The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Bike Ride

Fifty or so intrepid riders of all sorts showed up for the third annual City of Bloomington Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad bike ride. This ride is designed for people who want to try to bike in any kind of whether and especially just need a little group encouragement. For the first time the weather lived up to expectations. Past years were more spring-like and hardly a test of ones winter riding skills. But this year we had about 3 inches of snow over night and temperatures in the 20s. Yes! Positively balmy after some our single-digit and lower temperatures.

There was a wide range of bikes and riders and a group bigger than any BBC club ride.

Here's the ride as I recorded.

We started and ended at City Hall at the upper left corner of the map. We headed south on the B-Line, west on 4th Street to Indiana, then through the IU campus on 7th Street, going by the north side of the IU Auditorium, which used to be a through street and now only permits pedestrians and bicyclists to pass. We then did the big loop to the right, altogether about 7.5 miles. (The other part to the left is my route to and from home to the start, about 3 miles each way.)

One goal was to highlight various bike paths in addition to the B-Line and the path by the Auditorium. From 7th Street we headed south on Rose through neighborhoods to Maxwell Lane. We took Maxwell Lane east to its deadened, where there is a small pedestrian path through to Nota Drive. We crossed Moores Pike at the Renwick Roundabout, and then rode west through neighborhoods (going by my house!). We did the Olive Street crossing into the Boulders area, which is quite familiar to BBCers, but took the little bike path through to Adams and Jordan. From there we went down Third Street using some of the new bike lane laid out there. Unfortunately, parts of it, especially where they installed protecting curbs, were pretty gummed up with snow. From there it was Indiana to Kirkwood and a short bit of the B-Line back to City Hall.

Although I have commuted in all kinds of weather, including very cold days, I was a little concerned about the fresh snow. Indeed on the ride to the start I had to go through a few places, including the B-Line that were snow covered. Also the "secret" bike paths were snow covered. Most of the streets had a certain amount of snow and slush. In the end I would say that I gained some confidence in my ability to ride through snow. I still would avoid any serious ice.

The BBC was well-represented on this ride, including several club officers. Here's a snapshot Mike Conway took as we rode along on 7th Street east of Jordan. The rider closest to the camera is club president Jim Schroeder.

Everyone had a good time exploring bike routes in Bloomington. I hope we continue to do this ride in coming years. At last it lived up to its name!

The BBC and Social Media

How does and how should the club communicate among itself and how does and how should the club present itself to the public? Our club is still experimenting with several different approaches.

Of course we have our club web site at bloomingtonbicycleclub.org, one of the best bike club web sites anywhere. There is lots of information about the club, how to join the club, descriptions of the main activities, links to a variety of maps, and so on.

Every club member (who wishes to be) is added to our email distribution list (bloomingtonbicycleclub@googlegroups.com). In principle any member can send a message to the whole club. But it's generally best to use the list for "official" things. Just keep in mind that you are sending email to all members of the club. Note: any such email must come from an email account in the group.

Meanwhile we have for the last few years had a club blog, which effectively replaced our electronic newsletter. Old-timers will know that the latter replaced our old printed and snail-mailed newsletter back about 2000. The blog is accessible to anyone via the club web site or a google search. It is moderated and postings and comments are welcome but must be approved before they are posted. Contributions may be emailed to blogger@bloomingtonbicycleclub.org. The blog is somewhat irregular and static. We hope to have reports of meetings, longer or special ride reports, reports of representative activities, discussions of issues (such as the present essay), etc. Often nonmembers of the club use the blog as a way of getting a sense of "what really goes on".

More recently, just a few months ago, the club set up a Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/bloomingtonbicycleclub/. The contents of the Facebook Group are viewable only by members of the group. To be a member of the group you must be a member of the club AND have a Facebook account AND request joining the group on FB. This allows any member to directly post links, photos, short reports, etc., and comments. This provides a lot of fun and immediate feedback to those who participate. The number of club members who have joined the FB group is now over 80. (We have over 200 club members.) But not everyone wants to have a FB account. Some view it as a frivolous waste of time and others as a potential invasion of privacy. 

It's clear that we need both. In the future I hope to occasionally take interesting bits from FB and adapt them to blog as well.

Not everyone agrees that the FB group should be so private. But for now the board's consensus is to view it as a vehicle for communication among ourselves, as opposed to a method of advertising the club to the public.

In technical jargon, a Facebook Page (as opposed to a Facebook Group) would be the proper instrument for advertising and building a following among the FB public. If we had such a page we would control its content, while letting anyone "like" the page.

After some discussion at a recent board meeting about these issues, Warren Smith set up a new BBC Twitter account as well. It should be able to provide yet another vehicle for immediate communication. Anyone with a Twitter account can follow us @bbcbikeclub! Now it remains to see what the club actually uses it for.

The subject of social media is something of a "brave new world". Only time will tell what combination of approaches will serve the club and its members best.

A Paragon of a Ride to Paragon

Saturday's club Ride to Paragon attracted the largest group of riders anyone can remember for a club ride, at least for the last 15 years or so. We had a total of 50 riders!

The weather was great (just look at that blue sky) and a lot of riders must have been itching for a really good day to get out for a good ride.

With a group that large we got pretty well spread out. But we all gathered up at the convenience store/gas station on Highway 67 in Paragon.

At this point a contingent negotiated a long option, that went further north before looping back to Martinsville and then to home, with Tammy Berger as leader. Meanwhile the majority headed back toward Bloomington along the planned route.

Thanks to Bob DeGroff for serving as leader, and to Warren Smith and Eugene Kase for the photos. The map is what I recorded on my GPS.