Bicycling in Bloomington

 When I lived in State College, PA in the mid-80s, for 2 or 3 years, I would ride my long ride of the year on July 4 - about 56 miles. I rode from our home out to Spring Mills and back. It was a nice ride and I stopped at a general store near Spring Mills for a Pepsi and a Tasty Kake.

Today, I rode 58 miles. I first rode around Monroe Lake (roughly the 35 mile Hoosier Hills ride). Out 446; down to the Lake and up again; right on Chapel Hill; around the south part of the Lake; Strain Ridge, and Ramp Creek. In Handy, I turned right and went down Moore’s Creek and back up to Snoddy; Smith; 45 to Bethel Lane; rode Bethel Lane to the turn to Lake Griffy; and back through Bloomington to home. I added some loops near home to increase the miles.

Overall, a good ride but I didn’t have a lot of zip. Rode more slowly than my other long rides. I don’t know why but I’ve learned over the years that it’s not important. Today was surprisingly windy. The wind seemed to come from multiple directions and always in my face. The wind might have affected the ride.

The day was cloudy and relatively cool. In a way, I felt like a Tour de France rider. I would get warm going up the hills and chilly going down. The traffic was very light except on Smith Rd and 45. For most of the ride, I had the roads to myself. I started earlier, so it may explain the empty roads. I saw only 3 cyclists on the ride.

Until the past few years, riding more than 50 miles was rare. Now, I ride 50+ a few times each year. State College is very similar to Bloomington with many lightly-traveled roads and interesting places to ride to. One difference is that I could ride long distances without encountering stop signs and traffic lights which is unusual in Bloomington. Once on a ride in State College, I rode no-hands for about 10 miles because I didn’t have to stop.

Yet, when I lived there, I thought that riding 40 miles was a long ride and did only a few rides longer than 30 miles each year. The re-started tradition of a long ride on July 4 is a good idea but the long ride is not so unique now.

 Tomorrow I leave for a short vacation, so I won’t be back on the bike (except for my commute home tonight) until Monday. This morning, I did my usual ride - Old 446 but it was both cautious and quick.

Cautious first - a few years ago, I crashed my bike and broke my collarbone on the day before we were scheduled to go on vacation. It was during a period when I was doing more off-road riding. I was testing my skills by riding at the edge of a road that had a curb and trying to keep the bike within a foot of the curb. Going down a hill, I saw an unexpected road hazard (it shouldn’t be unexpected in Bloomington). I swung out to avoid it but quickly remembered that I hadn’t been monitoring the road for approaching cars. I swung back and caught the wheel in a little crack. It caused me to go into the curb and over the handlebars.

I broke my collarbone. I walked home (about .75 mile), and drove a manual transmission car to my doctor’s office. It was challenging to shift without being able to move my arm. But, it’s not nearly as impressive as Tyler Hamilton who rode most of 2003 the Tour de France with a broken collarbone.

So, I rode cautiously today. I waited a little longer before crossing intersections, and I didn’t make any quick decisions. I experienced a very considerate driver today. Travelling west on Moore’s Pike, I needed to turn south on Smith. I kept looking back for a break in traffic but there were many cars behind me. A driver slowed to let me pull across the lane for the left turn. I wonder if he was also a rider who could see what I needed to do.

Quick second - I did the ride in about 45 minutes, which is as fast as I ever ride it. I think it was quick because my legs weren’t tired from a long ride on Sunday. Also, I put air in the tires. I’d guess that I last put air in them in April. Yesterday, I stopped on my ride to work to see if the rear tire was flat because the rim was almost on the road.

My speed was consistently over 18 mph and my HR was in Zone 3 which is about 140 - 150 for me. The ride was essentially 6 - 8 long sprints. The speed was about 2-3 mph faster than my typical ride. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike on Monday morning.