Hendricksville Ride to Rosie's

By Allan Edmonds

It was a cool morning, in the low 40's, and some people were asking why we are leaving on rides so early in the morning so early in the spring. Most--but not all--were wearing jackets and tights. In fact it was pretty nice, though.

Ten of us, including our intrepid leader, Jennifer Miers, did the standard 30 mile loop on the club map, out Vernal Pike to Whitehall, then to Hendricksville, back in on Gardner Road to Kirby to Bunger, etc., by the airport and then in on That Road. The slowest rider (not naming names) averaged 14.2 mph home to home. It was good to see Joe Anderson after a long absence. The Andersons arrived back in town Friday from their winter travels, and he only decided at the very last second to come on the ride.

Altogether it was a pleasant and uneventful ride. Considering that the weather forecast is pretty lousy for the next few days, it was a good time to be out.

Another 10 or so headed out from Rosie's in Hendricksville on a longer option and were never seen again.

OWLS Ride in the Rain

By Allan Edmonds and CE Taylor


OWLS were anxious to get the new riding season going. CE Taylor had mapped out a twenty mile loop starting at our usual gathering place in the parking lot of Sherwood Oaks Church on Rogers Road. The only problem was a weather forecast calling for probable rain. Despite the forecast nine eager riders showed up, including several new to club rides. The best OWLS rides have a mix of experienced riders and newcomers. CE took a quick picture on his cell phone and we were off about 5:50. The last of the nine riders was Dave, who showed up just as we were rolling out, too late for the group photo. Those in the photo are Mary, Manuel, Ken, Kathy, Allan, Shelley, and John.

We were still on Harrell when Dave got a flat. He waved the group on, but Shelley stayed back with him while he changed it.

Meanwhile the rest of us made it to Ramp Creek. (In retrospect we would have been a lot happier skipping Ramp Creek and just head out and back to Waterworks, as you'll see as you read on.) But soon we were sailing down the hill to lake level and then making the long climb back up to Fairfax Road. Allan and Kathy were talking the whole way up the hill and hardly noticed it. We were going pretty slowly, but still it seemed just about the easiest we had ever made that climb.



We all reconnoitered at the church on Fairfax. We were starting to hear thunder, but Shelley was counting seconds "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, ..." and assured us the storm was still nine miles out. Dave and Kathy caught up and we set out east toward Fluck Mill.

We tended to get a bit separated. But CE made a careful point of being sure no one got left behind.

By the time we crossed New 37 the thunder and lightning seemed closer. Naturally we were almost exactly at the farthest point from home. So we opted just to keep going. Soon it started sprinkling, and then turned to light rain. About half of us opted to move more quickly toward home while some held back to be sure everyone made it back safely.

It gradually started raining harder and got darker. The lead group got back to the area of the start by about 7:30, but we all split up to head home our separate ways.

The following group rolled in a little later, all well-soaked. John, who actually lives along the return route on Schacht Rd kindly gave a couple of others who lived further away a ride home, while the rest took whatever short cuts they could think of.

We were all pretty soaked. Fortunately it wasn't too cold. We all made it safe and sound. And we'll all be ready to do this same ride again some day later in the season.

We did learn a few lessons: By 7:30 it felt pretty unsafe out on the roads.

• On evening rides be sure to wear light colored clothing. (A couple of riders were wearing dark jerseys.)


• Remember to carry a flashing taillight. (Only two of us had lights.)

Even later in the summer when sunset is closer to 9 pm than 8 pm, it only takes a minor mechanical problem to delay a ride and leave people riding in fading light as they make their way home.

A Geeky Look at Wind Resistance

By Sam Hill

My friends and I spend a lot of time talking about things like aerobars vs. drops.

If anyone else is interested in the topic, here is some data. The photo, originally from Rolf Garthus's Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point, WI, is a picture of  the same rider in five standard positions: sitting up, hoods, drops, aerobars, and recumbent.  



By imposing a grid on the pictures we estimated the frontal area the rider displays in each position. For example, assuming the rider is 6 feet tall in the upright position, this rider exposes 831 sq inches of frontal area when sitting up, 802 sq inches in the hoods, 763 sq inches on the drops, 607 sq inches on the aerobars, and 575 sq inches on the recumbent.  In lieu of a full spreadsheet we just give a chart that summarizes the relative frontal areas:




Bar 100%

Hoods 96%

Drops 92%

Aero 73%

Recum. 69%





A rider in aerobars would experience 27% less wind resistance to go the same speed as a rider sitting. The difference would be most noticeable at higher speeds.

Aerodynamics is really complicated stuff. They use wind tunnels because the equations are very nasty and still not very accurate. The only way to get real drag and  power output numbers  is to measure effects in a wind tunnel. But frontal area is a simple way to explain why it matters so much.

For anyone interested the actual spreadsheet with all the calculations is available for download at http://bloomingtonbicycleclub.org/private/blog/blogarchives/Rolf.xls

Stolen bike stories, continued

By Dave Abel (BBC member now in Flagstaff, AZ)

In 1996, my 1993 Trek 970 mountain bike was stolen when my apartment in Davis, CA was burglarized. (They didn't touch my commuter, a 1990 Fuji Saratoga touring bike (called "Conestoga" by my friends who had newer bikes)). Everything of value was taken, so the police came by, took fingerprints and serial numbers, and so I had a proper police report in case anything was ever recovered. I couldn't find my receipt for the bike, so I had no record of the Trek serial number.

I was upset by the experience, and I asked around at the many local shops, everyone said they had never heard of anyone ever recovering a stolen bike, and usually added something like: "your bike was probably out of town two hours after it was stolen".

That bike was a very small frame size and had a distinctive rake to the top tube. Even though I knew it was hopeless, I still glanced at every bike rack I passed. In Davis, that is a lot of bike racks. Long after I'd given up any realistic hope of seeing the bike again, about two years later, I was walking along the street on my way to a potluck, actually carrying a pot of food, and across the street and down the block, in the failing light, I looked up and saw an interesting bike with a distinctive rake to the top tube. My understanding girlfriend was used to my taking slight detours to check out promising sightings. With my pot in my hands, I crossed the street to look at yet another bike that wasn't mine. I still remember clearly the moment I recognized my old Trek. It was locked to the rack, and obviously had been sitting there for some time. I ran home, got my lock, and locked it up in case the "owner" returned for it.

I called the police who came to look at the bike with me. The serial number wasn't on the police report, so they couldn't give me the bike. Their procedure was to place a note on the bike and to leave it there for 30 days, and maybe if it weren't claimed by that time, and I found my receipt, they would revisit the problem. It didn't seem hopeful.

I managed to get a friend who owned a shop in Indianapolis to forge me a receipt with the serial number on it, in case it was the only way to get the bike back, but I'm a rule-follower, and never showed it to the police. I just waited for the 30 days to see what would happen. I even considered re-stealing it, but I'm too timid for that. Before the 30 days was up, the indulgent police agreed to meet me at the bike rack, so I could prove the bike was mine. I showed them the custom pannier's I had made, and how the hardware on the panniers had scratched the paint off the rack in just the right places. I can't remember everything I demonstrated that day, but I had a list of what I thought was compelling evidence. Nothing doing. The officer was a rule- follower, too. I had to wait for the 30 days, and then maybe something could be done, but they didn't say I'd get the bike back without a receipt.

When the day arrived, I met an officer at the bike, who turned out to be the same one to whom I'd shown all my proof of ownership. As he got out the electric grinder and a found a place to plug it in, he told me he KNEW it was my bike the first time we'd met, that it was obvious, but he just couldn't give it to me, though it made him feel bad. He told me it was so rare that anyone recovers a bike that he had wished he could have just given it to me on the spot.

File this under "Who cares" if you want, but I enjoyed thinking about this again. Thanks. I still ride the bike every day, it now has an XtraCycle on it, which I use for commuting, shopping, and taking the kids to school. Now it's too old to steal, but I still lock it up.

The Limestone Tour That Wasn't

By Stan Ellis, Ride Coordinator

Saturday, March 28, 2009, started as a grey cold morning, but no rain........until I stepped out the door to get on my bike. I decided to drive to Bryan Park since I didn't want to be the only dummy riding in the rain. But you never know if someone might show up.

We had 10 people standing in the drizzle ready to ride. The only question was should we change the route. I made an excuse that I wasn't too crazy about riding down the hills when the road was wet, so why not do something flatter? (Actually it was my first time on the bike this year and I wasn't sure if I could get up all of the hills on the Limestone Tour Route.)

We decided on the Muscatatuck ride, with many options available depending on the rain intensity. Brett didn't feel well, so he left us at the edge of town; Jen, Carl & Jodie turned around at Muscatatuck for an out-and-back; Mike F, Mark, Greg, Doug, Chris and I rode to Fry, then Buskirk to Dittemore Road. Chris was having shifting problems so he headed back to Bottom Road. The rest of us took Mike F's advice and added on just a few more miles to Chambers Pike, then to B-town on old 37 through Dolan.

The neat thing about riding with the club is you can almost always find some one to ride no matter the weather. I am sure everyone finished soaking wet and with a dirty bike, but we got in 34 miles on the long route. I met some new riders and it felt great getting back on the bike.

Stolen Bikes

By Allan Edmonds

This New York Times blog posting The Bicycle Thieves Among Us, that I accidentally ran into today, brought back thoughts of the time about 35 years ago that I my bike was stolen. I left it weakly locked to a rack hidden from street view and came back in the early evening to get it, and it was gone.

As with any other theft, I felt violated. My biggest mistake was parking it out of view. And second was not having a good lock.

The main result for me was that I bought a used Raleigh Superbe Three-Speed, which was actually a much better bike than the newer Raleigh that was stolen. I think it was considered their top-of-the-line bike back in the 50's and 60's. It had things like a built-in lock in the fork and a built-in generator in the front hub. And a great leather Brooks saddle that looked just like the one club member Carl Fields uses on his custom road bike. Here's a link to a blog that shows a picture of what could be my old bike (minus the big seat bag): Raleigh Superbe.

That Superbe lasted me a long time, twenty or twenty-five years, until I finally bought a Trek hybrid that was sufficient to get me started with Nice and Easy club rides and even on my first Nashville 90!

The NYT blog's main points are that you need to secure the wheels, which nowadays have quick releases, as well as the seat. I have to say that around Bloomington I don't usually lock my wheels or seat. I worry more about my detachable lights.

Does anyone in the club have a story about a stolen bike to share? Has anyone ever gotten a bike back after it was stolen?

Adopt A Road Update

By Jennifer Miers

You never know what the weather is going to do in March. Seven slightly demented BBCers showed up Sunday, March 29th to patrol our adopted stretch of highway while a mix of rain and snow pelted the area. Happily the precipitation stopped shortly after we got started. As it was the first cleanup up of the year, we feared the worst but were pleasantly surprised. The bulk of the refuse appeared at the Walnut/37 intersection. For the most part, the roadside was not in the awful state we found it in in '08. Recent rains had done a good job of washing plastic bottles and Polar Pop cups to central "collection" areas. We were quickly able to restore the limestone hillsides and volunteer tree stands to their natural state. Passersby now see redbuds where they were previously distracted by clumps of white Styrofoam.   Two tough hours were sufficient to complete the task. And the weather was so nasty, we didn't have to miss a ride to do it!   BBC is really making a difference on this road. I hope you will join us on our next outing: Sunday, June 14, 1:30 p.m.