Blog Post

M and M, Saturday, August 8

There was a plethora of riding opportunities this Saturday. The scheduled club ride was “Dr. T’s Funky 50”. Meanwhile a group was doing the Madison Double Century, riding to Madison on Saturday and back home on Sunday. There was also a charity ride, the Mother Hubbard Ride, that some club members planned to do. So many rides….so little time.

To complicate matters, some OWLS decided among themselves to do the M and M Ride up north, on the grounds that we had just been down south the week before and also didn’t much want to ride on the still fresh chip and seal on 446.

Eight of us opted for M and M. Riders on the other options are encouraged to submit ride reports for the blog.

First regroup at the entrance to the Morgan Monroe State Forest.

(Click to enlarge.)

The first half of the ride was uneventful as we made our way in the cool of the morning up to our usual stop at the Shell Station in Martinsville.

Out of Martinsville we headed into the prevailing south/southwest wind in our traditional pace line while the road was flat.

At about the half way point of this sixty mile ride a dog suddenly darted out from across the road and CE ran over it and went down hard. Some folks came by in a car and helped when we at first thought we’d need an ambulance. But CE soon perked up and after cleaning up a bit was amazingly able to ride on, with only a skinned elbow, a bent derailleur and bunged up shifter.

Ron had been right behind CE and hit CE’s bike, but did not go down. Maybe that’s how CE’s derailleur got bent. In any case Ron realized his wheel was way out of true and pulled out a spoke tool to work on it.

[Added 8/15/09: Ron subsequently explained better what happened. He wrote, “I was not behind him but rather even with him on his right side. When CE hit the dog I surged ahead of him. This was a combination of CE slowing down and me accelerating to get out of the way. After CE hit the dog he fell or turned to his right clipping my back wheel.]

Three ponies came over to learn wheel truing technique from Ron:


(Click to enlarge.)

The rest of the ride was mostly uneventful, although the afternoon was warming up considerably. When he got back to the park CE headed straight to a local bike shop to get necessary repairs done. I imagine he was pretty sore the next day.

There was little that could have been done by us to prevent this accident. According to the people who stopped to help, it was well known in the area that this dog was allowed to wander free. The owners did not present themselves. Altogether two things are certainly clear, though: You can’t be too careful around dogs. And it pays to ride in a group in case something does happen.s

Northern Exposure. Thursday, August 6

Tom Reynolds led this ride, which he calls “Simpson Chapel Ride”.

Here’s Tom getting us organized, complete with custom maps, before we set out.

(Click to enlarge.)

Tom led us out north through town to Bottom Rd, where we flew along the bottom lands. We then climbed Simpson Chapel, where we regrouped shortly before getting to Sample Rd. Then we went across on Sample Rd, toward town on Old 37, up Fire House Hill, for our last regrouping. We then headed down to Griffey Lake and up Headley and home through town.

We had 18 riders on a nice summer evening. Shelley broke a derailleur cable on the way out and wisely decided to head back toward town before climbing Simpson Chapel. Reports are that she did need to walk on the way back up the hill from Bottom Rd. CE accompanied her back home. (By Saturday’s ride she had apparently gotten a full tune up, with new cables, as well as a new chain and cassette to boot.)

Here are some of the group at the rest and water stop on Firehouse Hill.

(Click to enlarge.)

Overall we had a ride of about 28 miles, with several good hill climbs: Club House Dr (or should we call it Monastery Hill?) in Cascades, Simpson Chapel, Firehouse Hill, and Hinkle Rd up from Griffey Lake. As usual on the way back into town the group split up into twos and threes as people headed home.

Oh We of Little Faith, Tuesday, August 4

After a stormy afternoon with heavy rains and high winds in the area, five intrepid riders showed up for the Tuesday OWLS ride. Interestingly enough, those who showed up were all people who had been unable to ride this last weekend with the club and were itchy for a ride, come hell or even, more likely, high water.
After some discussion of opting for a shorter ride they eventually decided to do the scheduled basic out and back ride to Muscatuck, which comes in at over 28 miles or so, from the usual OWLS starting place. Rains were predicted with probability of 50% by 7 pm, but it now looks like they lucked out and got the whole ride in before the rains came. Yours truly just showed up on my hybrid to take a picture of the brave souls before they set out. No way I could keep up on my hybrid anyway. Hope to see a bigger group on Thursday.

Dan, Klaus, Greg, Leader Shelley, and Kathy, Bravehearts All

Annual Pool Party, Sunday, August 2

Club members and their families enjoyed a nice evening at Bryan Park Pool. The turnout seemed a little lower than usual, with many people out of town. We hoped to see more of those completing Rudy’s Double Century, but just talked to a few who only did the morning half.
Club VP Tom Whitehead was selling our club jerseys and several people got them. If you’d like one, just contact Tom by email at . As a special bonus, surplus 2009 RAIN t-shirts were offered for free to any club member at the party.
Linda shows her new club jersey.

Mark displays his new club jersey, while Bob looks on.

Most people just talked and ate. But most kids swam and even a few adults.
Proof that at least one club member swam a lap.


I still can’t understand why more people don’t take advantage of the opportunity to fly down the water slide a few times. When else does a grownup get such a chance? And with no wait in line to boot.
There was lots of Avers pizza. A number of people took some home. And we even gave pizza to the lifeguards when the end of the evening came.

Larry Limestone Tour, August 1

By Allan Edmonds
It was an almost unbelievably perfect summer day and a perfect ride.
Jerry Arveson developed this new “drive and ride” route for a 56 mile loop starting at Heltonville, encompassing new territory on the south side and encompassing parts of Hoosier Hills rides on the north side. He included a 42 mile short option, cutting off a good part of the upper left loop heading back to Heltonville.
Larry Limestone Route Map

There were three riding groups taking part. A group of 8 or so “hammerheads” who opted to ride in the 22 miles or thereabouts from Bloomington, turning this touring ride into a century. A group of 6 or 8 OWLS types drove to the meeting place at the old elementary school on State Road 58. There was also a good female contingent, including one on her first Saturday club ride. Of course the dividing line between these groups wasn’t entirely fixed. Altogether around 20 riders took part.
As Jerry reported, he adapted this route from a local fund raising ride he discovered on the web. He scouted it out carefully and prepared good maps for everyone. He made sure no one missed a turn at the two or three places he thought someone might go wrong.
Jerry planned three refueling stops. We stopped briefly in Leesville. Each group stopped at a little store old-fashioned shop in Buddha for quick refueling. Most took a second stop at a service station at the intersection of State Road 446 and US 50, requiring a 1 mile out and back on a slightly busy highway. (And those Hammerheads refueled again in Heltonville before heading for home.)
Stop in Buddha

I can’t speak for the other groups, but the OWLS had a great day. It was a good distance and the weather was a treat. And it was fun to explore some new territory. And it was nice to sit comfortably in a car for the half hour drive back to Btown.
P.S. Whoever named that stretch along the southern edge of the route the Devil’s Backbone knew what he was doing!
P.S.S. Mike Conway took the photo above and some more, which you can view at

Triple Creek Tuesday, July 28

By Allan Edmonds


Brad and Beth Schroeder led a good ride following the BBC Triple Creek map, suitably modified to leave from the standard OWLS starting place at Sherwood Oaks Church parking lot. Beth had a flat at home and changed it, only catching up later, so Brad got the group organized on his own.

Here’s a group picture taken at the church on Brummett’s Creek Road. Click for a larger version.

Tom Whitehead and I opted to bypass the last couple of hills by coming in on 46. Very nice new pavement. Not much shoulder. But the road is wide enough that cars didn’t seem to come too close as they whizzed by. We did have to climb. But it was longer and steadier….not to mention a somewhat longer distance.

Here’s the basic route we took, proceeding clockwise around the loop.

For more photos go to album

West Side Nice N Easy, Sunday, July 26

by Allan Edmonds
Club members enjoyed a pleasant afternoon biking Ron Brown’s West Side route on Sunday, July 26. Usually by this time of the summer it is too hot for me on a Sunday afternoon. But it was really quite nice.
Ten of us gathered in the shade on the grass at the south side of the Bryan Park Pool Parking Lot. After some chit-chat, we had Ron go over the planned route, so everyone new the plan.
We headed out Vernal and Woodyard to Loesch, then around Cook Incorporated and Ivy Tech. We went by the Airport, then stopped off at Karst Farm for a bit. Then it was by the Fairgrounds, which was a bit congested due to the County Fair, followed by That Road.
We finished up taking Clear Creek Trail and then neighborhood byways to get back to Bryan Park on Grimes Lane.
We covered slightly more than 24 miles in a little under 3 hours total, including slightly over 2 hours of riding, at a rate of 11.9 mph.
One rider dropped out on the way out of town, finding that he wasn’t keeping up. Another, Tammy and her 3 year old on their tandem, got picked up at Karst Farm by husband Glenn. There’s definitely a limit to how long a 3 year old can last on a bike.
Here’s a shot of our rest stop at Karst Farm.
For more pictures check out
http://picasaweb.google.com/allan.edmonds/WestSideNiceNEasy#
Here’s the basic route map. Note the cute little figure eight on the left!

Dam Ride, Tuesday, July 21

By Greg Simmons


Close to 30 riders did a 27 mile, mostly out-and-back ride to the Salt Creek Dam at the foot of Monroe Lake. The OWLS rides have been consistently drawing 15-20+ riders every week with varying levels of riding speed levels (much like the Saturday Club rides).


This date was 2 days after the R.A.I.N. Ride and several cyclists needed a “recovery” ride . I know I did!


The weather was perfect at around 70 degrees and was overcast but with no rain in sight. It was my first time on Ramp Creek since it had been repaved and it was very nice.


Thanks to Chris Tietz for leading the way up front while Terry and I rode sweep.


I will be leading another ride in a couple weeks that will be around 30 miles out to Bottom Road and back, so I hope we’ll have another big turnout for that ride.


Photos from the ride, by Allan and Greg. (Click the image for a larger version.)


Greg distributes maps:

Tom models his new RAIN jersey:
Gathering at 5:45
Regroup after climbing Ramp Creek hill:
Turn around at the dam:
Final regroup at the Smithville PO