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.