Bicycling in Bloomington

 This past week, I started training for a 10K run on Thanksgiving. Tuesday, I ran fairly strong for the first interval-like workout. Wednesday was a regular run. Thursday was fast (for me) 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 mile intervals. I did the first quarter-mile in 93 seconds and the first half-mile in 3:23. It’s been 30 years (or more) since I ran that fast. On the last quarter-mile, I had to walk a good portion because of soreness in my right hamstring and calf. Saturday, I started to run but by about 2.5 miles, I had to stop and walk home.

So, on Sunday I decided not to run and I went to Wapehani Bike Park for some off-road riding. A beautiful fall day in a mostly quiet park (the section near 37 can be noisy). I rode fairly well and strong but I hit the ground twice. One was an endo caused by my not negotiating some newly-fallen limbs appropriately. The other was because I stopped to do a track stand to determine where I was. Unfortunately, I stopped on the side of a slightly muddy mound. When I pushed off, down I went. Despite falls, I had a great time.

After the ride, I measured a couple running course with the bike computer. Overall, I was on the bike about two hours.

Wapehani is a moderately technical course. It has some steep hills, one of which I’ve never conquered. Many trails are very rocky, rutted, and rooted. After storms, the wind fall creates new obstacles. Occasionally, some unreasonable (for me) obstacles are built onto the trails.

Last year, I found a new trail that was recently built and a lot of fun. It’s single track with a few obstacles. Sunday, I discovered a new trail that I wouldn’t attempt to ride. The obstacles would require me to get off the bike a few times. But over time, the trail difficulty will be reduced and I should be able to ride it. We are fortunate to have an evolving course, even if it’s too challenging at times for me.