Bicycling in Bloomington

In this post, I describe three rides. These rides are different from previous rides and they were done partially to gather current data on road conditions in Monroe County outside Bloomington. In the subsequent post, I describe the road conditions.

Sunday Ride

After 4 weeks, I was able to ride again on Sunday. I rode around Monroe Lake: S on 446, west on Chapel Hill; some unmarked roads to the dam. Instead of going north on Stain Ridge, I continued west, under 37, into Harrodsburg, Popcorn Rd, Rockport Rd, That Rd, to Clear Creek, Schacht Rd, Handy Rd, Stipp, Moore’s Creek, Rhorer, and Sare. It was a pleasant morning. The ride was a little slower than usual but I didn’t feel too bad after a month off. A flat on Moore’s Creek Rd took some fun out of the day. It was about 52 miles.

I started at first light and it was very cool, especially going down to the causeway. Climbing out from the causeway, I could smell my sunscreen cooking, so I knew it would get warmer. But, I wasn’t pushing hard because my HR was only 130 at the top. Chapel Hill isn’t a very interesting part of the ride but there was little traffic. Further into the ride, there are some nice farms in north Lawrence County. When the farms end, the climb up “The Alps” begins. It’s not incredibly long challenging. Seems a little less challenging each time I ride it.

Typically, I head home on Stain Ridge but I wanted to add some miles so I continued west to Harrodsburg (locals pronounce it Harrisburg). It’s a nice rural community. On all previous rides, I’ve come from the north (downhill) into Harrodsburg. Sunday, I rode to the north and climbed a long time on both Popcorn and Rockport Rds up to Kirksville.

I like the Kirksville ride going in the other direction (north - south) in the winter because from the high points near Kirksville, it’s possible to see long distances to the south when the trees are bare. To see the vistas travelling north requires looking a little over the right shoulder.

After Kirksville, Rockport Rd becomes a series of steep hills - downhill at 35 mph+ and uphill in big cogs. The road conditions vary from rough and potholed to relatively smooth but fortunately, it’s relatively lightly travelled. On one downhill, I hit a pothole so hard that my hands bounced off the bars. The bike started wobbling and I panicked for a few seconds until I got it under control. After that, I went down hills more cautiously.

Overall, traffic was lighter than I expected. A little more traffic than riding north of Bloomington but not enough to make any part of the ride uncomfortable. I was much more uncomfortable riding up and down the Rockport Rd hills.

Monday Ride

Monday (Labor Day), I did an intermediate ride. Generally, in the summer, I try to get in relatively long distances (for me) on Sundays and short rides in the morning.  On Monday, I rode about 27 miles on what I term the “airport” ride. I go north through town, leave town heading west on Vernal Pike, Vernal Pike west for a relatively long distance, Oard Rd, SR48, Kirby Rd past the airport, Leonard Springs, cross 37, That Rd to Clear Creek, Schacht, Harrell, Rhorer, and Sare.

I often do this ride in the winter because I know it can be done in 2 hours and that’s enough on cold mornings. The ride isn’t very long but both in Bloomington and on the county roads, there are a relatively large number of traffic lights and stops signs. I decided to ride faster than normal so after crossing 37, I picked up the pace. Unfortunately, Vernal Pike is under construction. I thought that it might be easier to walk across the construction gravel than take the detour that adds a couple miles. Big mistake - I walked a long way on gravel in bike shoes. An unpleasant experience. But, I finished the ride in less than 2 hours, so I was pleased. 

Most of my rides have little traffic but Monday’s ride had even less. I’ve noticed that traffic is especially light on holidays.

Wednesday Ride

Wednesday morning, I did a different morning ride than usual - I rode out to the water treatment plant on Handy/Shields Ridge Rd. Out on Sare, Rhorer, Harrell, Moffitt, Handy to the plant and turned around. When I got back to Moffitt, turned right, down Stipp and up Moore’s Creek to Rhorer and then Sare. I didn’t measure the distance but it took 1 hour, 10 minutes. I did a number of sprints to keep my heart rate up but it never exceeded 150.

It’s a pleasant ride. On weekday mornings, there can be a fair amount of traffic depending on the time. 7:30 - 8 is especially bad. There wasn’t much traffic on the ride today. Sometimes on the coldest winter days or when I don’t have much time, I do variations of this ride, along with old 446 for my Sunday ride. I often add a loop through Clear Creek.

My usual morning rides are about 50 minutes. Since I need to train for Hoosier Hills and the Hilly, I’ll try to do this ride at least once a week for the next month.

Next - road conditions on the county roads.