catch up to us. He had missed his alarm and in a jiffy he parked and was on the bike. 
The pace was brisk and I later found out Jay was hurting a bit. We made it to Sycamore in 3 hours flat. We got some food and met up with Bonk King, Jakey La Cruz, Dereek Von Weider and the famous LLama. He had decided to join us and I was really happy to catch up with him. 
We rolled down 64 and were really cooking the pace for a ride that would last 200 miles. Ron rode fantastic with a smooth pace that was unnoticeable. Jakey La Cruz rode with 15 stitches in his back with a recent surgery. He wore a short sleeve dress shirt so his would would not sweat. The Bonk King tucked in his aerodynamic position rode like a champ. 
We made it to Polo,IL by 11 am with a hundo in our legs. We ate at the Subway and started to roll back. The singlespeed was doing me good and the more I spun the more I wanted. AT mile 100 Jay started to come through and feel better. We came back towards Oregon and then stayed off 64 since traffic had gone nuts with Harleys and weekenders. 
We got on the Great Western and the 42x18 was starting to mentally destroy me. I wanted a harder gear. I flipped my wheel around to the fixed gear side and the whole world was a better place. We arrived home trashed. Wifey and my Sister in Law had cooked up a marvelous dinner and we ate like monsters. Jay was done, I was destroyed with a saddle issue and pain in my feet. I tried a new saddle out and it did not work for me. My shoes are so worn out that my feet were in pain. Other than that I could have gone longer.
It was a pleasure to ride with the Llama. He has really learned to Dixon, Polo, Oregon area and he showed us some awesome roads. His Salsa Warbird is amazing and I could not stop looking at it. Here is a list with riders and their rigs for future reference.
Jay  Gunnar Crosshairs
Bonk King Salsa Casseroll
Jakey La Cruz   Salsa Casseroll
Dereek V. W.   Singular Peregrine
Ron N.   Gunnar Crosshairs
Llama  Salsa Warbird
Ari   Rivendell Quickbeam
The ride as a blast and I thank you Gentlemen for coming out. 
Thank you very much!!!!

Ari 

Leaving at 330 am. 

Jay and Ron

Jakey hammering down 64

Gang in Oregon, IL. 

Llama and Dereeka

Jay on his trusty Gunnar

Polo IL. 

Near Polo,Il. 

Ride is finally done. 

All smiles with sore legs.




Thanks .
Ari