Bryan Park to Spring Mill

By John Bassett

The touring ride on Saturday, October 5, from Bryan Park to Spring Mill, was an original creation by Nathan Rogers.  It was designed as a multiple distance event to appeal to riders of various abilities and was a complement to last month’s Spring Mill to the Ohio River ride.

So, here is our situation / response question for the day:

Situation:
• It is late in the riding season and your legs are a little weary
• You are at Bryan Park at the Saturday ride start time, and it is raining
• It is forecast to rain off and on all day
• Your ride choices are 43, 54 and 94 miles
• You need to clean the house

What do you do?

Response:
• Plan on cleaning the house on Sunday
• Go Long

I captured Saturday on the Garmin GPS as shown on this map and profile.

We left Bryan Park as a group of a dozen or so promptly at 10:00.  We proceeded down 446 in a steady, light drizzle.  Our first regroup was at SR 446 and Chapel Hill Road about Mile 19 on the map.  At the Guthrie Road turnoff, about half the group, including Craig, Laraine, Dr. T, and Klaus, followed Clair’s lead and turned west making their ride into the Hoosier Hills 60K – and a wet one at that.  Four other feeble-minded riders (L to R below: Dana, Nathan, Catherine, and Jim) and myself headed on south to Bartlettsville Road bound for Spring Mill State Park.  Catherine, an Indianapolis native, was in Nashville on a holiday and had decided to join the BBC ride.  She turned out to be a sub-eight-hour RAIN rider and was a great addition to the group.

We followed a pretty standard route south along Bartlettesville Road, past Bedford North Lawrence High School, then west along US 50 to Tunnelton Road, before veering back south on the Buddha Bypass.  There is a lot of new pavement along Buddah Bypass extending all the way down across the East Fork White River Bridge to Spring Mill State Park.  We took the secret bicycle entrance into Spring Mill, and pedaled through the park to bypass a piece of SR 60.  Exiting the park onto SR 60 we followed Grissom Road west into Mitchell.  Light rain continued.

I had searched the Subway Restaurant web pages and identified a store in downtown Mitchell for lunch.  Unfortunately, after peddling around the block, we realized it had closed, or moved, or whatever.  This left us a bit of a pickle.  Catherine noted a convenience store down the street that turned out to have a small sit-down café, so we decided to try that.  I had an excellent homemade sandwich; the ladies opted for some hot waffles and coffee.  Dana was a bit dismayed when her plate was cleared away before she got to lick up the remaining syrup.

Once you are south of the East Fork White River, it is important that your route back north directs you back to a bridge.  Nathan’s solution on this trip was to use the Stumphole Bridge located west of SR37.  This involved biking north from Mitchell on Meridian Road, west on Yockey Road, north on Old 37, then west along Art Gallery Road to New SR 37.  Crossing SR 37 on Blue Spring Caverns Road we pedaled west across seemingly endless sinkhole rollers.  A couple of turns later we crossed Stumphole Bridge at map Mile 63.  I had last done this on a bicycle maybe 30 years ago when it was an old iron bridge.

Crossing the bridge we tuned north and picked up a nice tailwind up to SR 450.  SR 450 was more familiar territory being on the southward leg of the Williams Covered Bridge Ride.  A short time later we were back in Bedford and made a quick refuel stop at the Countrymark on 16th Street about Mile 70.  By now the pavement was dry, and the radar indicated the remaining rain in the area was headed to the north.  This was good news.

Nathan’s way home followed a new route north from Bedford.  We headed out east on SR 58 and tuned north on GM Drive past the Powertrain Plant.  This would also have been the return route for the 54 mile route.  We followed Broomsage, Mt. Pleasant, and Judah-Logan Roads northward.  About Mile 80 I was back in familiar territory again at the base of the long hill up to Judah.  A last brief rest stop at the BP at Judah and we headed back north on Old 37 to Bloomington.

This was a fun ride as the five long riders managed to stay together the entire day.  The Garmin measured 94.7 miles, with over 6,000 feet of climbing.  Nathan led his first BBC ride and did an admirable job with the new route.  Jim, a Terre Haute resident and now BBC member, finished his tenth consecutive Saturday club ride.  Dana showed her usual prowess for distance rides, and we might even have picked up a new club member in Catherine – overall, a great day – even with the rain.
Time for a little house cleaning - after I get the bike cleaned up.