Dan on Bike

The neighbor and I rode to Martell Forest this morning. It was a little chilly at first, but I warmed up soon enough (except for my thumbs, which never do).

This sexy gal walked over and said hi to us.

Miles Ridden: 11.7
Total This Year: 180

(I’m actually writing this on Friday morning. For some reason I have zero urge to ride today. It’s 45° and calm – great riding weather – and storms are forecasted for later today and tomorrow. I guess I’m not riding again until Sunday.)

It has been said that wind is your training buddy. If that’s so, he gave me quite a workout today. A WSW wind in the low 20s made the North Work Route a tough one. Despite the wind, I feel pretty good (runner’s high, maybe).

Going slower than usual, I was able to see things I don’t normally see, such as this couch pillow that must have flown out of the pickup during a move west.

Miles Ridden: 11.8
Total This Year: 169

I’m wondering why this same route has come up twice at 12.4 miles, and twice at 11.8 miles. I’m beginning to question my odometer.

When I told my wife I was going to ride to work the other morning, she said “That will put you in a good mood.” And it did.

Well, not today. After fighting several wardrobe malfunctions this morning (stains on the shirt, dog hair on the slacks, and holes in the socks), I finally got out of the garage at 7:30, which was about 15 minutes later than I had planned. On the way in, I was passed by numerous cars while on a hill or coming up to a blind curve (or both). I even had one oncoming car cross the double line!

So, as I was pedaling along, I had imaginary arguments with the drivers. I was always very witty and had the last word.

I’m not feeling any better, but I do feel more superior. Shouldn’t that count for something?

Miles Ridden: I’ll post it at the end of the day
Total This Year: Not enough

The family is taking a 5 day vacation to Washington, DC at the end of next month, and I’ve been thinking about renting a bike for a ride on one of the mornings that we are there.

BikeWashington.org has some good information. Their list of the best routes in DC includes the Zoo Review route. It’s 20 miles and just 5 blocks from our hotel.

The Visitor’s Guide includes a list of bike rental companies. One even offers free delivery.

As soon as we get our itinerary figured out, I’ll give them a call to get the details.

Could be fun!

I entered ‘bike blog’ into Google and found a couple of interesting reads.

A guy named Thomas Woods has ‘My Bike Blog‘ that chronicles his rides in the Buffalo area. He is using a format similar to mine, but he seems to have more to say (or at least a better way of saying it). I hope to get some inspiration from him.

There were several other blogs listed, but they were either professional or business sites, or personal sites that have not been updated in quite some time. I’m sure that this little diary will fall out of my favor at some point as well. I’m just trying to finish the entire 2005 season, and then I’ll see if I wish to continue.

This morning, little Lindsey Butor said that it would be 65 and sunny at 5:00 today. So, I packed shorts and a T-shirt for the trip home. However, when I rode home this evening on the North Work Route, it was 55, cloudy, and windy. Needless to say, I was a little chilly for most of the trip.

After I got home, my wife and I tooled around the neighborhood a couple of times.

The bike lanes in West Lafayette are pretty good – except for the occasional yard waste obstacle. However, the lanes outside the city limits are covered with sand and gravel remianing from the winter battle against snow and ice. The County won’t sweep the lanes, so we can only hope that a good strong rain comes along and washes it away.

Miles Ridden: 12.9
Total This Year: 157

The neighbor and I rode the Granville Bridge Route with a little extra at the end. It was a pretty calm ride, although we did spook a small herd of deer that were grazing in a field near the road.

Miles Ridden: 10.0
Total This Year: 144

We started out on the Montmorenci Route, but the neighbor decided to head west on 350N after will left the little town. We rode to County Line Road (1000W) and cycled south to Division Road, which is 700N in Fountain County. We sped east on Division with a good tail wind and kept going straight where the road becomes River Road. A quick jog north on 350W brought us back to Division and on home.

Beautiful ride!

Miles Ridden: 21.2
Total This Year: 134

I took the North Work Route to and from work again today. The nice part was that I left early in time to make the Purdue Faculty/Staff/Retiree pancake breakfast.

My daughter reminded me to take my camera this morning since I always see something neat when I don’t have it. However, I couldn’t find an empty memory card, so I left it behind. On the way home, I came up on a pair of pheasants that were walking along the road. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get the camera out in time anyway, but I would have tried.

Miles Ridden: 11.8
Total This Year: 112

I have two basic routes to work, the North and the South. They differ only in the ride home, as I like to keep the ride in as short as possible (to minimize the sweat factor).

The Ride In

Starting at the intersection of Division and Newman Roads near West Lafayette, head northeast on Newman. At SR26, take a right (east) and head towards the Purdue campus. At the intersection with Airport Rd/McCormick Road there is a choice. Option 1 continues on State Street east to Sheetz. Hang a right and travel south for one block, then turn left onto Wood St. My office is at the corner of Wood and Grant. Option 2, which offers much less traffic, travels south on Airport Rd. to Gates. Turn left on Gates and ride east all the way to Intramural Drive. Continue east on Harrison Street to Grant Street, and turn north and pedal one block to Grant.

North Route

The ride home starts at Grant and Wood streets. Roll north on Grant street. The bike lanes begins at State Street and is very helpful in the 5:00 traffic. Travel up the hill past the high school to Salisbury. Turn left (NNW) on Salisbury (more bike lane) and continue to Lindberg Road. Head left (west) on Lindberg (still more bike lane), ride past the Celery Bog, across McCormick Road, and across Klondike Road. At 400W, turn south and ride all the way to 350W and Division Road where the big tree is in the middle of the road. Turn left (east) on Division Road to go back to Newman Road.

The north route is around 12 miles long.

North Route Extension

When riding on Salisbury, continue north to Kalberer Road. Head west to the Cattail Trail, and follow the trail south and west past Wal Mart to Lindberg Road. A right on Lindberg rejoins the original route.

This variation of the north route adds 3.5 miles.

North Route Modifed

This started out as a detour around bridge construction, but I found that it is a nice route anyway – especially when I don’t have quite enough time for the full North route.

Instead of taking Lindberg all the way to 400W, I cut south on Klondike Road. Then, east on SR26, south on Sharon Chapel Road, and SW on Newman Road gets me home. I sometimes take a shortcut on Drury Lane to limit my time on the highway.

Total distance is 10.7 miles.

South Route

To head home on the South Route, start south on Grant St. a couple of blocks to Williams (in front of Freehafer Hall). Head left down the hill to River Road. Turn right and travel west in the handy bike lane. At the stop light take a right to continue on River Road. Roll west a few more miles to Newman Road. Turn right (north) and ride back to Division.

The south route is around 9 miles long.

Another Option on the Avenue

The Wabash Avenue Route runs within a block of my office building, so a reverse of that route is another fun way home.