Bicycling in Bloomington

 Only one post a week now because there is not much to report. My weekday morning rides are fewer because of some work commitments but mostly because of DST. Sunrise isn’t until about 7:45 now, so morning rides start later than I like. DST is better for afternoon riders. Last week, I did two standard morning rides. This morning (Tuesday) I rode Old 446.

On Sunday, I decided to ride some hills to prepare for the Hilly. I started with my normal pattern - Smith, 45, Bethel, Boltinghouse. At the bottom of the Boltinghouse hill, I turned right onto Joe Young Rd. I followed it for about 3/4 of a mile until it ended in gravel. It is what might be termed an “Irish” road. It reminds me of the narrow roads in Ireland where one car has to pull off the road to allow another to pass. It has some nice farms on it and one farm has some small horses or burros that were interesting.

I returned to where I turned off Boltinghouse and went onto Lentz Rd. It has a steeeeeeep hill. It was a challenge to get to the top. Then, to Robinson Rd, Tunnel Rd, and Shilo Rd to get to Anderson Rd. I drove Shilo Rd a couple years ago and thought it would be a fun road to ride. It’s mostly downhill for 3 miles or so. However, the road’s surface is terrible in many places, so I couldn’t go fast. From Anderson, I went through the Forest and turned right at the top of Bean Blossom. Travelled a few miles, turned around, and then exited the Forest. I went down and up Old 37 to Hindustan. I continued on Old 37 to Bethel Ln, down to Griffy Lake and back up to Bloomington. I rode the Bloomington streets to Rogers St, south to Clear Creek, across to Schacht, to Stipp, down to Monroe Lake, up Moore’s to Rhorer, and Sare. Overall, it was about 61+ miles. And plenty of hills.

I rode in bigger gears than I would for the Hilly and used the big ring more often than I would. I kept my HR in just below LT for much of the ride. At the top of the Lentz hill, my HR was over 160 which is above max for my age.

The traffic was light to start but increased over the ride. The weather was very nice - 50s and 60s. I saw turkeys and deer on Anderson Rd. Seeing turkeys is always a treat since they are somewhat unusual birds. Overall, a pleasant early fall ride, even with the hills.