Bicycling in Bloomington

 Sunday, I got back on the saddle again; my first ride since the Hilly Hundred. For the past 5 weeks, I’ve been training for a 10K race in Niles, MI that was held Thanksgiving morning. I did reasonably well but there’s plenty of room for improvement.

It was cold, cloudy morning. Temperature about 27 when I left around 8:30. I went to Pine Grove to look for sandhill cranes that reported there in a couple posts on the Bloomington Birds listserv. I didn’t find any.

I met a fisherman whose primary interest was not in catching fish. He liked being out in a relatively quiet, peaceful place which Pine Grove was on Sunday morning. EXCEPT, for some hunters across the lake who were using Howitzers to hunt. They were very loud when fired.

I considered going to Wapehani for some off-road riding but I was concerned that it might still be muddy. I don’t like to run on muddy trails because it harms them. During the winter and spring, I use my commuting bike for my rides. The bike has wider tires, so I ventured out on the Pine Grove beach/mud flat. I rode on it until I reached a couple spots where the mud was very soft.

Pine Grove is down a relatively long hill from 446. I chose to use the small ring (28) to go back up. It’s only the 2^nd time I used it. It makes climbing easy. I think it was easier to ride up the hill than walk up.

Overall, about a 15 mile ride. Despite the cold, the ride was fairly nice and it was good to be back on the bike.