Bog Dog Ride

My daughter and I plan to take the mutt to the Lafayette Dog Park on Friday. So, we needed to get a 1 day pass ($5) for which we needed proof of his rabies vaccination. Since I haven’t ridden in a couple of days, I decided to head up to the vet to pick up the paperwork.

I headed north on McCormick Road, the Cattail Trail, and Morehouse Road – which took me past two swampy bodies of water. (It is a cloudy day, so the photos are a little flat.)

Celery Bog - South end
Celery Bog Near the Golf Course

Celery Bog - North End
Celery Bog Near Wal-Mart

Hadley Lake
Hadley Lake

After visiting the Blair Small Animal Clinic for the desired document, I rode home on McCormick, Lindberg, and 400W.

Miles Ridden: 16.6

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Jasper Strassenfest Bike Ride

Strassenfest Bike Ride T-Shirt GraphicPart of the reason for going to Jasper this weekend was to ride in the annual Strassenfest Bike Ride. I’ve ridden the 20 mile route about four times in the past few years. Today, I decided to move up to the 35 mile route.

Now, I’ve ridden farther than that many times in the past, and I just did 28 miles the other day, so I figured I would be able to make it alright. What I didn’t bank on was the number and difficulty of the hills in southern Indiana. I should have heeded the warning of yesterday’s ride as an example of the hills to come today. It wasn’t that any of them were horribly tough, it’s just that they just kept coming.

The starting point was just a few blocks from my sister-in-law’s house, so I was able to check in a drop the t-shirt back at the house before heading out. There were all kinds of bikes in the 20 mile group, but the 35, 48, and 62 mile riders all seemed to have road bikes – except for me. (I heard that Hodson’s Bay is having their fall sale soon, so I’m looking at a Trek 700.)

On 400 N
I still don’t know what these are called

By the time I got to the first SAG stop, my thighs were complaining a little. I had a few cookies and refilled the water bottle with some nasty red Powerade from powder. The 2nd SAG was just 6 miles later, and was feeling pretty good there. On Celestine RoadI’d been following a group of three guys for a while, and I was able to keep up pretty well. They didn’t take the 2nd stop, so I mentally bid them adieu. There was a killer hill just past the #2 SAG that took a long time to climb. However, on the other side, I went speeding down the hill at speeds up to 38MPH. Pretty fast for me!

Schnellville Road was a roller coaster, and I even had to walk up one hill, as my legs just said no. It ended up being the last one for a while, so I was able to recuperate a little.

When I was about five miles from the end, I saw my three guys up ahead. It only took about a mile to catch them, as they were taking their time. I was able to talk to one guy in his late 50s, who said he was a high school phys ed teacher during the school year and was working at a bike shop in Vincennes for the summer. One of his younger co-workers talked him into taking the ride. He was doing pretty well, but his buddies had to wait at the tops of the hills. The reason I was able to catch up was because he had fallen over trying to stop to get a dropped water bottle. He isn’t quite used to the clipless pedals yet.

On Schnellville Road
More Rolling Hills

As we were climbing the last hill on St. Charles side by side and chatting, an SUV passed us in the center turn lane (no problem there). Then, I heard an anemic horn coming up as a guy on a Harley squeezed by me in the same lane. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to use the center lane. At the next stop light, he turned a gave me the exasperated hands in the air signal and asked “What’s the matter with you?” I replied, “Nothing, I’m fine,” and rode on. He called me a “dummy” as he turned left and roared off.

I skipped the last two blocks of the ride when we passed my sister-in-law’s street, and faced yet one more decent hill on 13th street.

Miles Ridden: 35.7

All Routes Straight Ahead

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The Rolling Hills of DuBois County

I’m visiting Jasper, Indiana this weekend, and I was able to bring the bike along. This morning, I took a ride around the north and west sides of town.

Locals may be interested in the route. I started on 13th street and headed north on St. Charles. This is a fairly wide road with a low speed limit – great for casual cyclists like myself. Still, there was one person who felt obligated to yell at me to “get off the road!” – even though there is a middle turn lane that is great for passing. When I was a little past 700N, I turned back south until I reached 400N (40-something street). Following that road east, I turned south on Newton, which took me back to 13th.

On Portersville Road

Newton is the route for US231 on the north side of town. Over most of the route, there is no shoulder. However, a section in a strip mall and fast food area offered an access road. Farther down the hill I had to navigate around huge asphalt lumps that seemed to be patches that had been pushed out of the potholes they were trying to fill.

Miles Ridden: 15.8

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The Fort

I convinced my daughter to take a short ride to Fort Ouiotenon. We didn’t travel very far, but it was nice to get out on the road together.

Fort Ouiatenon
Fort Ouiatenon

Miles Ridden: 2.5

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Total for July, 2006

July Total: 200.3
2006 Total: 783.1

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Another Early Morning

After yesterday’s ride my total for this month was 189.2 miles. In order to reach 200, I had to get at least 11 on this ride.

I decided to head out to Martell Forest and back. It was a pretty foggy morning, plus it was pretty dark at the beginning. Luckily, my light system was up to the task.

Before I started riding regularly, I had never seen a bluebird in the wild. Now, I see them all the time, including two today.

Miles Ridden: 11.1

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The New Breakfast Club

Before the Ride
Before the Ride

Trying to beat the heat once again, the neighbor and I went out early. His daughter had planned on joining us, but the hour was too early for a 13 yr. old to pull herself out of bed.

The route was pretty fun. We started out with the Lilly Road Route, but we kept heading east to Wabash Avenue. When we hit downtown, we went up the hills on State Street and by the stadium, and then found the Cattail Trail which took us north to the Route 66 Diner. I was feeling like I was being pretty healthy until breakfast came.

Mid Ride Breakfast
Probably more calories than I burned today, but it was delicious!

We rode back south on the trail to Lindberg and followed the back half of the North Work Route to get back home.

Miles Ridden: 28.2

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Back to Black Rock

The neighbor and I talked about going to Independence today (about 35 miles round trip), but our late start, plans later in the day, and a general fear of over-doing it helped us to decide to cut the ride short and visit Black Rock in Warren County instead. Being the middle of July, the rock is even more covered with vegetation than last time, so there is no picture.

Old Barn
This barn is slowly being reclaimed by the woods

We had a good ride with light wind and mild temps. However, the humidity was brutal. There were portions of the route down by the Wabash where the road was covered in haze.

Retired Silo
A Retired Silo

Miles Riden: 23.5

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North

I said yesterday that my legs were feeling pretty good. Well, that wasn’t the case today. I headed north into the wind, and my right knee was screaming. (I have an old rock-n-roll injury that involves a small town festival, a flat bed trailer, and “Wipe Out”.) My other knee was complaining as well. Up hill with a head wind is not how one treats a sore knee.

Anyway, enough griping!

Straw Rolls
What are these things called? Are they hay or straw?

My route started northeast on Newman Road to SR26, east to McCormick Road, and then north. I haven’t ridden north on McCormick past Cherry Lane in a long time because the stretch from there to Lindberg Road is narrow, curvy, and busy. I’ve had many drivers express their dissatisfaction by either yelling or driving too close (sometimes both). However, traffic was light at 6:30pm, so I went for it.

McCormick crosses US52 and continues to Morehouse Road. I turned left and caught 500N going west at the next intersection. At 375W I took another left which pointed me south with the wind at my back. This part of the ride was much more fun, and I ignored the knee the rest of the way home. After a couple of turns, the road becomes 400W and travels all the way to the big tree on Division Road.

Miles Ridden: 14.6

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Bike Lane or Traffic Lane? You Make the Call!

When riding to work, I travel one block on Sheetz Street. There is a short bike lane there, and I’m having trouble deciding if I should use it. I’ll try to describe the layout and the issues.

Sheetz Street, West Lafayette

State Street from the west is the path of SR26, and is 2 lanes in each direction. The eastbound lanes both turn right onto Sheetz, and then left onto Wood Street one block later. While State has no marked bike lane, Sheetz does for that one block. The problem is I also want to turn left onto Wood Street, but drivers in the right traffic lane have a choice of left turn or straight travel on Sheetz. I end up merging back into the traffic lane before the left turn so I’m not hit by a straight traveling motorist. (If I were hit, it would be my fault for changing/crossing lanes without yielding.) This maneuver sometimes requires me to stop and wait for an opening in traffic.

Reasons Why I Should Use the Bike Lane

  • Eastbound traffic turning south on Sheetz street can’t see around the corner, so they may not see me in the traffic lane
  • At 7:50am, the drivers are close to being late for work, and it is polite of me to use the provided bike lane to allow them faster travel
  • I’m basically a polite guy, and I don’t want to inconvenience anyone

Reasons Why I Should Use the Traffic Lane

  • The merge back into the traffic lane can be dangerous, and I’d be better off traveling in a straight line.
  • The numerous driveways, garage entry/exit ramps, and alleys provide many places for inattentive drivers to run me down. (Which would be their fault, but it would still hurt!)
  • ‘Taking the lane’ – while annoying to some drivers – is much safer for me
  • Because I can!

What do you think?

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