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.

Sebring Bicycle Race

By Brian Fitzgerald

I had the opportunity recently of going to Sebring, Florida to race in the 24 hour Sebring Bicycle Race which on the surface seems stupid.  Why ruin a perfectly good trip to Florida by staying up all night riding a bicycle?  I mean if you're going to stay up and at least drink until dawn, right?

I knew about this race and always wanted to go down and do the 12 hour ride but having completed the 2006 run of Rudy's Double Century, I decided that if I was going down there then I needed to do the 24 hour non-RAAM qualifier portion of the race.  The thing about this was that I had quit riding after the 2008 RAINSTORM to focus on running and I was continuing to run in November when Wayne Gallapoo of Seymour wondered if I'd be interested in going.  My initial answer was no but I thought it'd be a good excuse to hit the Southern climes in February but initially he was going to do the 12 hour event.  I said that if I'm going then it was the 24 hour race that I'd do and he was ultimately convinced to join me.  So it was the two of us plus Elizabeth Eaken of North Vernon who would race in this event along with Wayne's wife Sarah Gallapoo who would be our SAG, cheerleader, mom, caretaker, etc.  The decision was made in the middle of November so I had to get after the training in earnest.  I didn't know how to get ready for it but I knew that all of the training would be done indoors on the trainer since I'm too much of a wimp to ride outside when it's less than 50 degrees.

We made the trip down to Sebring starting on February 11^th and arrived in Sebring on the 12^th.  Given the day to stretch the legs, lay out by the pool, etc.  we were able to pick up packets on February 13^th.  Given that we've done RAIN and have helped out RAIN registration, we've had it spoiled with the efficiency of getting packets, etc. pretty quickly.  Of course in my case, I pre-registered for this event and they didn't seem to have anything on me, no paperwork, etc.  All though my check did clear, my paperwork apparently didn't.  Once I got everything straightened out I was hoping this would be the only thing that would go wrong for this race.  The race staff was helpful and apologetic that this did happen though.

5 am February 14^th came early.  After a hot shower and a final pre-race check, the three of us headed outside with over 200 other riders for the 6:30 am mass start at the entrance to the Sebring International Raceway.  This race track hosts the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring race.  It's a 3.7 mile road course that has hosted races since the 1950s.  We were given are last minute directions by the race director and at 6:30 am, we set out for a 3 lap circuit of the track before being turned loose onto the 89 mile out and back section of the course.  You head out on the section and not quite half way, you need to drop off a poker chip that has your ride number on there.  It ensures that the riders actually have ridden out to the checkpoint.  The nice thing about this loop and riding around this part of the state are the numerous orange groves that you encounter.  During the harvesting as you ride by, the citric acid and aroma is thick.  It smells good and you almost feel the citric acid in your eyes but one thing that we commented on was how cool it would be to live down here and have some orange trees in your back yard to pick every morning.

Anyway, back to the race, once we made the turnaround we headed back to the track, the wind wasn't too bad but the three of us worked well together so we all had turns dealing with a little headwind heading back plus we were protected a little bit by some trees.  We got back to the track in 6 hours and 8 minutes.  I was hoping we'd get back in 6 hours or better for our goals so we were close.  After a crossing of the timing mat, we headed back out on an 11 mile loop.  Heading out for a couple of miles into a block 10 mph headwind and going uphill for that matter was a little tough but then that last 8 or so miles was with the wind, plus by some more orange groves, and we were able to take it easy at about 14 miles an hour going into the wind and around 18-20 miles per hour with the wind.  We used that strategy a lot for a couple of hours as it seemed that we couldn't get people to work with us heading into the wind and they'd fly off and leave us once we had the wind but I guess people have their own goals but after 3 laps or so of that it got a little thankless for the 3 of us.

Sometime around 5 pm we were thinking that and were told that around 5:30 pm that they were going to open up the track, they actually opened it not too long after we got done with our 5^th lap so then we began what would be a rather long evening and morning on the track.  Safe from the traffic and close if we encountered a problem.  Some people know that at some point everyone tends to ride for themselves.  You want to stick together but sometimes it just doesn't happen depending on how people feel, etc.  Once the three of us hit the track, the only time I saw Wayne and Liz were in the pits or when they passed me on the track.  

It is a funny feeling riding past sundown.  You need good bright lights and having an iPod seemed to help out too.  I was concerned about the headlight that I had so the day before at Wal-Mart, I purchased a small LED miners lights and wore it.  I was hoping that it would work out and be comfortable for the overnight ride.  It worked better than I could've hoped.  Very light weight and very bright.  I eventually turned off my headlight and just went with the miners light.  The iPod was nice to have since I knew that at 1:30 am, I would get tired of telling myself to keep pushing and that I would need some music to keep me motivated.  Sadly I didn't adjust my playlist accordingly and on some parts of the ride, instead of some hard rock and roll, I'd have some easy listening.  Not a good situation to go through.

Riding at night on the track was actually pretty cool.  They had used blinking taillights to show you the route of the racetrack, provided that no one ran over them, and it proved to be a great asset to follow the direction of the track since they don't have any lights on the race track that we could've used.  That might also be true to since the track is near the airport as well.  But one thing that I noticed that although you were out there with other riders, their was a loneliness to the ride.  I could have drafted but the opportunity never really presented itself.  It is to some extent every person for themselves or maybe it's like you are condemned to suffer your race by yourself.

My goal was to ride 300 miles but it's always a priority for me to have a good time.  I was going to have fun regardless of the distance limit that I imposed on myself.  But when I finally got off the back for the final time slightly before 5:30 am on Sunday morning and having accomplished my distance goal, I was very ecstatic and very tired.  I finished with 307 miles for the day and my actual ride time was 19 hours and 12 minutes.

I'll definitely do this event again and we're already penciling it in for 2010.

Muscatatuck and Beyond

By Allan Edmonds

By Allan Edmonds

Leader Mike Finger organized a group of 18 riders for the Saturday club ride on March 21. The weather was clear and crisp with temperatures in the low 40's at ride time. Because of the reported tree down across the road in Cascades Park and the size of our group it was decided to avoid Cascades on the way out of town, opting instead to take Gurley Pike up to Kinser and head out toward BHSN and beyond on Kinser. We made good time along Kinser. There was a regrouping after crossing 37 and before heading down the sandy, rough hill to Bottom Road. We then speeded along Bottom Road, passing Muscatatuck Nature Reserve without stopping. The next regrouping was at Fry Road, where 5 riders opted for the short route, while the others continued along the standard regular route. They planned to modify it on the way back by cutting over east so as to come in on Old 37 instead of retracing their route along Bottom Road. The smaller group doing the short option took Frye to Buskirk to Dittemore and from there returned to town on Bottom and Kinser. We did opt to go through Cascades to inspect the downed tree. It was easy enough to go around it on the grass on the east side of the road. We could not fathom why the tree had not been removed. It did not look like a major job. Altogether our OWLish group did 29 miles round trip from the park, at a respectable 13.5 mph. Total climb about 2255 ft.

Triple Creeks

Saturday Ride, March 14 By Jerry Arvesen, Ride Leader

It had been years since I'd led a BBC ride, and never a Saturday ride, so I was a bit nervous as the weekend approached, especially after hearing that 35 cyclists had ridden on the previous week's ride. (The saying "herding cats" comes to mind when I think of leading a ride.) Saturday morning arrived cool, gray and overcast, with temperatures in the mid-40s. The weather, and spring break, must have kept the numbers down, as only two riders were at Bryan Park at 10:55. However, that quickly grew to eleven a few minutes later, and after some brief introductions and route review, we were off.

Our group consisted of some regulars like Mike Finger, Keith Vogelsang, and Allan Edmonds. Since I'm only a regular-wannabe, a few other BBC members were new to me: Chris Bonham, Carl Field, and Allan Headley. John Connell and Bill Struemph were also along, as was a fellow on a cool Kona hybrid, plus a strong young rider on a single- speed.

Our ride to the first regroup location at the old Mt. Gilead church and cemetery was uneventful, mainly dealing with traffic, potholes, and sand on the roads. It wasn't until the climb up the other end of Mt. Gilead that the lead riders started to disappear. Bill and I recounted our painful memories of last summer's final 20 miles of the Wilbur ride, when it seemed as if we'd never get back to Bloomington. We also talked about climbing hills on March legs, and regardless of how strong we think we are the hills never seem to get easier.

Heading south on Brummetts Creek, we all fell into the state of bliss that relaxed riding brings, as we chatted and enjoyed the first signs of spring in the forests and fields. Brummetts Creek has always been one of my favorite roads. Most of its course is a wide open valley with steep wooded hillsides, low traffic, and picturesque farms. At our second regroup point at Fleener Road, Mike Finger organized a sub- group of five head- and leg-strong riders to tackle Boltinghouse hill. This included Tom, our visitor from Seattle, and our young single-speed rider. It seems as if Tom had heard of the Boltinghouse folklore on last week's training ride, and wanted some proof before convincing his friends back home about Indiana hills. I wonder how our 43x18 single-speed managed on Boltinghouse?

The rest of us mortals, scoffing at this insanity, headed for the two- mile flat stretch of SR46 before joining Gettys Creek and Kerr Creek roads. We continued along the creeks at a relaxed 15 mph pace, and powered our way up the Kerr Creek hill with only minimal griping. Through Park Ridge East individuals started to head towards home, as did I, after ensuring that the few remaining riders could manage their way back to Bryan Park. All in all, a great friendly group, a nice relaxed pace, good spring air, and 25 miles into the ride log.

The season begins

By Mike Finger, BBC Tour Director

The first week of March marked the first Tuesday/Thursday evening training ride of the season. The rain held off (or perhaps went away entirely) and it certainly was warm enough. By 5:30 we had a small but dedicated group of riders. Besides myself, Klaus Rothe and Jim Schroeder were there, as was Bob DeGroff, Wes and a visitor, Tom, from Seattle. He said he will be around for about 10 days and I hope he gets to ride with us again. He is a strong rider (with a very nice bike)!

We decided to do the standard Thursday route out to Smithville and from there go straight across to Ketchum and back in by way of Fluck Mill and Vernal Pike. However, when we got to Smithville we realized we were having too much fun to go home so soon, so we decided to go on to Harrodsburg and come back in on Old37. The only bummer about the whole thing was that the headwind was brutal on Strain Ridge Rd. On a good day it is not unusual to be in a paceline moving along in the mid to high 20mph range. Today, it was all I could do to keep it at 13mph and it felt like I was climbing a mountain. This period of suffering was short-lived because when we made the turn at Harrodsburg this same wind was now our friend. The finish back to the park was a 'breeze'.

Total miles: 27.5mi. Average speed 17.1mph. Just under 2 hours. Sweeet!! Let's do it again soon!