2010 A Year-End Retrospective

From: Keith Vogelsang, BBC President

In the spirit of year end retrospectives, I thought I would take a moment to summarize what our organization has accomplished in 2010. I’m grateful to the Board of Directors and to all the club members who have stepped up and contributed to an active and thriving club. We should all be very proud, as I’ve received numerous compliments throughout the year from other athletic clubs, out of town visitors, ride participants, elected officials, and grant recipients on the great work we do as a nonprofit.

To begin, we completed an ambitious touring schedule under the direction of Mike Finger. This schedule saw the growth of several regular riding groups, including our Tuesday/Thursday Training Rides, the OWLS, the SlowSpokes, Wednesday Night Women’s Ride, the Sunday Nice ‘N Easy, in addition to our regular Saturday schedule. We had more cyclists riding in more rides than at any time in our club’s history—a truly exciting development to be a part of. And our major invitational ride and primary fund raiser, the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN), under the direction of Joe Anderson, saw its most successful year ever with over 1500 registered participants from around the country. We hope interest continues to build for all these riding groups, as word gets out and our club continues to attract new members of all skill levels. My thanks to Mike and all the ride leaders who consistently step up, know the routes, and make sure we roll on time.

Our new website went live this year thanks to the design efforts of Klaus Rothe and the programming efforts of Ron Brown. I attribute the growth in interest of our club largely to our new online “look” as it is attractive and the content stays fresh. New links continue to be added and we’re hoping to make more improvements in the coming year. Mark Napier’s online registration tool has also been an important factor in promoting membership, as it makes joining quick, safe, and convenient. Mark’s data then goes to Membership Director Tammy Berger, who efficiently processes our nearly 300 members. The Bloomington area has thousands of bicyclists, and it would be great if we could continue to build our organization. As our numbers increase, so does our influence in terms of advocacy for needed infrastructure. As more of us ride, we can better demonstrate safe and courteous riding habits to new riders and motorists alike. I’m grateful Tammy is up to the job.

Our Advocacy programs have never been better under the direction of Ron Brown, as he continues to monitor the activities of various governmental agencies and lobby for the rights of bicyclists. Ron recently met with the Monroe County Highway Director Bill Williams and Williams agreed to put Ron’s idea for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge across SR 37 near Menards into the county’s long-range plans. We feel this was a major accomplishment and it is my hope that the BBC can be a major player in improving the bicycling infrastructure in and around Bloomington. These kinds of improvements will help all of us, regardless of whether we ride for simple exercise, recreation, transportation (or some combination of all three). Other local officials have also expressed interest in Ron’s vision. I’d also like to thank Jean Smith of Bikesmiths for representing the BBC on INDOT’s Citizens Advisory Council for I-69. Jean organized two advocacy rides and urged members to weigh in on proposed road closures due to freeway construction in southwestern Monroe County. The BBC Board passed a resolution back in October requesting accommodations for bicyclists at proposed closures so that we can continue to have access to the rural areas that make cycling enjoyable.

We are also fortunate that Safety and Education Director Chris Tietz was selected to serve on the City of Bloomington’s Platinum Task Force, which is a group charged with coming up with recommendations for how Bloomington can win a Platinum designation from the League of American Bicyclists. Bloomington graduated from Bronze to Silver this past year. The BBC was instrumental in that effort, and we will continue to be an important corporate partner in the city’s efforts to become Gold or Platinum. In addition to the BBC Board and the city’s Platinum Task Force, Chris has also recently been elected to the board of Bicycle Indiana, the statewide advocacy group that our club belongs to.

As many of you know, we’ve seen some important organizational changes to the BBC this past year. Back in May, the Board decided that the interests of the club were best served by severing the historic relationship between the BBC and TRIRI by the end of 2010. The split into two separate entities has now been completed. We became aware of some important legal considerations throughout this process that nonprofits need to be particularly sensitive to, and as a result, the Board has implemented a Conflict of Interest Policy that should offer additional protection to the entire organization. We’ve updated our insurance policy to include Directors and Officers Liability, in addition to our general umbrella policy that every organization of our size needs. We secured a business line of credit to improve accounting safeguards, while at the same time simplifying our finances and club expenditures. The Board created a cash reserve account and also a large grants program that will allow our club to target projects for funding that we think would make significant improvements to local bicycling infrastructure. We hope to see lots of member input when the time comes to identify and fund these future projects.

The RAIN Committee has also re-organized, and is now being chaired by Vice-President Mark Villanova. Our 2011 Ride Across Indiana will mark the 25^th anniversary of this signature event. The new RAIN Committee consists of Mark Villanova, Klaus Rothe, Beth Plale, Jennifer Miers, Jim Schroeder, John Connell and myself. We’ve made great progress towards next year’s event scheduled for July 16th, with a fabulous jersey already designed, a new lunch vendor (Holy Smoke Hog Roast), and we anticipate registration opening up very soon. The success of this event will depend on lots of BBC members stepping up to volunteer and/or ride. Please contact us at rain@rainride.org to volunteer.

In 2011, we’ll continue to pick up roadside trash, set new strength records, ride farther and faster than we ever thought possible, fund bicycling initiatives and generally have a great time. Happy New Year, everyone!

What Happened? My Hilly Crash

By BBC Member Tim Gehres

It’s been four weeks since the operation and a few days prior to that when the crash occurred. Yesterday, the Doc pronounced his blessing and declared it safe for me to hit the road once again. At 59 and a competent rider, the nagging question was how “could this have happened”. After three years of trying to get in the Hilly Hundred, I was so excited to finally get a chance to take on the Hilly only to crash just a mile or so past the Lunch stop on Saturday. I had rested over an hour at lunch and hadn’t really pushed it the first half of the day, so I felt great. But what could have been the cause? The crash happened so fast that I don’t ever remember it at all. The first thing that I remember afterwards is someone asking me some stupid questions about what day it was. All I wanted to know was “how’s my bike. Pain? What pain? On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 9, but never mind that, how’s my bike?

After returning to the scene of the accident this last weekend, I discovered the cause, or at least the contributing factor as so many accident investigators would say. It was in the form of a pothole patch, somewhat camouflaged, about a foot in length across the road, four inches wide and 2 inches high at the bottom of a shallow down grade. Now imagine rocketing along at a mere 20 mph on a road bike with one hand on the handlebars while trying to figure out where you are at on the GPS, never mind that there are at least 20 bikers around you, and suddenly your front wheel, a 700X23 with 100psi in it hits this little “Hill” in the road. Wheel stops, weight goes forward, handle bar suddenly jerks very sharply sideways and launches the poor hapless rider into space. $20,000 later for a new metal bone brace with which to annoy the TSA agents at airports, I am happy to say that my collar bone is mending quite nicely and that it felt really great to be back on the bike today. But the real question is how is it that out of 5,000 riders, I’m the only one that hit that stupid bump?

All Good Things Come to an End

Final Nice and Easy Ride

Ron Brown led the final Nice and Easy ride of this season on Halloween.  The group took the Clear Creek Trail to Victor Pike, around Crop Circle and on to Tramway and back for a total of 21 miles.  The sunny sky and beautiful fall leaves compensated for the mid-50's temperature.  The goblins were active and provided two tricks in the form of flats to compensate for the treat of a final Nice and Easy ride.  Thanks to Ron for another summer of enjoyable rides at a relaxed pace with lots of opportunity for socializing.


- From an Appreciative Rider

End of Season Ride Around Bloomington

This Saturday marks the official end of the BBC summer riding season with leader Jim Schroeder's slightly modified version of the club's Ride Around Bloomington. Here's a link to an online GPS map of the route. The elevation profile shows a total climb of 2788 feet. Hope to see a good turnout for the last ride of the season.
-Allan Edmonds

I-69 Crossings

By Allan Edmonds

Jean Smith, BBC member, club representative to the I-69 planning groups, and owner of Bikesmith's led a group of 18 cyclists on an exploration along roads near the currently planned "new terrain" segment of the proposed I-69. This part of I-69 starts from a planned interchange, where it begins heading southwest from Bloomington, leaving the present Highway 37 corridor where That Road crosses 37.

Jean explained the route to the group before we set off.

Our route started from the Clear Creek Trail parking area off of That Road and at the far extreme got into some relatively unfamiliar territory, on Burch and Evans Roads.

Below is a segment of the I-69 route map. The big blue stars are interchanges. The green dots are planned overpasses. These include Tramway, Lodge, Rockport. The purple dots indicate where current roads cross the route and are tentatively planned to be closed. These include Bolin, Harmony, Evan Ln, and Burch Rd. Jean thinks it likely that Harmony will become an overpass anyway, based on recent public comments about closing off Harmony.

A bigger version of this map and more information about this segment of I-69 is available at I-69 Tier 2 Studies. At this site you can enter public comments. Note that the current deadline for comments is coming up very soon on October 28.

Hilly Review

ByAllan Edmonds

The Hilly Hundred for 2010 is over. I know lots of BBC members took part. For some it was a long family tradition; for others it was a new family event; for some it was the culmination of a year of training; for others it was another ride on familiar but crowded roads. The weather was unbelievable...well, really too hot, don't you think?

In the rest of this post I'll share comments I received from club members in response to my request for personal stories, plus a few observations of my own.

The first to respond was SW who somewhat gruffly complained that Day 1 was 57 miles, not 50, and that the total for the weekend was going to go well over 100.  "If they're going to call it the Hilly Hundred, then it should be exactly 100 miles!"

DH, who didn't ride, participated vicariously.  He was one who loaned a bike to JA who was having something like 20 family members coming to town for the event, honoring her late father who had ridden it many times. He wrote to say how moved he was by their story.

TB rode along with her husband who road a tandem with their 5 year old on back. She wrote:

"It really was fun to experience this ride from a 5 year old's perspective.  She was happy and smiling seemingly regardless of what was going on.  She loved the music at the stops and we spent lots of time just watching her enjoy the time off the bike. She was in a 5 year old heaven at stop 3 on day 1 when there was a slide and swing set to play on!  

"For both days the only real complaints we heard from her were about 30 miles in on Day 2, the road was a bit rough, she was tired, and she was beginning to hurt.  We convinced her to go the long route so we could stop at rest stop 3 in Stinesville. When we got to the stop we laid down under the sycamore tree, listened to the music, and watched the hawks circling high overhead.  After a good LONG stop we finished with Jessica smiling and happy once more.  She has been proudly wearing her Hilly cap the rest of the day.

"It really was a great weekend!  I would not have changed a thing."

At Tuesday's OWLS ride we had a small group of just seven coming out for our ever shorter rides. I was amused that five of the seven had done the Hilly. All 5 had those neat helmet mirrors that one can only easily get at the Hilly and three were wearing identical souvenir socks.

For pictures and more personal commentary from another Indiana rider, see the blog by Helen Steussy.

By Allan Edmonds

I went out for a 20 mile ride this morning by myself. I just did a version of the club's Fluck Mill Ride. We're getting to the point where there's not quite enough sunlight to do a route like this on the OWLS rides in the evening. The weather was beautiful as everyone who is doing the Hilly Hundred know well.

I'm more and more using the new multi-use train in the "Goat Farm", running from the roundabout at High and Winslow/Rogers to Sherwood Oaks Park. It makes for a good route for getting in an out of town.

I stopped and took a quick snapshot of the fall foliage down on Victor Pike, near Fluck Mill.

There was very little traffic and absolutely no other bicyclists (I wonder why!). Well, actually on the way home in Sherwood Oaks I saw a dad out with his young son on a small bike and then I saw a granddad on the new trail teaching a grandson to ride without training wheels.

Tour de RAIN

About 20 riders braved a questionable weather forecast and cool temperatures around 50 degrees to take

part in the club's annual Tour de Boat Ramps, led per tradition by Joe Walker.

Note the club's fanciest jersey and the Tortuga booties.

This ride does the standard basic route around Lake Monroe but builds in the prospect of going down, and back up, all the boat ramps along the route. There are ten altogether and it is each rider's decision how many to do. The basic route is 44 miles roundtrip from Bryan Park, and doing all ten ramps raises the mileage to 78 miles. Naturally this led to many small groups of riders.

I decided early on only to do one ramp. So I picked the flattest one, namely Cutright, just south of the Causeway. Here's GPS proof:

Cutright actually was fairly deserted, with a few cars and no boats in sight.

Shortly after our turn off on Chapel Road it started to sprinkle. Too late to go back. So we kept plugging along.  Gradually the rain increased, but never got beyond light rain. It was only toward the end that hands and feet got really wet and cold.

It was actually a pretty good ride. But I doubt that very many riders did very many ramps this year.

Bridge Out! So What!

We had another large group of OWLS riders Tuesday night. After a couple of weeks or so of grumbling about the bridge (re)construction blocking a favorite route on Mt. Gilead, today Tom R. led us on an out-and-back on Kerr Creek and Getty's Creek Roads up to the bridge project.

No one tried to get across the wide chasm! Altogether it was a beautiful evening to be out and a fine 18 mile ride, with plenty of light to spare in the end.

Hot Fall Rides

Tom Reynolds continues his extraordinary work developing and mapping new rides for the Tu-Th OWLS group. He was really pushing us with longer rides. But even Tom has accepted that diminishing daylight has cut the time we can be out. The "long" options for this week's rides have been right at 20 miles. The plan now is to drop scheduled evening rides at the end of September, I think. But check the club ride calendar just in case. And if you are interested, maybe there will still be people for short rides in October.

Tuesday we went out 446 to Pine Grove and down to the lake. Quite possibly this was our last trip down that way to the lake.

After climbing back to 446, most of us headed back into town via Swartz Ridge and climbing Stipp. Almost always we go down Stipp. We should always do it that way once in the season. Some climb!

BikeMI

That's Bike-MILANO, not Bike-Michigan!

Milan is one of several European cities that have recently instituted a bike sharing program.  One first "joins" at a rate of 2.5 euros a day, 6 euros a week, or 36 euros for a year.  (A euro is approximately $1.30.) One then has a name and PIN to punch into a machine at any of 100 bike stations, mostly around the center of the city.

You can take a bike at no further charge as long as you return it to one of the stations within 30 minutes. These stations are automated with a computerized docking system. You punch in a code and it assigns you a bike and gives you a few moments to remove it from the dock. When you return a bike, it registers that you've turned it in. a After another 10 minutes you are then able to take out another bike. If you don't get to a station within the allotted 30 minutes, then your credit card gets a small charge, which quickly escalates. After several hours it becomes 150 euro fine, and if this happens more than once you can be dropped from the system.

Ordinarily if there are no vacant locking docks available you get directed to the nearest station with open slots and are allotted an extra 15 minutes.

The photo shows the bike stand at the Cardano Metro Station at evening rush hour.  As one can see there, the rule about having to dock your bike is honored in the breach at peak times. (Typical Italian, I suppose. It's hard to imagine this scene in Germany.) Indeed the van in the background is pulling a trailer to be loaded with the excess bikes to be distributed elsewhere. When I was there early the next morning all the randomly parked bikes were gone and only the nice neat row of docked bikes, plus 3 or 4 empty slots, was in evidence.

As you can also see from the picture, these are heavy duty bikes with little baskets, adjustable seats, and front and rear lights. They are clearly identifiable on the streets.

On my recent trip to Milan I had every intention of purchasing a one-week pass.  In the end I bailed, however. First of all one needed a texting cell phone to receive the log-in name when signing up online. But I wasn't using a cell phone in Italy. Perhaps I could have gotten around this if I had found a place to register in person. But having a smart phone is somewhat important as it can show you the nearest stations and where bikes are available and where parking slots are available. Also, although I was staying at a hotel in the city center, the conference I was attending was taking place 9 km, about a 45 minute metro/tram commute, into the "suburbs", well beyond the locations of the bike stations. And with all the commuting, etc., we didn't really have much free time.

Despite all of this I was still aiming to give it a try. But then I got a first hand look at traffric in Milan and gave up the idea. Cars, mostly small ones, everywhere. Small trucks. Many motorcycles. Lots of bikes. All performing a complicated "dance", weaving in and out, squeezing through tight spaces, parking on the sidewalk. It all seemed to work. But I just wasn't up for it. As expected, also, I saw very few (but did see some) helmets.

Ah well. It was fun to consider even if I was too chicken to give it a try.

Flat Tires... eventually you will have one

By CE Taylor  

This isn't about how to fix them but how to tell if you have one.  This may sound like a no-brainer but the last flat tire I had caught me by surprise and taught me a hard lesson.  

I can't tell you how many times I have looked down at my rear tire while I was riding and swore it was flat because it felt like I was riding through sticky syrup.  Usually it was just me but a few times I could see my tire bulging out each side of the rim more than usual and I knew it was going flat.  One time I heard the tire making an unusual noise as it wrinkled around the rim it was so flat.  I would guess that most club members could share their flat back tire experiences and they would be something like this.

My last flat tire was different.   It was my front tire.  Maybe I was having a good day since it was only 3 miles into the ride, but I never felt that sticky or soft road feeling that a rear flat tires gives you.  What I did have but didn't realize why at the time was a slight wobble in the front wheel.  It only happened two or three times in three miles.  It was so slight and only lasted a couple of seconds each time that I ignored it thinking it was a rough spot in the road.  That turned out to be a big mistake.  A short time later, as I turned my bike left, the front tire rolled and/or slid to the right and I went straight down to the pavement.  I later discovered a thorn in my tire which had caused it to go very soft.  It wasn't flat yet but very soft.  It was soft enough to reduce the tire's ability to grip the road when cornering.  It was a learning experience I wouldn't recommend.  

I don't claim to be an expert on flat tires.  I can only share what I have experienced.  Your experience may be different.  I have learned that rear flats will usually make it harder to pedal.  Front flats are more dangerous because they will cause a loss of steering and handling ability, possibly resulting in an accident.

I am sharing my recent experience with the hope that other riders can learn from my mistake and avoid having an accident.

Don't have any mechanical failures this week!

I broke a spoke last night just as I got home from the OWLS ride. I should be grateful that it didn't happen earlier. This morning first thing I took the (rear) wheel to a local bike shop to get it repaired. I first was told that it would take a week to get to it, that this is the very busiest time of the year, with IU classes starting in a few days. As if to emphasize the point several people were already wandering in looking for things and needing help. Eventually it turned out that there was a cancellation and that they might be able to get it done by end of the day on Thursday. I appreciated that small bit of luck. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but not holding my breath.

P.S. Clicking on the title of this post takes you to the BBC homepage where you can check out what's new. And don't forget to look at more that just the homepage. You or your friends might be in a photo!

Daylight gets shorter; OWLS ride longer

This month Tom Reynolds has been organizing the OWLS rides. He's taken a hint from Jim Schroeder and planned long and short routes, e.g., tonight's Limestone Tours of lengths 34 and 25 miles respectively. Check out the links in the Ride Calendar to the maps he's been creating.

Tonight we had our usual 20 or so riders, with half or more doing the long option. Daylight is sufficiently short that the long option requires holding stops to an absolute minimum. Hope they don't have any flat tires or other delays! Tonight we were also overtaken around the split between the long and short options by the training group coming from Bryan Park.

We also had a special treat as club web master and photographer Klaus Rothe showed up to take pictures before we started.

Gathering at Sherwood Oaks Church Parking Lot

Then he went out on the route by car in order to set up a few more shots.

Click on the title to tonight's blog to go see another photo on the club web site. (And by the way, do yourself a favor and check out the club web pages every few days to see what new things Klaus has posted. You'll enjoy it!)

BBC on WFHB

By Jodi Pope-Pfingston

I was contacted recently by WFHB's Michael Glab with a request to do a series of interviews about cycling, the BBC, and the SlowSpokes ride. The series will be a part of the station's new concept for a sports program which will highlight some of the many sports that are important to the unique flavor of our community, but which get little mainstream media attention. According to Mike, cycling was an obvious choice for the new program, and the BBC was the best place to start. After taking a look at the ride calendar and the website, he decided that the SlowSpokes ride would make a great first interview, so he contacted me. The interview was recorded Sunday morning, and will be available soon on the air as well as on the WFHB website.

I was very happy to get a chance to spread the word about the BBC and what a great contribution it makes to our community. It will be interesting to see the future direction WFHB takes in its coverage of cycling and the BBC.

Summer BBQ at the Lion's Den

by Keith Vogelsang

Nearly 60 hungry members and friends of the Bloomington Bicycle Club gathered at the Lion's Den shelter of Upper Cascades Park this past Sunday for a cookout. I arrived early to get fires started in the two large grills. But getting hardwood charcoal to heat up took longer than anticipated, and fortunately, Glenn Berger stepped in to assist with his pyrotechnical expertise. After a while, with kids and adults fanning the coals in earnest, we had enough heat to cook the first of many batches of teriyaki chicken kabobs, burgers, and bratwurst. We had three kinds of brats on hand: pork, chicken, and "buffalo" (which was most likely American bison meat, not truly a buffalo). There appear to be few limits on what can be stuffed inside a casing, and even fewer on what I will eat. We also saw great enthusiasm for marinated portobella mushrooms,  garden burgers, and veggie kabobs.

Also on a the menu: a delicious variety of pitch-in items, including lots of fresh fruit, potato salad, bean salad, chips, cookies, and from Jim Schroeder, Amish country pie. The 20 or so miles I rode earlier in the day weren't nearly enough to offset this feast, but I suppose every little bit helps.

I took a moment after eating to explain some of the changes the BBC can expect with RAIN and what our long-term plans are for the funds raised through RAIN. I had sign-up sheets on hand, and several club members stepped up to serve on some of the different RAIN subcommittees, and we hope more members join us in the months ahead. My thanks to Kim, Klaus, Ron, Glenn, Tammy and everyone who joined us for a relaxing evening off the bike.

(Mood-capturing photo by Klaus Rothe.)

Shelley Says Goodbye

Shelley Bradfield celebrated her last day in Bloomington with a 35 mile OWLS ride on Thursday through Harrodsburg and points south and west.

Shelley at a regrouping stop at the Smithville Post Office

Shelley has been a mainstay of the OWLS the last couple of years.  Now she leaves us, fresh Ph.D. in hand, for a new job in Colorado. We wish her all the best!

Apple's Idea of a Smart Bike

It was revealed a few days ago that Apple has applied for a patent for a "smart bike system" based on the iPod Touch or the iPhone. Read about their idea of a smart bike at
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/08/apple-introduces-us-to-the-smart-bike.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tidbits_main+%28TidBITS%3A+Mac+News+for+the+Rest+of+Us%29

Evolution

                                     o           __o        
             °\___o      /0~         -\<,        
___oo~_______ /\ /\______/ \_________O/ O_________

Thoughts on the Classic Cyclist

By Jim Schroeder


After RAIN 2010, I've questioned myself as to just what kind of cyclist am I.  Well, I just got done reading a great article in Hammer Nutrition's Endurance News magazine.  It's titled "The Classic Cyclist, Part One", and is written by Chris Kostman.  Chris has ridden in races like RAAM, Iditabike, and 24 Hours of Canaan, and has organized endurance races including Badwater Ultramarathon and Furnace Creek 508.

I wasn't a "classic cyclist" during RAIN 2010 and paid the price.  I was all the time before July 17 and will be in the future.

Here are some great excerpts:

"Road cyclists entering the sport over the past fifteen or so years have tended to come in by way of mountain biking, triathlon, running, or fitness, rather than pure road cycling.  As a result, most of these "cyclists" lack the knowledge which makes up the foundation of the classic cyclists' repertoire and which builds upon the backbone of the sport."

"The best way to start a ride, or conduct any aerobic activity, is to warm up properly...A classic cyclist will take the first ten to twenty miles of a ride, or even a race, to warm up properly, usually staying off the big chainring and two smallest cogs. As a result, he or she will actually ride better and more quickly than the current jackrabbit style of cyclist who catapult onto every training ride or event."

"Most cyclists nowadays not only don't know how to ride in a paceline, but that they don't even understand why they should...Work together, and when it's not your turn up front, covet that rear wheel of your buddy!  In the moment, you may think 'it's too hard to keep up at this speed,' but the classic cyclist knows that riding solo instead of with another means more work and less speed."

"This effort to keep the group together is specifically continued at checkpoints during events; those who arrive together, shall leave together."

"The classic cyclist accepts suffering as in intricate part of the experience.  He or she certainly doesn't whine in person..."

"The classic cyclist shares a bond with all fellow cyclists.  As such, other cyclists are always acknowledged along the road, usually with a tip of the head to riders in the opposing direction, or a cheery hello when passing or being passed.  Classic cyclists never ride hi-lessly, wavelessly, and nodlessly by... All on bicycles are appreciated and respected."

A RAIN DNFer's Lament

By Jim Schroeder


I DNF'd this year's Ride Across INdiana.  I did everything that I've always coached others not to.  As Mike Finger told me, "Jim, you pulled a Mike!".  That, I did.  Basically, from my past rides in all of 2010, my head was just too big for my britches.

I started RAIN way too fast not warming up the first 20 miles like I always did.

I blew up those hills east of Terre Haute blasting by all those flatlanders, forgetting that physiologically I'm still a flatlander and always will be. I was forming trains, meaning that everyone jumped on behind me while I was doing all the work.  That really boosted my ego, but it depleted my energy stores.

I jumped way ahead of the Centurion pack after the first food stop, as I had my own sag driver and quickly exchanged bottles, while the other guys rested a little more as all six of them had Miss Melanie as their sag driver.  Being 20 minutes ahead at one point again stroked my ego, but at what a cost too my legs!

Between Putnamville and Plainfield, I was pushing to catch the bogies ahead of me and I would even catch some pacelines, too.  I should have continued to ride comfortably in a paceline and sharing the work.  Catching the bogies should be reserved for the last 40 miles when there usually aren't that many pacelines to ride with.

I was sweating like a sieve but I was hydrating enough and downing plenty of electrolyte capsules.  However, I wasn't taking in enough cliff blocks and hammer gels.  Why?  I guess it would slow me down getting it out of my rear pockets?

I didn't communicate well enough with my sag driver and we couldn't hook up after Plainfield until Camby.  I also should have actually stopped at the lunch area for at least 5-10 minutes to "compose".  I was still treating this as a race, and felt good that I passed the boys just a mile after they passed me.

So, while I was on my way to a sub-8hr, the quads started cramping.  I tried everything to cure that but to no avail.  Then each one would seize up, and then both quads simultaneously.  There went my attempt for a PR.

I could have finished but there would be no pushing the gears and the last 50 miles would have to be no more than 15mph, and so I quit.

I've done countless numbers of RAIN in so many different ways and I never want to repeat 2010!

Local RAIN Article in IDS

RAIN article in Indiana Daily Student at http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=76222

and 10 pictures in an IDS gallery at  http://www.idsnews.com/news/multimedia/media.aspx?id=194&type=PG

Inspiring Commitment and Dedication

I'm not a blogger normally, but just have to share that I have been watching Fr. Rick Ginther, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church and St. Patrick Parish in Terre Haute, Indiana as he trained and prepared for the 2010 RAIN ride.  His committment and dedication to accomplish this goal is nothing short of inspiring.  Fr. Rick has an exhausting schedule with serving two parishes and the St. Patrick school, and yet he made personal time to train by himself and with others to grasp this opportunity to be a part of such a huge event.  I'm honored to call him my boss, my friend, and an inspiration to all around him!

From Jeanne Blackford, Parish Secretary, St. Margaret Mary Church

A rider's RAIN Report

By CE Taylor


Ken and I arrived for the start of the ride at 6:35 a.m. We were in line for the start by 6:50 a.m.  According to my GPS it was 5:50 a.m. because we were standing in the Central time zone.  We were at the back of the starting group, sort of.  We had ridden past lots of people still unloading their bikes on our way to the start.  The ride started on time but it was at least two more minutes before we could start pedaling.  The hills on the way to the first rest stop were not too bad.  We slowed down on the hills to save energy.  We rode and rode and rode.   It is always a relief to reach the first rest stop.  A quick fill up of water and snacks and we were back on the road.  The Plainfield rest stop is a little over 60 miles from the start.  That means there are less than 100 miles to go.  I mean that in a positive way.

It seemed like it took forever to get to the lunch stop, but it feels like that every year.  We had a really long lunch stop, but it is important to remember it is a ride, not a race.  Our wives had set up chairs under some pine trees waiting for us at the lunch stop.  I can tell you that the combination of a chair, shade and breeze felt really good.  (Note, our wives are the best SAG drivers ever.)  We saw Rob, Eugene and Shane at lunch.  One of them had a mechanical problem earlier in the day, which lost them about an hour.  Later, they zipped past us on the road as did a lot of people.  Remember, it's a ride not a race.

We had our Camelbaks on after lunch.  I drank my 70 oz. of water by the time we got to Casey's General Store 17 miles later.  It is important to stay hydrated.  One year I ran out of water after lunch and I didn't want to do that again.  That is a hot stretch of road that seems to go on forever.  Leaving the hot county roads behind and getting back on hot US 40 is a huge relief.  You have to experience it to understand what I mean.  Turning back on US 40, only a block from Casey's General Store and knowing that your SAG support is there is a huge boost to your spirits. When I get to Casey's, I know I can make it to Richmond.  I don't know why I feel that way, but since it is a straight, almost flat road to Richmond (there are a couple of hills that flat landers complain about) , the next 45 miles seem easier.  Of course you still have to ride them but the end is in sight.  We saw BBC'er Duane at Casey's and he joined us for the remainder of the ride.

We took a break at Dunreith to cool off and rest.  Then, it was back on the bike for the final 29 miles.  Our pace was slower on this section, but we continued towards the finish confident of the outcome.  Turning into Earlham College for the final 50 yards is always a pleasant experience.  Ken led the way to the finish.  People cheered as we came in.  Tom Whitehead was there congratulating finishers.  It was nice to see him at the finish.  Kathy Cummins was helping with recording of the times and rider numbers and it was nice to see her too.  I asked her if she had any thoughts about riding next year.  Her answer was that she had thought seeing the finishers might be motivation for her to do it next year, but seeing all the tired, worn out riders coming in may have had the opposite effect.

My goal was for Ken and me to finish the ride.  We did it in 12 hours and 35 minutes.  That was the exact time I had on my first ride across Indiana in 2006.  We weren't the first finishers or the last ones either.  I am proud of what we accomplished.  For an event like this, I feel that riders learn something about themselves that is more valuable than how long it took them to finish.

I am proud that my club puts on this event.  The event runs smoothly and every rest stop is hosted by friendly workers.  Proof of its popularity is seen by the increase in the number of registrations each year.  The volunteers are to be commended for their commitment to club.

Nashville on the 5th of July

Key Points:

1. Bridge out between Helmsburg and Bean Blossom on Highway 45
2. New Fly-Over route option on MayMyRide.com

Three of us took an impromptu ride to Nashville on our official 4th of July work holiday. The ride was relatively uneventful. We took Lanam Ridge and then Owl Creek to Helmsburg Road into Nashville. Lanam Ridge Road is particularly rough and in bad need of resurfacing. After a brief stop at the Shell Station in Nashville we went went out Greasy Creek and over Bear Wallow to Gatesville Road, which is freshly paved, making up a bit for Lanam Ridge.

At the store in Bean Blossom we discovered that Highway 45 is closed for major bridge work between Bean Blossom and Helmsburg. We talked to some people to plot out a detour via Grandma Barnes Road. But then talking to some more local people we learned that no work was being done today and that we might be able to get through on foot. It was only a mile or two to the work site so we decided to chance it. It looked pretty bad. But we were able to get across on a wobbly gang plank. A couple on a motorcycle going the other direction abandoned any idea of getting across and we recommended Grandma Barnes to them.

Otherwise the ride was uneventful and we made it home in good shape before the day got really hot.

The other point I wanted to make was about the new Fly-Over option. Here's a link to the route we took
Nashville Route via Owl Creek and Bear Wallow If you follow that link, then click on the button "Watch Course Fly-By Video (beta)" you'll be treated to a video of approximately 13 minutes that has the effect of flying a helicopter along the route at 300 feet, say, using Google Satellite imagery. Pretty amazing, even if the photo montage is not exactly current. Naturally this wouldn't be recommended on a slow internet connection.

Up Lentz

Twenty five riders; 27 miles; 3 good hill climbs; 13.5+ mph.

The route in Google Earth. (Click to enlarge.)

Elevation showing climbs up from Griffey, up Lentz, and up Kerr Creek. (Click to enlarge.)

Riders coming off of Boltinghouse Hill. What are those guys doing going the other way? 

(Click to enlarge.)

Ride to Williams Covered Bridge and Beyond

Club member Jim Schroeder's vision of ABC rides for Saturday club rides worked almost to perfection this week for the annual club ride to the Williams Covered Bridge.

The primary route, designed years ago by Joe Anderson, one of the premier route makers in the whole country, is a 70 mile loop through Bedford to Williams, southwest of Bedford, including a 3 or 4 mile out-and-back to the longest wooden covered bridge in Indiana. (Or so Williams folks claim. It is said that Medora also claims that honor for its covered bridge.)

Joe's route, like many of the routes in the club books of maps, includes a shorter option of about 57 miles. Jim calls this the A option. The main loop is the B option.

Jim's addition was a 116 mile C option that extended the ride from the Williams bridge further south all the way to French Lick.

The ride itself was leaderless, as the person who volunteered back in the winter to lead the ride found himself doing the deCycles ride instead. Ride coordinator Mike Finger therefore got our group of 24 riders organized. He brought a few maps, but most people had already printed their own map (if needed) from the club web site.

Some nine riders committed themselves up front to the C option. The largest group were planning to do the B option. A few were planning the shorter A route (even it was 58 miles, for God's sake). And a few more were hedging their bets, hoping to put off the decision as long as possible.

To accomodate the new C route Jim decided to do the A and B routes counterclockwise, instead of their usual clockwise. By itself that made the ride interesting for those of us who had never done it backwards. Jim prepared a new cue sheet for the backwards routes, which was quite helpful.

The group took its first real rest stop at the store in Springville, familiar from the Popcorn Ride. About 6 miles later came Fayetteville, where people had to decide about the A route. At least one group of 3 took that route while the rest headed on toward Williams. That group included Laurence, Andy and Ben. None of the three were very familiar with the route.

Laurence reported for the 57 mile A group that Ben did a great job getting help and directions from residents and drivers and got them back on course after a short detour. She said they made it back to Bryan Park around 1pm.  "The short ride took us across a number of beautiful, scenic areas which we all greatly enjoyed."

We had naturally broken into comfortable riding groups that got somewhat separated along the way.  A couple of dropped chains, and a flat tire leaving the stop at Springville, contributed to the separation.

Another group of 4 missed the turn toward Williams at Fayetteville and added a couple of miles on their own before finding the rest of the group.

All of the B/C riders eventually gathered at the store in Williams for food and drink.  Pretty soon the main C Centurions, super century riders, headed out toward the bridge and beyond. Meanwhile another smaller group of B riders left for Bedford and Bloomington without visiting the bridge. That left 8 more of us who were doing the B route at a relatively moderate pace. All but one of us then did the out-and-back to the bridge, where we observed Joe Anderson's Dan Henry for the just completed 2010 TRIRI "Warning-Walk bike or bend rim". We all successfully rode our bikes through, however, and stopped for a photo-op.

Our group of 8 OWLish riders then continued on our way with stops just outside of Bedford and the BP at Judah. One rider decided to take a longer break there. The rest of us set out for home on Old 37. It was hot, in the lower 90s as expected, and the last couple of hours weren't nearly as much fun as the morning part of the ride. Our group got back about 2pm, having covered a little over 70 miles, averaging something like 14.3 mph on the bike, in a little over 6 hours, confirming my rule of thumb for these rides allowing for about 12 miles an hour, including stops.

Meanwhile Jim reports for the Century group:
The C group were 9 hardy souls as we travelled around the crevices of the boards of the longest active covered bridge in Indiana.  BBC legend, Kevin Hays, led the way through the hilly Hoosier National Forest down to our lunch stop at French Lick where the PGA golf tournament was going on during the weekend.  We headed back north in the rolling prairie of Orange County to Orleans.  The weather turned to what I call "ugly hot" as capitan Kevin led this French foreign legion cycling troop.  The White River had receded so there were no alternate routes needed.  However, somewhere around Buddha and Bedford, Kevin sprinted home as he was pressed for time, Charles vanished (I've confirmed his survival), and the lucky seven struggled home.  A parade in Judah forced a stopover of 20 minutes, and Jim took an extended oasis at the BP.  It's safe to say all of us were pushed to our limits.  Add Aaron Prange, Charles Chancellor, and Kevin Hays to the Centurions of Bloomington Indiana.

Old 37 to Strain Ridge

We had another good evening for biking. The OWLS had 19 riders, including one on his first club ride. Allan Edmonds and Tom Reynolds got the group organized, with Allan getting everyone to introduce themselves, while Tom went over the designated route, which we call Old 37 to Strain Ridge (link to PDF map). Tom recruited John Bassett to serve as sweep, which he did admirably.  Tom planned out our standard regrouping spots on Victor just after crossing 37; Ketcham where we switch onto Old 37; Strain Ridge just after climbing that dam hill; and the PO in Smithville. Allan was just about to send us off right on time, when Kathy Avers announced that she had a flat. As usual several guys moved over to help. It was good that Kathy had her car there and a floor pump. The guys got the tube swapped out and ready to go in just 9 minutes. Pretty good for a bunch of amateurs! Our latest start in two years!

Everyone did a good job of staying together even though this turned out to be one of our faster rides. Somewhat surprisingly all but a couple of riders decided at the Post Office to take Ramp Creek rather than Fairfax back to the church.

We were coming in along the Waterworks route on Handy when Kathy had her second flat of the night! Again several people stopped to help, but for safety's sake it made sense for most of us to continue on toward home.

According to a note posted on the BBC homepage, Google Earth can now import and display data directly from a GPS. So we gave it a try. Here's a screen shot of the evening's ride displayed in Google Earth. Next project is to figure out to link to a "live" version in Google Earth.

Overall this was a bit faster than our typical OWLS ride. I averaged 15.2 mph for the basic 26 mile loop, tempered a bit to 14.3 by the time I added in 4.5 miles round trip between my house and the start. We climbed a bit over 1500 feet total and had a downhill max of just over 35 mph.

OWLS Airport Route

We had another good group out for a really nice evening of bike riding. Again Tom R got the group going. We had 21 bikes and 23 riders (two tandems). This was a route that headed out of town to the northeast, so it was kind of slow going for the first 5 miles. One neat switch was that Tom led us over to the B-line trail. We took First over to Morton and from Morton got on the trail and took it up to 7th Street, with a slight kerfuddle at Kirkwood where street work disrupts trail traffic.

The group stayed pretty well together, going at an overall very moderate pace, up to Karst Farm. At that point the tandems decided to take off ahead of the larger group with the aim of cutting a few miles off the route and getting home earlier for other commitments. Another couple of people decided to make their own way home a shorter way.

At that point the rest of us headed out of Karst Farm taking a right on Airport Road. This is a tricky turn, up hill to a stop sign. There was a fair amount of traffic coming in from 45. Thus all but a handful of us had to stop rather precipitously. Some people behind closed too quickly and there was what appeared to be a minor collision. Some lessons: people toward the front need to more actively CALL OUT "stopping"; people toward the rear need to EXPECT that as the group approaches a STOP sign we will actually stop.

Anyhow, most of us went on ahead, seeing no advantage to having 15 bikes stopping there in the middle of the intersection. It was quite a bit later at a subsequent regrouping point that we realized that we were missing three riders, including the two who had collided. We waited a while and even sent one person back looking from the point where we crossed 45. But we never saw them. At least there were three riders together.

From that point on we gradually lost people who headed home their own ways. At the very end just 4 riders went all the way back to our starting point. We averaged about 13.9 overall and about 12.6 on the first half out to Karst Farm. Our average including stops and regrouping time was about 12.1 mph over about 28 miles.

A True SlowSpokes Ride

By Anndra Morgan

Running late to Bryan Park for the SlowSpokes ride, I gave Jodi a call to let her know.  She informed me that she was not going to make it. No problem, I thought, there has always been someone show up who knows the routes better than I do.

On the way to the park I planned my course of action.  If no one was there I would have my husband drop off my son and me and we will ride home. (I live in Ellettsville and I have yet to ride to Ellettsville from Bryan Park.)  If someone is there, we will ride the loop that takes us past the Speedway and on the Clear Creek Trail.

Well I get there and there is one gentleman waiting who just moved to Bloomington one week ago.  He knows where Wal-Mart and Bryan Park is.  He rides 5 days a week, 4000 miles a year.  Oh Boy, he is not going to be any help with getting through the subdivisions between Winslow and the Speedway!  I explained to him where we were going, let him know that I might get turned around a few times because I wasn’t sure of the route (he was fine with that), assured him that I would get him back to the park and off we went.

Along the way I shared information about the BBC and some of its rides.

All went well until we crossed Winslow.  In the subdivisions between Winslow and Rhorer Rd., we had to turn around several times because I just could not remember all the turns.  We went in a few circles and at one point we ended up back at Winslow a little to the west of where we started.  He assured me that was fine as long as I got him back to the park. (I was positive I could do that, it just might not be a BBC route)  Finally I made it to a familiar road and managed to make to Rhorer Rd.  We crossed Rhorer Rd. and I knew that we needed to go to the right, just didn’t remember when, and headed down a road that ended in a cul-de-sac.  Turn around again.  We finally made it to the Speedway and I was good to go after taking a few minutes to decide to turn right at the stop sign.  We continued on the rest of the route without any more wrong turns and I was able to give our guest a mini tour showing him a little of downtown via the B-Line trail.  I pointed out Bloomingfoods and the location of the Farmers Market and gave him advice on where to park.  We continued up 7th street through campus and stopped at Showalter Fountain. (I had to wake my foot up.)  Finally we headed back to Bryan Park via IU campus through the parking garage and arrived back at Bryan Park at 4pm.

According to his speedometer we had a true SlowSpokes ride of around 18 miles at about a average of 10mph.

Executive Board Meeting

The BBC Board held its regular business meeting Friday evening, June 11, at 5:30 pm, in the public meeting room at Old National Bank at Third and College Mall Road.

Board meetings are announced on the club ride calendar. Members are invited to attend to get a feel for what's involved in running the club. I heartily recommend that club members consider attending a meeting sometime. There's lots of good discussion of bicycling issues.

The main purpose of this note is to convey a sense of what goes on at board meeting, not to substitute for minutes. Ordinarily minutes should be posted to the Members Only part of the web site. Unfortunately a glance there will show that minutes of only one meeting in 2009 were posted there. We can hope that minutes from 2010 will be posted regularly.

By my count the whole board was there, including 4 elected officers and 6 appointed officers. In addition two other club members were present as non-voting guests. There were Keith Vogelsang (pres), Mark Villanova (VP), Kathy Cummins (sec), Joe Anderson (treas), Chris Tietz (Safety and Education), Tammy Berger (membership), Allan Edmonds (blog), Klaus Rothe (web design), Mike Finger (Ride Coordinator), Ron Brown (web master), Mark Napier (guest, RAIN and registrations), Linda McNabb (guest, RAIN).

Keith had sent out the agenda to the officers. Here's what it looked like:

1. Introductions (3 min)

2. Announcements (3 min) 

a) Adopt-a-road clean up scheduled Sunday, June 13 at 1:30. 

b) Race Across America Time Station begins next week, with racers arriving as early as 7PM June 15, and extending through June 19th.

3. Approval of minutes (5 min) 

a) May 7 Board meeting

b) May 8 Special Meeting

4. Reports (20 min) 

a) Treasurer

b) RAIN 

c) Membership 

d) Website 

e) Blog/Newsletter 

f) Touring 

g) Advocacy 

h) Safety

5. Old business (30 min) 

a) BBC credit card

b) Audit committee 

c) Conflict of interest policy 

d) BBC/TRIRI relationship 

e) Safety/Advocacy Article

6. New business (40 min) 

a) Reserve account

b) RAIN registration for 2011 

c) RAIN committee and ride labor 

d) 1099-misc reporting 

e) Membership benefits card/roster for bike shop discounts 

f) Summer Party 

 g) City of Bloomington Bicycle Task Force

7. Adjournment

What follows are just a few notes about some of what went on.

The next meeting will definitely not be until after RAIN.

There was some informal discussion of guerrilla bike light campaign by City and funded in part by a BBC grant. Great publicity for the club in the Friday newspaper.

Minutes will be kept short focussing on all decisions of the board but not trying to record everything said and discussed. But we do need an official record of decisions made.

Half the board in action: Klaus playing on his iPad, Mike and Ron meditating, Keith moving to the next agenda item, Linda (guest for RAIN), Joe studying the accounts, Kathy's laptop, Tammy's purse.

(A little tongue-in-cheek....ok?)

Treasurer's report shows $54,000 balance, the bulk of which is RAIN registrations in hand. $1800 dues so far this year, through March. Biggest expense so far is 50% down payment on RAIN jerseys.

RAIN: 795  rain registrations so far, compared to 576 last year, which was a record. Normally expect to double what we have at June 15, when late fee kicks in. Route changes around Plainfield are required. Finish line is changing backway into Earlham because of construction.

Membership: We now have 260 members after purging non-renewals, a healthy and encouraging number. As Keith says we have the membership to do a better job of staffing more of our volunteer needs for things like ride leaders and especially for providing good support for RAIN.

We want to make the website more useful for members, more interactive, with more news, etc. Expect that we will eventually integrate the blog with it. In the past the web site was perhaps oriented more toward new people and visitors. In the future it will take on an increased role as a resource for members.

One interesting thing was obtaining a club credit card. It has a low credit limit $2500. But the limit should increase in the next 1-2 years to a more useful level. Approved but requirement that authorized users sign an endemnity statement authorizing. Three elected officers will have cards, with different numbers. This will help in handling miscellaneous expenses associated with club activities.

Another new thing: Audit committee Sandi Owen and Jerry Arveson were asked by Keith to serve on an audit committee. They would be mapping out the business processes of the club; review of general ledger and tax returns; random sampling of transactions. They could get started later in the summer, probably August.  They'll provide a report to the board. They would also make a recommendation on how to handle new IRS reporting requirements.

We approved the draft Conflict of Interest policy put together by Chris Tietz.

Chris was given the go-ahead to start work on a safety and education article we will hope to publish in the HT and on our web site.

There was substantial discussion about recruiting and managing volunteer workers for RAIN.

It was agreed to have a summer party in the form of a cook-out or picnic in a city part, but not the pool party we've have had the last several years. Not so many people actually take advantage of the swimming opportunity.

At that point the hour was late and the weather threatening, so we quickly adjourned shortly before 8 pm, leaving a few items for discussion at the next meeting.

I hope these notes capture a little of the flavor of the meeting and encourage interested members to consider dropping in on board meetings. There's a surprising amount of work and decisions that have to be made.

Guerrilla Bike Light Campaign

By Keith Vogelsang


BBC members who attended this year's winter banquet may recall the safety presentation given by Raymond Hess, who works in the city's Planning Department. During that presentation, Raymond discussed his Guerrilla Bike Light Campaign, where police and city personnel would set up at dusk in an unannounced location and wait for scofflaws on bikes to appear from the shadows.

Once caught in the act of riding without proper lighting, these unsuspecting bicyclists would be given not a citation, but a new set of lights. Thanks to a program funded by the BBC, these scofflaws are now more visible on the road.

Raymond tells us the first year of the campaign, the supply of lights moved very quickly once word got out that the lights were being given away. For this year's campaign, I received highly classified intelligence of when and where the guerrilla give-away was going down, and made sure that I was there to witness this innovative safety campaign for myself.

I took pictures, I installed several lights, and offered maintenance, route, and safety suggestions to all who would listen. One guy even invited me to take a ride on his slingshot fixed-gear--what an engineering marvel this bike was!

Michael Malik, a reporter for the Herald-Times, wrote up a story for this year's campaign, viewable at http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2010/06/10/news.qp-6884236.sto (subscription required). BBC grants are supporting numerous innovative bicycle use and safety initiatives, and it was a lot of fun to participate in this one implemented by folks from the Planning Department.

Victor and Harmony

By Allan Edmonds

It was a warm evening and a hilly route southwest of town. We had almost 20 riders show up for this leaderless OWLS ride on Thursday evening. The route went out Victor all the way to the end, turning on  Harmony Road, eventually turning onto Leonard Springs and That Road back into town.

Even though we had no official leader our system actually worked almost perfectly. At 5:45 Tom Reynolds took responsibility and asked if everyone knew where we were going and then we all took off. People are getting the idea that they need to be on time and that they need to check the map shown on the BBC Ride Calendar in advance and make their own copies if they need them. Thanks again to CE Taylor  for developing the maps. (Shelley Bradfield and yours truly helped CE lay out a schedule, and Ron Brown developed an OWLS Ride Maps Page. Check out that cute page if you haven't already done so!)

At some point Tom drafted Patrick Kelly to sweep and Patrick undertook the job beautifully, almost as if they had planned it all out in advance. He called out "car back" numerous times, including once when a car was starting to pass at just the moment a couple of riders started to pull out to pass a slower cyclist ahead of them. He helped one or two riders get their chains back on. And he even pushed Ken Dau-Schmidt up a couple of hills! This is a guy who can ride up steep hills no-handed sitting up straight. He was a perfect sweep: Perhaps the strongest rider in the group, yet able and willing to watch out for everyone.