Sunday, April 06, 2008

I got out for a ride today. Very nice weather. I started about an hour later than usual because I wanted to wait until the sun had a chance to warm the air. I left about 9:20. It was 46^o  when I started and about 62 ^o  when I finished about 2.16 hours later. More traffic than I normally find on Sundays but not terrible.

I had about 4 possible rides when I left home but I didn’t ride any of them. Instead, I started out to ride northeast of town. I went east on 45 and then north on Bethel Ln. I planned to go down Boltinghouse but completely missed it. My mind was wandering. I also planned to turn down to Griffey but missed it, too. At Old 37, I went north to Robinson. Up Robinson, Tunnel, and back to 45. I added the Russell Rd detour to get a little more distance and another hill. I had a very strict 11:30 deadline, and I just made it. I added a couple side trips to look at some things. Nothing planned but sometimes unplanned rides are fun.

Highlights – not many. Russell Rd is always a challenge but it was very sandy on the downhill side. Uphill, it was fine. The sun was bright and I had just enough clothes. I may not get out for another long ride until June, so this 29.5 mile ride might be my distance record for some time. My computer distance is longer than Mapmyride because I didn’t record all side trips.

My riding is getting more steady now. I was able to ride to work 4 of 6 days last week. I got out for a Sunday ride, and I got in a weekday short ride. Spring has arrived.

 Sunday, March 31, 2008

After a good start to the week, I didn’t get as much riding the rest of the week. Thursday, it rained. Friday, I was home most of day doing my taxes. Saturday morning was sunny and bright, so I rode to work instead of driving which I usually do on Saturdays. I’m actually happy that I got ride my bike to work 4 of 6 days this week.

Today, I hoped to do an interesting ride. Last night, the weather report indicated that the rain wouldn’t start until the afternoon. But, when I checked weather.com before starting, I could see rain in Greene County. So, I chose to ride the same ride as last week.

However, when I got to the south end of Harrell Rd, the rain started. I turned around instead of going to the water treatment plant. When I got to Jackson Creek School, it wasn’t raining hard, so I decided to join the ride I did earlier this week. By the time I got to the apogee of the ride near Bloomington Speedway, the rain started again.

Overall, the timing was good. As I opened the garage door, I heard the first thunder and the heavy rains started. The ride was a couple clicks less than 25 miles and I rode for 1.75 hours. A little more than the intended 1.5 hours but I was glad to do as much riding as I could on a not so cheerful day.

The Bicycling Comic

On Friday, a member of the Bloomington Bicycling Club posted a message about a new bicycling comic on its listserv - Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery (http://www.yehudamoon.com/). I think it’s pretty good. It’s helpful to start at the beginning of the series to understand the characters. It won’t take long to view all the daily comics.

I also listened to an interviewer with the comic’s author - Rick Smith - on a podcast on The Fredcast (http://www.thefredcast.com/). Rick Smith mentioned that he is focusing some on the differences between the utilitarian cyclists (Yehuda) and the more intense cyclists (Joe).

I see a lot of Yehuda in my fellow Bloomington bicycling bloggers (Ear to the Breeze and Biking the Hoosier Uplands. For me, I guess I’m closer to Yehuda on Monday - Friday (or Saturday) and more like Joe on Sunday. Overall, I can see a lot the bicycling in Bloomington reflected in the strip.

 Sunday, March 23, 2008

Today was my first road ride since early January. I rode a fairly simple ride - to the south end of Old 446, back north on 446 to Swartz Ridge. At the bottom of Swartz Ridge, I rode south to Monroe Lake to see the flooding. It’s high but not the highest I’ve seen it. I turned around and rode up Moore’s Creek and then to the Water Treatment Plant. (My fellow Bloomington bicycling blogger calls it the Water Works ride - a nice Monopoly title.)

I forgot to start the computer (a regular problem for me) when I left but based on a couple observations, I assume the ride was 26-27 miles. It took 1.83 hours. I planned to ride about 1.5 hours, so it was reasonably close. Overall, I felt a little sluggish and didn’t have the “snap” I will have later this year when I get to short uphills, etc.

The temperature was 28^o and it was cloudy when I started. By the time I got home, it was 36^o and sunny. Traffic was light but a little heavier with Easter church traffic than is usual for a Sunday morning.

It seems that 28^o feels much colder in March than it does in November. I dressed warmly and was a little concerned that I was overdressed. I wasn’t. Towards the end, I was warm when riding hard and cool when going downhill. Just about the right balance.

Overall, it was good to get outside again.

 Warm Winter Day

Today was very warm for January. When I started my ride at about 9, the temperature was nearly 50^o. When I finished about 11, it was 53^o in my backyard. I rode almost 28 miles following the same route as last week. I didn’t take the Bloomington rail trail home but chose a more direct route.

The roads were wet and gritty. My bike was dirty when I got home and I could tell the grit was getting into the drive train in the last few miles. Fortunately, by late afternoon, the temperature was about 60, so I was able to clean the bike and lube the chain, etc. The bike is ready for commuting this week.

Some details:

• The traffic was very light. I hardly saw a car before 10:30.
• Down by Lake Monroe, the temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the ride. It looks like most ice on the Lake had melted.
• For the past two rides, I’ve used my small chain ring (2 to climb the Stipp Rd hill. For years, it was not unusual to slip out once or twice on steep hills when the roads had winter grit on them. In the little ring, I can sit back comfortably and never push hard to climb the hills. I’ve learned to tolerate a little slip from my mountain bike riding but it’s still scary on a road bike.

I don’t think I’ve ever ridden 58 miles in January, so this might be a good year for biking for me.

 The season is over for me. On Sunday October 7, I rode about 40 hilly miles.  I rode what I call the “Three Lakes” ride. I rode by Griffy, Lemon, and Monroe lakes.

It was a wonderful ride. Nice day, pleasant temperatures, not much traffic, and many hills. I rode slowly as practice for the Hilly.

I did not ride the week of October 8-12 because I was out of town most of the week.

Last weekend was the Hilly Hundred. A good end to my biking season. The weather was fine. It was cool on Saturday. It started in the 40s and ended in the 70s. Sunday was warmer. I took off my jacket at the 2^nd rest stop. It’s not often that I ride the Hilly in short sleeves.

The course as challenging as ever. A little change to the Sunday ride added a hill and made the Sunday ride about 2 miles longer. Mt. Tabor was tough for me, as always. Water Tower hill is at the end of both days and it’s an appropriate end to the rides - challenging but doable.

Some thoughts about the Hilly:

• I would not be able to eat fried chicken at lunch and ride the hills without discomfort. The peanut butter sandwiches are enough for me.
• My typical complaint about long rides - the lunch should be at the third stop instead of the second. For those who start early, lunch is very early.
• The ice cream bars are the real treat of the Hilly. It’s at both lunches and at the vendor tent on Saturday. I don’t eat ice cream often, so I really enjoy them.
• It seemed like more riders walked the hills this year.
• The Hilly didn’t seem as crowded as previous years. At times, my daughter and I didn’t have other riders within 100 yards front and back.
• The ride was extremely well-organized as usual. Many sag wagons, enough food, water, port-a-johns, etc.
• The roads seemed better than the past years.

For those who haven’t done a Hilly, it’s fun and you should do it.

Next stage - at this point, I stop riding and start training for a 10K in Niles MI on Thanksgiving. I’ll still commute, so my posts will be more about commuting than road riding.

 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.

 Not the Hilly Hundred weekend, of course. But I rode just about as far as the Hilly (96 miles total) on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, I rode the 60K version of the Hoosier Hills Tour. I chose the shorter ride because I was going to the IU football game at noon. My computer showed 40+ miles but it’s longer partially because I rode to and from the start at Jackson Creek Middle School.

I started fairly early. I might have left the school before 8. I ride the course regularly, so I knew it well. It seems that there weren’t many riders. I passed only a few before the first rest stop at Chapel Hill and 3 riders passed me. From the time I turned on Chapel Hill until I reached the school, I didn’t see another Tour rider.

The lunch stop was moved this year from the Monroe Lake overlook to an elementary school. I wasn’t paying attention, so I went to the old lunch stop. Surprised to see no one there. I was the first rider to reach the lunch stop at about 9:30 or so. It’s not lunch time at 9:30 so I didn’t eat much.

Overall, the day was pleasant (cool to start; warm at the end), the traffic relatively light although heavier than a Sunday morning, and I wished I had time to do the longer ride.

Sunday, I rode about 56 miles. I rode a typical course through the Morgan Monroe forest. It seems that a bike race was happening in the Forest sometime on Sunday but later than when I was there. After leaving the Forest, I crossed 37 and continued the typical route. At Denny Rd, I turned right to stay on Ditmore instead of going straight onto Denny (another place where the road takes a right turn). My map indicates that Ditmore would join Bottom, so it was an alternate way. I was curious.

However, I found myself on Buskirk Rd. Buskirk has a very steep hill that was unexpected. Then, I determined by the sun that I was going north instead of south. Eventually, I reached Burma Rd and became aware that I was riding the Sunday Hilly route backwards. I continued on the route using Salem and Paragon Rds to reach 37, crossed to Old 37 and climbed back up to the Forest entrance. Then, for the second time, I went down the hill and up to Hindustan (for the second time). From there I continued on Old 37 to Bethel Ln, turned onto the Griffey Lake Rd, up the hill from the Lake and home.

Like Saturday, the weather was pleasant. I don’t think I felt warm until after the Griffey climb. I saw some interesting animals, such as a lone turkey in a field. (I’ve always seen turkeys in groups before.) I saw chickens loose on Bethel Ln but that’s not unusual. Some deer on Anderson Rd. Traffic was light

Counting Thursday’s ride, I rode the following big hills over the weekend - Stipp, Mission Valley (the Alps), Ramp Creek, Bean Blossom, Hindustan (twice), Buskirk, two hills on Old 37, and the climb from Griffey. Buskirk seemed the most challenging but maybe it’s because it’s the first time I rode it.

I monitored my heart rate on the hills when I started and it seemed to be lower than previous rides. I also increased the gears a little. I rode the last mile of Bean Blossom in my “4″ gear which I’ve never used before on the hill. I rode up to Hindustan in the “3″ gear for the first time. On both climbs, my heart rate was lower than earlier in the summer despite the bigger gears. However, when I rode the hill to Hindustan a second time about 1.5 hours later, my heart rates was about 7-8 bpm faster but I used the same gear.

I saw many bicyclists going the opposite direction - I’d guess 50 overall with 2 larger packs. Very unusual to see so many. But, it’s not surprising. It was a nice day for “enjoying” the Monroe County hills.

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.

My period of little bicycling continues. It’s been more than three weeks since I last did a long ride. Yesterday (Sunday), I didn’t ride because I was in Louisville watching my daughter participate in the Louisville Ironman. She finished and I am very happy for her. She’s been training for a year. In earlier posts, I described some rides we did as part of her training.

While she was on the bicycle segment, my son-in-law and I rode between two points of the course to cheer for her. The ride was about five miles each direction. We were on a rural road and the traffic was relatively heavy. More importantly, the vehicles were going very fast. I appreciate riding Bloomington more after the experience.

We also rode most of the run segment (2 out and back loops on the same street). The course was on a wide street with wide sidewalks. While I rarely ride on sidewalks, we did on Sunday because we did not want to interfere with the runners. We likely rode an additional 20 miles on the course. It was fun both to ride and to be able to cheer for her especially in the later parts of the “run.” Actually most were walking more than running by that point.

The course was on a wide, 4 lane street with sharrows. In my previous post, I mentioned that I found the sharrows on North Walnut difficult to see and interpret while driving and suggested that a sign would help drivers to interpret the sharrows. Louisville has these signs and I think it’s helpful to drivers.

 Sunday, I rode nearly 60 miles. I rode what is now becoming almost a pattern for me - through the Forest, Bottom Rd, through Bloomington, Clear Creek, and a long way home (more detail). I had an 11:00 AM curfew for the ride. I got out about 7:15 or so and was back at about 11:05.

I won’t have another weekend ride for perhaps a month. The road bike is hanging on the garage wall and will likely be there until Labor Day weekend. I’ll be travelling for the next few weekends. It’s not unusual for me to have extended periods without riding. But, I think that I’m ready for the Hoosier Hills and the Hilly with just a few more rides.

The ride conditions were good but not great. I was sluggish but it might have been because of the weather - hot and humid. I noticed while riding through the “corn canyon” on Bottom Rd, that I was going about 2 mph slower than the previous week. But, the overall average time was not much different.

Traffic was very light. Hardly a car anywhere outside of town.

Some observations -

Boltinghouse Rd Hill - Earlier this year, I was getting more courageous in going down the hill and letting myself go. Then, three bad things caused me to be more cautious.  1) I use the middle of the road because it’s smoother but on a recent ride, a truck coming up was using the same part of the road. 2) I got to bottom okay but then I had to cross some unexpected gravel at a speed that was too uncomfortable for me. I used the principles of motion to get through it but it scared me. 3) I hit a hole so hard at the bottom that it caused my water bottle to fly out of the cage and burst open.

Sunday, I decided to go slowly because the Saturday night evening rains had caused a lot of gravel and other stuff to come out on the roads. A very wise decision. About 1/2 way down, there was mud and muck but not too much to handle. About 2/3 of the way down, far more mud, muck, leaves, branches, twigs, etc. than I think would have been able to manage at full speed. I’ve learned over the years to be cautious after heavy rains on rural roads in Monroe County. It paid off on Sunday.

Shirtless recumbent trike rider - I saw him again on Bottom Rd. This time I passed him going in the same direction. He has what looks like a beer cooler on the back. Even better, there are a bunch of flashing lights on the container. Interesting bike. Bloomington has some interesting characters riding bikes.

Big ring - I tried the big ring during the last 1/3 of the ride. I have rarely used it and generally considered it a weight that I carried around. I found that it is useful to ride through quick changes in slope. It was especially useful on rollers because I it allowed me to get into the spin more quickly than going down one rear cog. Because Bloomington is relatively hilly and I’m not a strong rider (I can rarely spin out the little cogs and the small ring), I didn’t see a value in going to the big ring. Now, I see how it can help improve my bicycling skills.

Saturday evening, I watched some bike racing in downtown Bloomington - the Bloomington Cycling Grand Prix. (Indiana Daily Student article) These are fun races to watch because it’s all amateurs, they go fairly fast (especially the cat 1/2 riders), and the course is laid out so that it’s possible to see many parts of the course. Another nice event that Bloomington has to offer for bicycling.

Sharrows, again - On Monday, the Herald Times reprinted the press release about Sharrows that the City released last week. Mitch Rice’s blog has a copy of the press release. Unfortunately, a subscription is needed to access the article. The HT, unlike other newspapers, discourages use of its website.

The article is merely a summary of the press release. Nothing creative in the HT. However, the article generated 84 (mostly) relevant comments. Many comments are thoughtful about the conditions for bicycling in Bloomington. It’s a shame that these comments cannot be more widely disseminated and discussed.