Blog Post
Breaking Away Ride
By Jim Schroeder
Bloomington will again be on the Race Across America route in 2009, hosting RAAM Time Station Number 38. Over 300 participants in various categories will be converging on Bloomington between Tuesday June 23 and Saturday June 27. There will also be more than 500 crew members searching for services, food, drink, rest, gadgets, trinkets, and just some good ol’ Hoosier hospitality! At least 20 countries throughout the world will be represented, and categories include men and women from solo to 8 man team.
Bloomington, by the way, is the largest city that the route goes through, and we purposely have our time station in front of CVS and O’Malia’s, on College Mall Road, so that every service is available to the RAAM teams.
Our aim is to operate this tent 24/7 or whenever there are riders coming through. We are there to provide information and proper assistance when needed. Hopefully, we’ll have two tailgate tents, a tent for sleeping, race tally board, wi-fi laptop, refreshments, and some rowdy RAAM fans.
Please e-mail Jim Schroeder at jimmyschweb@gmail.com and let him know when you can help run the station. This is a good way to pay back the sport that keeps you healthy in more ways than one. Plus, have some fun and learn some things along the way.
Everyone can follow the race at www.raceacrossamerica.org.
OWLS finish May in good style
By Allan Edmonds
Tuesday 15 or so riders did “Long Russell” under the able leadership of Shelley Bradfield and Kathy Cummins. Out 46 to sail down and along Kerr Creek, up Mr. Gilead to 45, loop around Russell Road, with a last reconnoiter at Unversity School. Check the map. (Opens in new window.) One of the great things about having two leaders is that one can lead at the front while the other one watches at the rear for anyone struggling or having mechanical problems.
On Thursday some 17 OWLS did a familiar ride backwards, counterclockwise to Harrodsburg. Down Victor, Old 37, under 37, Strain Ridge toward home. See the map. (Opens in new window.) CE Taylor did his usual excellent job planning route, getting us organized, and shepherding the whole group along the road. We had a couple of new riders, which is usual for us. I think they were both a bit surprised at how fast we ended up going. But they did fine.
As might be expected some OWLS are getting faster as the season progresses. About half of us sailed along in a pace line once we got onto Old 37. There was a constant threat of rain, but not much more than that.
Some OWLS apparently thought they needed more than simple pedal power. (Click for larger image.)
Gathering for our last regroup for everyone at Ketcham Run Around. (Click for larger image.)
Finally on Saturday OWLS were part of the large group at Bryan Park for the regular club ride heading to Nashville, not the Hilly Hundred route because of the poor condition of Lanham Ridge. Rather we headed all the way out to Bean Blossom up and over Bear Wallow Hill and into Nashville. There were at least three groups, one breaking out to do a century ride led by Jim Schroeder. Another group did the main route pretty quickly, leaving promptly from the first meeting spot at Bean Blossom store. Finally a smaller group of 7 or 8 continued with the planned route and five of us even had a leisurely lunch in Nashville at the pizza shop on the route, as recommended by leader Mark Napier. In addition to Mark our lunch group included Joe Anderson, Ron Brown, Dan Fowler, and Allan Edmonds.
At Bryan Park before we left, Joe noticed that his left crank arm was loose after a bottom bracket replacement earlier in the week. Fortunately Mark had the necessary extra large Allen wrench in his multi-tool. Unfortunately it didn’t have enough of a handle to get enough leverage on it to permanently solve the problem. But three re-tightenings was enough to finish the trip successfuly. Joe headed straight to the bike shop as we got back to town about 2 pm.
Although the weather report called for afternoon rain, the weather was actually excellent. Our slowest group averaged about 15.0 mph for the entire 55 mile route.
Forest Ride
By Allan Edmonds
It was a first-rate end to a first-rate week. Some 38 riders gathered for the scheduled club ride at 9 am at Bryan Park. Well, actually, only about 17 or so were planning to do the scheduled route. The others were split between doing the longer M and M ride of about 60 miles and an alternative of about the same length that went west from Martinsville.
We wound our way through the rebuilding work on the road through Cascades Park. Cars can’t get through. But bikes could make without even dismounting. Apparently the tree that came down during a big storm this spring severely damaged the retaining wall and underneath support for the road. There is no end in sight for the work.
All three groups gathered at the entrance to the Morgan-Monroe State Forest at about mile 14, before splitting up. I was able to get a couple of pictures that I had to stitch together in order to see everyone. I count 36 heads in the picture, plus a couple that didn’t get into it. Can you spot the seam? Click on the photos to see larger versions!
Pretty soon Joe Anderson led out the group doing the Forest ride and we left the others to their own devices. We headed down to the Lookout Tower, where we took a group picture that was able to capture everyone in a single frame.
From there we descended Bean Blossom Hill down to Anderson, then on to Old 37, and back the way we came. Three of our group split off to climb Boltinghouse Hill. (These are OWLS? Don’t they know what W means?)
By and by we got back to the park close to noon. Somewhat unusual for us, we had a good-sized group finishing together. (The slowest of us averaged about 14.5mph.) So we took one more picture to document the 10 plus photographer who came in together.
Just a few minutes later two of the three who did Boltinghouse Hill arrived as well.
The weather was great. The record-sized group fantastic. Let’s keep it up.
Just pure luck.
Just pure luck.
Just pure luck.
Just pure luck.
Very cool camera work, CE! Keith V.
Very cool camera work, CE!
Keith V.
A Week with the OWLS
May 19 and 21, 2009
By Allan Edmonds
Shelley Bradfield was on tap to lead our Tuesday ride down 446 to Shawnee Bluffs and back. We have been working with the idea of trying to make the Tuesday ride a little shorter and have a little less climbing, with the intention of making the Tuesday ride the best place for a new person to get his or her feet (pedals?) wet. Also we have a couple of OWLS who like to ride tandems with a kid on the back, and some of our longer or steeper routes make it difficult for them to keep up with the extra load. Shelley, being extra responsible, decided to take a run down 446 on Monday just to check things out. That’s when she discovered the Chip and Seal operation in full swing. CE and I exchanged messages by email and we put out a notice that we were changing our Tuesday route. After that all hell broke loose on the BBC listserv over the Chip and Seal work. I hope our club can get together with IBC and CIBA and keep the pressure on the state over this.
In any case about a dozen of us had a very pleasant 23 mile ride on what we are calling our Short Airport ride, following a loop along the south side of the Monroe County Airport. Here’s a little map of the route.
As usual with these evening rides, the trip out of town is more unpleasant with all the “rush hour” traffic. But by 7 pm or so things have settled down quite nices.
For Thursday CE Taylor planned and led a longer and hillier ride that we call the Shuffle Creek Ride, with three serious climbs: Out on (1) Mt. Gilead, then a long, smooth, down hill on Shuffle Creek to Lake Lemon, up (2) South Shore Drive, and then back the way we went out on (3) Mt. Gilead.
We had a real good turn out of 20 riders.
Greg Alexander was along on his recumbent and did quite well on the hills.
On the way back along Tunnel Road, CE pulled out his cell phone and took an amazing picture of our group, holding the phone/camera backwards over his shoulder. Don’t you agree?
The only negative was when Brad Schroeder got a pinch flat when he hit a crater-sized hole on Tunnel. I was right behind him and if he hadn’t hit it, I surely would have. Most of our group was already on its way toward home, but several of us stopped while his tube was replaced. Tom Whitehead in particular lent a helping hand and we were soon on our way again.
Dave Lawler and I had fun pushing the pace on the last stretch of 45 back into town. We got a little bit ahead, but by the time we got to Third Street everyone had caught up again. At Third Street three of our group were almost taken out by a car that decided at the last second to make a quick right turn. You cannot afford to let down your guard for second, even when the ride is almost over.
Grate News for Bicyclists in Bloomington
By Keith Vogelsang
Several emails sent out to the club this past week highlighted the work being done to correct a long-standing and dangerous road condition. Club members new and old may not be aware of the work that has taken place behind the scenes by Ron Brown and former Advocacy Chair Bill Hayden, so I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge their hard work and provide a bit of history behind the effort.
A few years ago, Bill Hayden and Ron Brown thought it would be a good idea to map the location of all the dangerous storm water inlet grates around Bloomington and beyond. Ron’s effort is posted on the BBC website (http://bloomingtonbicycleclub.org/grates/index.html), and he provides regular updates as new hazards are discovered and old hazards are corrected. Here’s a picture of one version of a dangerous grate along Clarizz Boulevard that we expect will be corrected soon:
Ron has persevered in bringing the issue to the attention of any public official who will listen, and his efforts are now paying off, as indicated by recent email messages shared with the BBC list. The City of Bloomington Utilities Department has started replacing dangerous grates. Riders may have noticed upgraded “cycle-safe” storm water inlets along Kinser Pike and one replacement has been made along Clarizz Boulevard near Bloomingfoods. Here’s a picture of the new cycle-safe grate along Clarizz:
According to City Council Member Tim Mayer, the use of cycle-safe grates is now a matter of city policy anytime new construction is approved or road repairs are undertaken. The number of city officials who have responded to Ron’s activism and helped move this issue forward is impressive. These include Mayor Mark Kruzan, Council members Susan Sandberg, Tim Mayer, and Andy Ruff—my thanks to all of them. Special thanks to Utilities Engineers Jane Fleig and Mike Bengtson, and of course, Ron Brown and Bill Hayden, for helping to improve Bloomington’s bicycle infrastructure.