Close to 30 riders set out shortly after 8 am on this favorite Nashville 90 ride. Bob DeGroff got the group organized and we were off. The weather report called for probably rain in the afternoon, but it looked pretty safe through about 1 pm. This was our first official test of the state’s chip and seal program, which started around Pine Grove on 446 and continued southward for ever. I can report that it makes for quite a bone-jarring ride. Often the best riding was to be found on or just to the right of the white line on a narrow shoulder that hadn’t been hit with rock and oil. But where the shoulder was wider it too had been chip-and-sealed and was rough as usual and carried a fair amount of debris. It was predictable that there would be several flats. But there were “only” two along 446 between the causeway and Highway 58.
There was a major reconnoitering at Highway 58. The lead group had already headed toward Freetown. One OWLS group was waiting to collect 90 riders. A third, smaller, OWLS group of seven headed west on 58, refueling in Heltonville and then working our way through back roads over to Judah, following the club map for Dr. T’s Funky 50. At Judah it was just beginning to rain lightly. We hung out for a short while at the BP station at the intersection of Old and New 37 for a bit. Then we decided to ride on in on Old 37. Pretty soon the very light rain stopped and we had an uneventful ride back to the park, for a round trip of about 52 miles. Our route as recorded by GPS is displayed.
The OWLS group also completed the Nashville 90 in good fashion and even provided some good pictures of familiar sites along the route.. For Shelley and Mike, it was their first-ever 90 mile ride… Mike also reports that “We got drenched with a heavy rain from Helmsburg to Needmore, but it took our minds off how much our legs hurt.” Mike passed along familiar looking photos of Freetown grocery, the Story Inn, and a richly deserved stop at Bruster’s on the way back into town.
Keith Vogelsang provided an additional update from the ride:
Mac and I managed to keep up with OWLS group to Freetown. Once there,
we learned a parade was soon going to commence. Dave Tanner decided to
stick around and watch. For tandem teams, ascending hills can be really
slow, and we fell behind the OWLS once we encountered the hills on the
way to Story. It was in Story that we first started to feel rain–not
enough to drench the road, but enough to spot our glasses.
We didn’t see the OWLS again until Nashville, where Mac and I had
stopped to get a pizza, and the OWLS had already finished their lunch
and were now on the road to Helmsburg. Upon leaving our pizza lunch
stop, the rain began in earnest–along with thunder–and we started
making plans to seek cover. We rode the six miles to Helmsburg and
sought cover inside the Figtree Gallery & Coffee Shop. The proprietors
were very kind to us and offered us towels to dry off. We were their
only customers, and waited out the rain drinking coffee (me) and hot
chocolate (Mac). It was my first time inside the Figtree–perhaps the
most interesting and eclectic coffee shop I’ve ever seen. Dave Tanner
spotted our tandem as he was riding by, and stopped in to tell us about
the parade in Freetown. As it turns out, local congressman Baron Hill
participated.
Shortly after leaving Helmsburg, the rain started up again, but we
just kept going at our very slow pace and finally encountered dry
roads. While our feet were still dripping wet, our bike was completely
dry by the time we returned to Bloomington. The storm didn’t appear to
be as productive in eastern Monroe county as it was in Brown county. We
had a great ride, and feel much better prepared for next weekend’s RAIN.
Any other updates from other groups on the ride are still welcome.
For a day in mid July it was remarkably cool. Anyone from that group is welcome to send an update to blogger@bloomingtonbicycleclub.blogspot.com for adding to this report.
