Clay City Almost a Century, August 22

From Stan Ellis

Bryan Park was flurry of activity at 8 AM with a flea market taking up the parking spaces and bicyclists gathering for briefings of the days ride options. I handed out maps to everyone hoping those interested in the century could get to Spencer as I was not sure who was going. We left Bloomington under cloudy & threatening skies.

We arrived in Spencer for the first stop with 12 cyclists including Bill Struemph, Jerry Arvesen, Mike Finger, John Connell, Steve Emery, Jim Schroeder, Mark Villanova, Joe Anderson, Bob DeGroff, Greg on the recumbent (sorry I can't remember your last name) & Paula Turk (from Elkhart). Paula had ridden her first century only the week before so she was a little apprehensive about this ride. Her options were to press on w/us or return by herself. She chose us. I told her the only thing she had to do is keep Joe in sight as he was the "Map Guru". She commented she was the only female and I told her to act as if she was riding with a bunch of big brothers. Greg said not to worry about him as he knew the roads and would probably take a short cut along the way.

The next section to Clay City has a lot of rollers and a lot of gear shifting. Paula had some problems with the chain a number of times which put her way behind. I don't imagine she has to shift that much in her home area. I told Paula to stay in the big chain ring and I would let her know when we came to the hills then leave it in the small chain ring. Bill dropped back to check on us and the three of us pace lined the remaining 10 miles into Clay City.

We had a short but comfortable lunch at the IGA (short for the slow group) but the fast guys were patient and waited for us.

The next section to Worthington is one of my favorite pace line roads, seventeen miles of flat, curvy road. We left Clay City together except for Steve and he had thoughts of getting home early so he left before the rest of the group. That was great because we now had an excuse to run him down. Jim bridged the gap to Steve and they rode together. We worked our way through our pace line and when Mike's turn came we all jumped on the Mike Finger Express. We caught the break away about 3 miles from Worthington and finished together. Steve wasn't getting rid of us that easy.

I told everyone to stock up on food & drink since I wasn't sure if Solsberry would be open. Part of the group was drinking Red Pop & another part was commenting how could anyone drink that stuff. When we left Worthington it was still cloudy and looking like rain at anytime. Actually all day was like that but we stayed dry. The fast guys were still fast but I settled into a slower pace saving my energy for the hills to come. I told Paula it was time for the small chain ring.

The group got pretty spread out on the long uphill grind to Newark but the fast guys were again waiting patiently? for us. Steve decided to head back through Mcville to save time. I guess he realized he couldn't out ride us so he shortened the route (just kidding). We now had ONLY the "3 Sisters" and Solsberry hill climbs. As we approached Solsberry I told Paula if she could get to Solsberry she would be home free.

The Yoho store was open and the locals were friendly. One older gentleman in particular was interested in our equipment and the bike club. I told him we only had one rule to ride with us and that was you had to wear a helmet. I then proceeded to leave with out mine......what a dummy.

As we rode back on Highway 43 the peloton broke up into groups of 2s & 3s, everyone had a buddy to ride with. I noticed Mark was dropping back form the front group and I thought he was being a nice guy. When I caught up w/him he looked terrible. He said he wasn't sure he could make it so since we were close to Rosie's, Mark and I stopped. If you have to bonk what a better place?

Mark caused quite a stir in the restaurant looking as he did. The waitress brought him cold towels and an ice pack. Everyone in the place was showing concern and one couple even offered Mark a ride home. Nothing like southern Indiana hospitality. I asked Mark if he could eat and eat he did; Apple pie w/ice cream, coffee, lots of water, a double caffeine Power gel, coffee and a Milky Way. I knew if he could eat we could get him back on the road. If you can't eat you might as well call for a ride. As we were leaving one of the customers asked if we knew a guy by the name of "Harley Davidson" since we were on 2 wheeled vehicles.

Since the skies were looking threatening over the Bloomington area I wasn't riding home in the rain by myself so Mark had to ride, no excuses. It must have worked as Mark rode around in the Bryan Park parking lot to get his magic "100 miles".

I want to thank all who joined us and a special thanks to Paula. I had asked her if she had ridden in the Hilly Hundred but she said she was afraid she might not be able to handle it. No problem! Whomever in the club that originally sent the ride notice to Paula please get this to her if you would.

We had a rather diverse group with fast riders and some not quite so fast but I think everyone had a good time. I averaged 16.3 mph, about the middle of the group.

Thanks for listening!