Blog Post

BBC member Wes Harris contributes the following commentary aimed specifically at the Tuesday-Thursday Training Rides. But his comments apply perfectly well to all club rides, and especially those without a designated leader. – Editor.

Ouch!

This question may be inappropriate…but are your bikes ok? 😉

From Tammy Berger


Mike F. wanted to catch a “longish” ride on Sunday morning, so five of us (Mike F, Bob D, Paul T, Stan E, Tammy B) headed out on a reverse Martinsville & Mahalasville route.  Paul wanted to add some miles and some climbs, so we started the day by going out Kerr Creek, Birdie Galyan, and Brummets Creek.

We reached the top of Brummets Creek only to find Mike had broken a spoke.  After a few minutes of deliberation Mike decided to head back to town to get the bike fixed and the rest of us headed out.  We had smooth sailing until Lick Creek when the rain first started dripping on us.  It stayed light and even stopped for a while and we had hopes to make it to Martinsville without significant rain, alas that was not to happen.  When we reached the wide open flat of Mahalasville Rd the storm broke over us.  The wind was so strong that the HAIL that was pelting us was actually horizontal!  The wind finally won out and literally blew us off the road.  We took shelter in the ditch for about 10 minutes as the storm blew over us, then rode the last 3 miles into Martinsville in the pouring rain.

We stopped at Starbucks to get something to warm us up just as the rain cleared.  After warming up for a little while, comparing welts from the hail, and slightly drying out we headed out for the return to town.  Paul just had to have one more good climb and took us all home by way of Hacker Creek.  I for one was just happy to make it to the top today!  Shortly after the climb to Hindustan we met Mike again with fixed spoke and Mike and Paul chose to return to Martinsville to complete a “longish” ride for Mike.  Stan, Bob, and I chose to return to Bloomington and I am happy to say we had an uneventful end to our 70 mile HAIL M&M ride!

Jim Schroeder reports on his informal group’s assault on Mount Mitchell in North Carolina last weekend:

This was our second annual trip to the Asheville, North Carolina area.  A few newbies joined the crowd and we ended up with 8 people with 7 riders for this ride.  We started arriving Friday afternoon at the KOA a few miles east of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and 4 of us rode 33 miles on the parkway to limber up those dormant legs form the trip.  The predominant talk among us was not if it was going to rain, but when was it going to rain.  Friday’s ride was surgically planned between the forecasted rain cells on the radar.  After riding a couple  more exploratory miles Dave (Tanner) and I got slightly drenched in the last 1/2 mile, while Paul (Mowery) and Nancy (Lichtensteiger) arrived a bit earlier and dry!

Saturday was no better.  But, when would the rain hit?  Our first stop was early at Black Mountain where Klaus’ friends own a very hospitable bed and breakfast.  Due to a scenic route diversion or in other words, Jim ( Schroeder) got four of the party lost and missed out on the city plantation showing.  The two groups converged at the end of Old Highway 70, but quite recently the abandoned 70 has become a serene and scenic bike path through a very thick new grown forest.  Dave was enthralled at this new find.

The path turned back into Old 70 all the way to Old Fort amidst a few historic markers, train trestles, and old train stations.  The South seems to take pride of their history a bit more than the Midwest; and it’s not just Civil War!  This town was rather quaint but had quite a lot of factories.  We later found out it was the home of Ethan Allen Furniture, quite a Carolinian industry.

Well, it had to happen and the liquid stuff started dripping off and on.  The route turned gravel, a Jimmy standard, so we backtracked back to the busy US-70.  This first chapter was mostly rolling where all of us got used to each one’s riding style and speed.

The second chapter was our approach to the Blue Ridge Parkway on SR-80.  The rain had stopped as Dave and Jim stopped and gazed at a foot and a half turtle hitchin’ on the side of the road.  This new-felt mugginess reminded me of southern Indiana in the summer as we passed a rather large lake complete with dam and waterfall from the spring rains.  We all stopped at a camp store for a snack before the switchbacked climbs up.  The first section of those was just a prelude and got us complacent with our abilities.  Alas, the last four miles were steep and the switchbacks kept on piling on us.  There were markings on the road every half mile as this was the route of The Assault on Mt Mitchell that starts in Spartanburg, SC.  In fact the race this year was the following Monday.  There was also a photographer taking pictures and had a website peddling his Pix.  Klaus’ are much better!

We’re finally on the Parkway and all seven of us are strung all over western Carolina.  A few stopped to reconsider while Paul got mixed up and went north on the Parkway for a few extra miles.  Jim didn’t stop and kept plugging away on the worst chapter (3) of the ride: up to the 5 mile long entrance to Mt Mitchell.  We always forget about this long agonizing stretch before it really gets agonizing!  Sylvia came upon us one by one as she was driving the Subaru to be our “crew gal” supplying us with needed amounts of encouragement.  Meanwhile, Jim was shocked as “wrong way” Paul blew by me as if I was standing still!

The winds they started a-blowin’ as we’re climbing up to 5500 ft.  Jim had to stop at the entrance and compose himself searching for some gumption to get up to the highest point east of the Mississippi.  The first two miles were known to be the toughest and that they were.  But, the the winds picked up, then a little of hail and rain to make it memorable.  Dave was up there already taking in the museum and all.  As Jim was traversing down, Glenn  and Tammy Berger were teaming it up to the top.

Jim dried himself out at the restaurant restroom and was greeted by some long awaited sunshine.  Klaus and he headed back down to the entrance for the last climb to Craggy Gardens as the sun was tossed aside by this rain cloud that we actually were riding through.  The rain and cloud was so thick nothing was seen by us while we were hoping the cars would still see us!  This was one time it was better to be climbing as our work kept us warm.

As soon as we reached Craggy we knew the ride was in the bag as it was 18 miles down to Asheville.  However, the rain was still pounding on us while we were chattering through tunnels and waves of water on the roads.  The rain started to dissipate as our altitude fell, as we even saw from above sections of sun baking up the distant hills.

We all completed this heart wrenching ride of 95 miles with 9600 feet of climbing putting this one into the “epic file” of our bicycle memories.

Great ride, Jim! Thanks for organizing it!

This was one of our leaderless rides.  Friends gathered at 10 am at Bryan Park and got caught up on the latest news and events. One father-son pair was spotted (Dave Elkins and son Addison). Touring Director Mike Finger got the group organized.

One trick was dealing with the Vernal Pike/Woodyard situation. The official route calls for turning onto Woodyard after crossing 37. But that’s no longer an option. We did what has become standard and went as far as we could on Vernal and then switched over to Woodyard.

The next question was whether we could actually make the last 2-3 miles into Gosport before heading back. That area is often subject to flooding when the White River is high. But we had no problems.

From there we stayed on the standard route zigging and zagging south and westward, coming pretty close to McCormick’s Creek State Park.

Eventually we were coming back toward town on Vernal Pike. The plan then was to take Old Vernal down to Loesch and go north on Loesch until we got to Woodyard. Then it was retracing our steps Woodyard to Vernal and across 37.

Our small group of 5 or so opted to use the B-Line trail instead of going through downtown. One takes the B-Line to First St. (using a side street for the last block). Then you take First all the way to Woodlawn. It was easy to do and relatively pleasant compared to fighting traffic through town. I recommend it.

By the end the ride came to about 48 miles. The club map classifies the ride as “difficult”. There was indeed a lot of climbing.

But one shouldn’t forget the scenery. I think we can safely say that this was IRIS DAY. There were many iris beds and clumps in many different colors in full bloom. I find this interesting because 30 years ago I know that our irises were in full bloom at the end of May, not the middle!

A few of us were a little worried about the increasing likelihood of rain as the day wore on. But not to worry. We encountered no rain or threat of rain. And, indeed, as I write this Saturday evening, we still haven’t seen any rain.

It is with sadness that we report the death of club member and fellow cyclist Betsy Sabga this week, of an illness. 


Betsy was a local doctor with many outside interests. Besides medical volunteer work she sang in a chorus, played drums in a rock band (Don’t Call Me Betty), and challenged herself with endurance sports including triathlons and more. Her obituary appeared today in the Bloomington Herald-Times and is also accessible at The Funeral Chapel.


Club members can relate to this photo of Betsy with a big smile on her face after finishing RAIN a few years back.

We offer our condolences and heartfelt sympathy to Betsy’s husband and biking companion Dan Melamed.

Thursday night saw another typical OWLS group of about 20 riders do a helium balloon-on-a-string route, called the Lawson Loop, by leader Tom Reynolds.

Tom led the group north through the neighborhoods, through town, out through Cascades Park, and eventually to Bottom Road (yes, it is clear and dry).

We climbed Simpson Chapel up to our regrouping point at Lawson.

At that point our group was slightly fractured. One person had decided to head back to town. Another had a flat and had to catch up. When we headed back toward town a small group split off to come back via Old 37 instead of Bottom Road.

We did about 24 miles (depending on where one started and stopped) in about 2 hours, including regrouping stops. All together it was a beautiful evening for a ride.