Bicycling in Bloomington

 Sunday, I was not able to do a long ride because I was scheduled for repairs to my internet cable. They told me that I would have 30 minutes warning, so I thought that I should not be more than 8 miles from home at any point. I rode my commuter bike instead of my road bike.

I started first by following the dan henrys that followed a bizarre route that I mentioned in an earlier post. I followed them past Union, on 7^th St to Jordan, up to 10^th, onto Fee, and to the Bypass. From Sare / Rogers to the Bypass, the route passes through 9 traffic lights and 7 stop signs. Quite a few for 4 miles on a bike ride.

From there, the route went down to Lake Griffy and up to Bethel Lane. The commuter bike performs better on wet hills than my road bike so that the climb out of the Lake went smoothly. On my road bike, I tend to slide a lot while climbing steep hills when the road is wet. At Bethel Lane, the route turned towards 45, so I was able to follow it and stay within 8 miles. At Boltinghouse, an optional “hill climb” route was indicated on the road. At 45, the route turned left toward Unionville and I couldn’t follow because it would have taken me further from home. And, it started to rain harder.

I’ve often mentioned the Boltinghouse hill in previous posts. Here is a story (posted with permission from the Herald Times) of a unique ride on Boltinghouse Hill.

I decided to make a detour off 45 onto Russell Rd which intersects with 45 on both ends. I was surprised to find that it was very similar to the Lake Griffy road - a steep downhill and a long climb out.

Back on 45, I headed towards town and turned left on Smith Rd. I followed Smith (name changes to Rogers) to Snoddy where I picked up the route that I started to follow, but going in the other direction. I followed it backwards to Harrell and then Moffitt. However, at Moffit and Stipp, I could see that the Hoosier Hills dan henrys were down. And, they use the same pattern. So, I’m not sure what route I was following backwards.

I went down Moore’s Creek and up Swartz Ridge. I haven’t gone up Swartz Ridge in 15 years. It’s tough at the bottom. While on Swartz Ridge, I saw another “senior” rider who I met last winter on a ride in the same area. He rides a single-speed Little 5 bike. No idea how he climbs hills with it. We rode for a couple miles but parted at the point where Old 446 crosses 446. He went right, I went left. I then followed 446 to 46 to the east end of Bloomington.

My next goal was to check out the improvements to the bike / ped path that parallels 10^th and 3^rd Sts. A couple weeks ago, I sent some photos to the city streets department that showed some problems on the path and I wanted to see any improvements. On my way there, I saw a group doing tai ji in a park. I joined them for awhile.

The bike/ped path was improved on the east end. A few overhangs could hit bicyclists but the sides were relatively clear. The west end between Pete Ellis Dr and the Bypass needs more improvement. The path was muddy with overgrown weeds on the sides. Some overhangs are present. Overall, it’s not a good path for commuting in work clothes.

From there, I went home. The ride was almost 35 miles and with the number of hills, so not a bad ride constrained by a variety of choices and conditions. I rode in the big ring as much as possible. But, overall the ride was slow because of the disjointed activities. The roads were busier than I usually experience but none was uncomfortable or caused any problems for me or the drivers. Long rides are usually fun and give a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes, disjointed, unusual rides can be even more fun.