Author: bbcbike

Ellettsville with Variations

Saturday, March 9, marked the second club ride of the season, but the first for most of us who were either out of town (like me) or reluctant to brave the rather brutal weather described in John B’s report in the previous blog post. This week the weather was cool, in the 40s, but not brutal.

Incoming club president Jim S led a nice group of about 20 on this relatively short (23 mile) early season ride. The group included two tandems, Jim and Sylvia on one and incoming vp Dan F and Cindy on the other.

We took a leisurely ride out of town via the B-Line Trail from Grimes to its northern end. We took our one group stop at the service station in Ellettsville. From there it was the ups and downs of Maple Grove Road, past the famous intersection of Maple Grove and Maple Grove. At the point where Maple Grove tees into Bottom Road, one group headed left for a longer option.

The rest of us headed right back toward town following the club route. When we teed into Old 37 in Lower Cascades some people turned right to head back to Bryan Park. My little group of OWLS headed left at that point to go up Audubon and across to Highway 45 on Bethel and back into town that way, adding about 10 miles to the basic route.

Altogether it was a good start to the year, with a varied group of riders and options for everyone.

It Was Really Cold

By John Bassett

The official BBC riding season got underway last Saturday, March 2.  Riding condition were less than optimal with a temperature of 29oF and a brisk north wind at the start.  I probably would not have even attempted this ride except:  1) it was the first official ride of the season, and 2) I really needed to work on getting my legs reengaged for some upcoming riding in Texas.  Eight hardy souls left Bryan Park at 11:00 heading out for a leisurely ride to the Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge on Bottom Road.

Okay, I’m relatively new to this sport, and this was my first ride where the temperature did not get above freezing.  It was also my first experience with insulated shoe covers which I must say work very well in keeping the toes warm.  I wish I could say that about the fingers.  By the time we were heading up Kinser Pike I was down to one finger on each hand that would work a SRAM shift level.  A rethink of the riding glove situation is definitely in order.  Regroups were also interesting.  At a stop, the hands and feet would warm, but the whole rest of you would ice up.  Pick your poison.

The original plan was to do the longer 33 mile Mt Pleasant / Burma / Buskirk / Dittemore loop ride option.  However, most people had had enough cold at the out-and-back turnaround point at the wildlife viewing station.  Jen’s hands were beyond numb, and Yusuf’s lot was compounded by ill-shifting rear derailleur.  Six of us turned back at the point and enjoyed a more pleasant wind-at-the-back ride back to town.  Nathan and Laura, the gung ho youngsters, decided to brave it and proceeded around the rest of the 33 mile loop.  Here is a pic of our little group at about 30 degrees F.

I learned a little about winter riding on this adventure.  I think we are all glad we did the ride, or at least we were glad to get back home and warm up.  Blowing snow in the face is a nice touch, but really, it does need to warm up around here.

Changing of the Guard

Saturday night we had our annual banquet and business meeting.

For the first time we met at the Convention Center downtown. A big thanks to Tammy Berger for handling most of the arrangements after we had trouble getting a suitable date at Chapman’s, where we have met the last few years. Overall the cost was about the same (more for the room, less for the food, extra for sound equipment), and the sound and projection set-up was a lot better. On the downside (in only a few people’s views) we did not have a cash bar, which would have required paying extra for a bartender.  I didn’t mind.

The evening started with some social time between 5 PM and 6 PM. Dinner was a buffet with vegetarian options available.

After dinner outgoing president Keith Vogelsang presided over our business meeting. There were reports from several committee chairs. In the absence of treasurer Jerry Arveson (off biking down south somewhere!), Keith presented Jerry’s report on the club finances (very strong). Included was a summary of the recent BBC grants awarded. Incoming Ride Director John Bassett discussed the planned 2013 ride calendar and advocacy chair Ron Brown reviewed his activities of the year. Jen Miers reported on behalf of RAIN committee chair John McConnell. Things seem to be in very good shape. So far there have been about 160 early registrants and almost 2/3 of those have ordered jerseys. We’re on target for approximately 1500 registrants. The outstanding design developed by Tammy Berger should sell very well. When jerseys sell well RAIN is very successful financially.

As Keith wrapped up his third and final year as president he reviewed the status of the club and some of the issues he felt should be priorities for the coming years.

Here are a few highlights of the last couple of years: Finances have been re-organized and we now pay sales tax on jersey and other merchandise sales. We have a bank CD and also earn significant rebates on a corporate credit card. RAIN has functioned as a much broader-based volunteer activity for the club. A process of evaluation of club structure was undertaken with an IU student group, 180 Degree Consulting, and a full revision of the club bylaws has been begun with a corresponding updating of club organization.

Looking toward the future Keith highlighted some issues that he feels need further attention: insurance issues related to deciding what rides are “official” club rides; marketing the club in the community; recruiting a broader base of membership including commuters; involving younger members (citing our “ageing membership” — yikes!); reorganizing executive board procedures to make it more “accountable” and completing the process of reworking the bylaws; increasing the number and variety of applications to our successful grants program.

As his final official act he asked Kathy Cummins to present the report of the nominating committee:

  • President: Jim Schroeder
  • Vice president: Dan Fowler
  • Treasurer: Jerry Arveson
  • Secretary: Kathy Cummins

There being no further nominations from the floor, the nominating committee slate was elected by voice vote.

The final part of the evening was a video/slide show from John Bassett and Jim Schroeder about their biking trip to Arizona last year.

As we said our goodbyes Tammy announced that each table’s centerpiece (a clever “floral” arrangement of Powerbars, Mojos, and Gu, etc.) belonged to the person at each table whose chair had a little ribbon twist-em tied to the crossbar between legs of their chair. Sweet!

My thanks to secretary Kathy Cummins for sharing her preliminary minutes with me to help me produce this more informal report. This summary represents the author’s personal take on the evening, and should not be viewed as official minutes.

Touchables, Short Version

Another fine February afternoon for a bike ride. Dana got us going again doing the club Touchables Ride to Martinsville via Low Gap. We had nine riders: Dana, Tammy, Glenn, Klaus, Jen, Doug, John B, Clair, and Allan. Allan and Clair took advantage of the 26 mile short option, while the others (presumably) did the regular club route.

I’ve been experimenting with recording data in 5 mile increments on my GPS. What this showed today was that while I averaged out a 13.0 moving average from home to home, along the five mile stretch of 45 from Smith Road to Tunnel Road, Clair and I averaged about 17.6 bringing up the rear. We all regrouped in the driveway on Tunnel Road. People who had already been there a while were itchy to get going. I did get a quick drink but that’s all. On the next 5 mile segment Tunnel and Shilo down to Anderson Road, Clair and I averaged a little less, around 16.3. John B had allowed as how it’s all down hill there. Not really true. But one did need to slow down for sand and the occasional rough spot. 
Clair and I arrived at Anderson Road in good time, but this time there was no regroup as the other 7 riders were already out of sight heading toward Low Gap. We took a leisurely few minutes and then turned west into a pretty strong wind on Anderson. From there we took a standard route back to town. We stopped at the Firehouse as usual. What was unusual was that one of the young firemen came out to chat. He turned out to be a cyclist himself. Clair did a good job chatting him up and trying to recruit him to join the BBC. Eventually I had to tell him that we needed to get going. At Clair’s insistence we stayed on Old 37 around the downhill curve, skipping Audubon. On the way back to the park we went by the new Bloomingfoods construction site near Second and Fess. Before long that will be another option for hungry cyclists after a good ride. But for now we just had to head back to the park and thence to home.

Long Way Round to Rosie’s

Again Tammy organized a midweek afternoon ride for those with flexible schedules. We had 7 riders: Tammy, Jim, Mike, Dana, Jen, Clair and Allan. Tammy originally proposed the club’s Ride to Rosie’s, about 30 miles out west. The group adopted Jim’s alternative 40 mile ride to Rosie’s that proceeds clockwise instead of the usual counterclockwise and adds miles by heading out of town to the southeast: Smith, Snoddy, Harrell, Schacht, Fairfax, Smithville, Ketcham, Victor,etc.

I’m experimenting with maps. Here’s what I recorded, displayed using an open source map:

Here’s Tammy’s take on the ride:

I like to call this “Jim’s Ramble to Rosie’s”.  Those who had not ridden this route before quickly realized just what we had all gotten ourselves into on this route.  We left town via Smith Rd to Snoddy, after a fun trip down Schacht we had to climb the hills on Fairfax to Smithville.  This was just the start of our climbing for the day.  From Smithville it was Ketcham to Victor Pike, all the way up the hill to Rockport, great downhill on Harmony and then the climb into Stanford on Kirksville.  This was only the first 20 miles!

We took Stanford Rd to Elwren and by this point most of our little group of riders was off their normal riding roads.  This ride to Rosie’s sure is harder than the normal route!  At the corner of Elwren and Stanford I was showing 2160 feet of climbing in the first 27 miles!  Sailed down the hill, avoided the potholes at the bottom, and the next thing we knew we were at Hwy43 and Rosie’s was just ahead.  The last miles into town were the normal Ride to Rosie’s route in reverse.

Even though this route was tough (especially for February), we all appreciated riding some roads that we don’t often go out on.  I came home showing 47.4miles and 3200 feet of climbing.  With the exception of a few dogs(none that were terrible, just annoying) and the large potholes on CR1310 this is a great route, especially if you want to strengthen your climbing legs!

When we got back into town our little group came back via the B-line.  Jim, Mike, and I intended to use the Allen Street Bike Blvd to get back across town.  Unfortunately Allen was blocked by a semi, so we went down to Grimes and took that instead.  Just after crossing Lincoln on Grimes a man in a large green SUV rolled down his window and yelled “You have got to be kidding me, GET OFF THE ROAD!” at Mike and me.  We thought at first when the guy rolled down his window that maybe it was someone one of us knew, then we he yelled and we were not sure if he was serious or what.  Finally decided with the tone of voice and dirty look we got that the man really thought we were doing something wrong by riding a bike on the street.  Truly I am used to these kinds of idiots on some of the country roads, but it really did surprise me to have it happen in the Bryan Park neighborhood in town!

And a final coda from Allan:

One other exciting thing happened on the way back in. Clair and I were cruising along Vernal Pike, near the bend at the northern-most point on the route, minding our own business, when ahead of us a car came flying down Howard into the T with Vernal, hit the sand and did a 360 before regaining control and proceeding along. I don’t know how he stayed on the road. Clair and I were certainly glad we weren’t actually in the intersection when it happened.

Club Elections

One of the more important jobs we have at our upcoming annual meeting February 23 will be the election of new officers.

Recently the nominating committee (chair Kathy Cummins) reported back to the board on its proposed slate of candidates. Word has been gradually spreading and I thought I would share the report. As usual there are new people and continuing officers.
Here’s the slate:
  • President – Jim Schroeder (new)
  • Vice president – Dan Fowler (new)
  • Secretary – Kathy Cummins (continuing)
  • Treasurer – Jerry Arvesen (continuing)
Perhaps as important as the elected officers are the appointed committee chairs. There are definitely vacancies for social chair and safety chair. A number of others will probably continue. But there are two important slots that have been filled this winter for the coming year:
  • RAIN Committee chair- John Connell
  • Ride Committee chair – John Bassett
Carryover chairs of standing committees for now include:
  • Membership – Tammy Berger
  • Blog – Allan Edmonds
  • Web – Klaus Rothe, Ron Brown
  • Advocacy – Ron Brown
  • Grants – Janice Arvesen

“Johnny Junxions”

Saturday was another nice, but cool (40s), day for an afternoon bike ride. This time the BBC Gruppetto group headed out Victor Pike and Old 37 to Judah, on a ride CE has christened “Johnny’s Junction”. We stopped for a bit at the service station and convenience store on the SE corner of Old 37 and New 37 and discovered that their sign actually says “Johnny Junxions”. I never read it that closely before. There seem to be both spelling and grammar issues here, and, perhaps, a little dyslexia.

After that we headed toward Guthrie and up “The Alps”, coming back to town via Strain Ridge Rd. This was my third time this year and my second time in three days up the Alps!

We’ve done this route a few times before as a short option on a longer ride down south. Thanks to CE for giving it a name in its own right!

On the way back on Schacht Rd we met up with Al and Kathy R on their tandem. I’m sure many other club members found their way out for a ride one way or the other.

We had 8 riders (plus one who had to drop out not feeling well) — CE, Ken, Gail, Jack, Rachel, Allan, Tom, and Thom — and did about 36 miles at about 13 mph.

Future Structure of the BBC

The BBC board has been considering updates–indeed a complete rewrite–of the club by-laws. A group of club officers met during the fall semester with a group of IU students (“180 Degrees Consulting”) doing a project in the Kelly School of Business who attempted to evaluate the club from a non-profit organizational perspective and made a number of recommendations including a new set of by-laws. While their proposals had some valid points, others didn’t seem quite right. After some discussion a board committee will be looking at revising that document substantially, with a goal of presenting something to the membership sometime much later this year.

In the meantime you might be interested in this little diagram, which will be fleshed out into full by-laws:
(Click to view a larger version.)
A committee consisting of Jerry Arvesen, John Bassett, and Allan Edmonds will be working on a draft of a new set of by-laws. This is a good time to work toward a shared vision and understanding of what the club is and should be all about and to formalize structures and practices in support of that vision.

Off to a Big Year So Far

We’ve had an amazing number of good riding days so far in 2013. I better get organized to write about some of our informal rides.

Thanks to Tammy for getting a group of riders with “flexible schedules” out for a great ride around the lake this afternoon. Altogether we had eight riders. Clair and I opted for the shorter option of the Hoosier Hills 60K route and ended up with about 38 miles. The others, including Tammy, Glenn, Jen, Dana, Jim, and John B did the longer “Funky 50” route.

Several of us realized we were a bit overdressed and adjusted out wardrobes before setting out. I left behind my fleece and balaclava. Tammy demonstrated how to remove a base layer without taking off your outer jersey! (She said most women know how to do this, and almost no men…) At noon, when we set out, it was in the upper 40s I suppose, finally peaking in the lower 50s.

This year so far I had 148 miles in January, an all-time record for me, by far, and, now 186 miles in January and February combined. I should easily clear 200 miles this weekend. Usually I have 30-50 miles in January and February put together!

January 1 CE and I took our hybrids out in the snow for a ride down 446 as far as the turn-off to Pine Grove and back. It was in the 20s and there was a fair amount of snow around. The road was well-plowed and we appreciated that they even plowed the shoulders.

Altogether I’ve been down toward Pine Grove three times, out in the neighborhood of Lake Lemon twice, and around Lake Monroe twice. Most of these earlier rides were with our little “Gruppetto” group.

A good start to what should be a good year. 

Looking for Norway

By Jim Schroeder

Sylvia and I were in Joliet, Illinois, visiting her children and tending to doctor appointments, but I managed to fit in a bike ride on Saturday.

I had contacted the Joliet Bicycle Club and was all set to go in the morning at 8am.  The rain had already blown through but it was still quite cold, 40’s, and very windy.  Sylvia dropped me off at Chammahon State Park, one of the many state parks that are on the historic I & M Canal. Apparently they are fair weather riders, as I was the only one to show at the designated parking lot.  I grabbed the Illinois state map from the car and decided to venture west, while Sylvia drove into the western ‘burbs for another appointment.

After about a couple of miles I was greeted with a last remnant of precipitation, but it was just a few drops and I was fully protected with my tights and rain jacket.  While riding along Hansel Rd, probably old US highway 6, it abruptly stopped to make way for one of those suburban housing additions in the middle of the country.  Well, at least they created a bike path where the road once was, and so I didn’t get lost figuring the development’s detour.

The route to Morris followed the I & M Canal and its pea gravel towpath, but I was advised not to take the towpath on my skinny-tired Kestrel. Instead I had to battle the breeze without any wind break.  The sun eventually broke through and it became a glorious but chilly morning, and I got to Morris and stopped at the Liberty Cafe for a chai latte and omelette croissant.  A couple of racer men, not boys, decked out in their kits, arrived as I was about to leave.  After some chitchat they wished me a better ride back with the wind, as they assumed that the cafe was the return point.

I had other plans.  After perusing the state map I decided to venture west and north to Norway and learn about my new wife’s heritage.  Yes, this old German married one of those sexy Scandinavians!

I left Morris on US 6, which had minimal traffic due to its close proximity to I-70.  The NW winds picked up to a constant 20mph with gusts of 30mph. It was quite arduous even to this flatlander, and the day reminded me of a century named TASSLE I had done in Ohio some twenty years ago.  The Sunday return of TASSLE on the south shore of Lake Erie had gale force warnings from the west, and so was the worst day of my life on a bike.

I turned north just north of Seneca.  This area was ripe with French and Indian heritage: Joliet, Chammahon, Seneca, Marsailles, Ottawa, and Lasalle.  But, north of I-80 it became a little more rolling, still flat in a southern Indianan’s view, and names became Scandinavian.  As I approached Stevanger, with the accent on the second syllable according to Sylvia, I came upon this grand farm house that had recently got a classy renovation.  

I then turned west again and tried to hide from the wind by hugging the few cornfields that were still left to harvest.  A few friendly horses greeted me as I stopped to say hello.

I turned north as I viewed down on the water tower of Ottawa and rode into what was used to be Danway, and then checked out the quirky Norwegian humor displayed along the road.

Then came my destination of today’s journey, Norway, to learn something about Sylvia’s heritage.

In fact I later found out that the road with the horses was where her aunt lived and the family farmed in the past.

Norway was a delight as evidenced by my photos, but I didn’t go into the country store and sample the lutefisk!

I returned back to my daughter-in-law’s in Joliet with rolling farmland surrounding me on a quiet US-52 with the long awaited tailwind.

A total of 73 miles and a whopping 1000 feet of climbing.