Dan on Bike

I’ve been fighting rain for the last few days, and this morning I was finally able to get out. The neighbor and I followed the Granville Bridge Route with a little extra down 700W. It was quite humid and foggy.

Because of family obligations, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to ride to work much this week. Instead, I’ll try to get out most mornings to keep the mileage up and the legs moving.

Miles Ridden: 10.5

Not much of a cycling post; it’s been too wet to ride today.

My sister is getting tickets for us to see Blues Traveler at the Lance Armstrong fundraiser concert in Cedar Falls during RAGBRAI. Now, I only know a couple of their hits, so I grabbed a few of their albums this week to familiarize myself with their stuff.

Of the four albums I found, Save His Soul is my favorite. I’m going to listen to all of these so that I can better appreciate what they play in the show.

Before the neighbor had to get to work, we took the Llama Route with an extra trip around Montmorenci.

Miles Ridden: 14.4

This is my third day of vacation, but it is the first where I have truly been able to relax (day 1: root canal, day 2: at work most of the day). So, what do I do? I ride!

I had some errands to run, so I grabbed the commuter bike, threw on normal clothes (no spandex), and hit the road. I went to the Clarion Arnett clinic in West Lafayette (twice), Purdue’s Stewart Center (twice), Walgreens in Lafayette, and the WL Game Stop. (I picked up Resident Evil IV on the WII for my son. I had to show my ID once when I ordered it, and again when I picked it up. It must be pretty nasty.)

Speaking of nasty, after the first ride, I was due for a shower, but instead I waited until after the afternoon trip. I decided to celebrate my funkiness instead of worrying about it.

Mural in Stewart Center at Purdue
No Bike Rack at Clarion Arnett Clinic
Check out the Seat Post on this Ride
I know the guy that owns this bike
Horses on Newman Road
Unlike the West Side Location with its Poorly Installed Racks, the Lafayette Walgreens has None
The Fountain at Riehle Plaza

The only errand I couldn’t handle on the bike is the pickup of my shirts at the cleaners. I took the dog along in the car for that trip, and the ladies at the cleaners loved him.

Miles Ridden
Morning Ride: 12.7
Afternoon Ride: 17.9

Once again, my sister invited her family and her husband’s family to a beach house in Dune Acres, IN. (See my reports from last time here and here.) We were in the same house.

For my ride this morning, I headed west on US 12. Not feeling very energetic, I just planned to ride to the first convenience store I found to pick up a Gatorade and then head back.

The first few miles were pretty nice. US 12 in this area is a 2 lane road with no shoulder to speak of. Because the lanes are a little wider than what I find on the local county roads, I felt comfortable riding on the white line without the fear of the unsafe pass. Plus, there was little traffic. My legs weren’t feeling it today, but I hoped it would get better after a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the road changed about four miles out as I entered Burns Harbor. Suddenly, it was a four-lane divided highway with plenty of debris in the generous shoulder. Even though there still wasn’t much traffic, those that passed seemed to stay in the right lane at least half way. As the road widened, the tree cover disappeared and was replace by the view of steel plants. The aroma also switched from nature to burning coal. The weird thing was that this area was filled with butterflies.

I Think This is the Mikkal Plant
After a few more miles of nothing but factories, railroads, and power lines, I turned south on the equally imposing SR 249. It was about the same as the previous road, with the added fun of rumble strips in the shoulders – making them unusable. About a mile down this highway, I found a Family Express gas station.

I asked the clerk about another way back, but it was obvious that she had never thought about her town from a cyclist point of view. I ended up traveling back the same way I had come.

The Morse Code House is Still There

Miles Ridden: 17.1

I haven’t been on the Montmorenci Route in a while, and since I didn’t have a lot of time this morning (no fifty miler today), I headed NW to the Mont.

I took lots of potentially great pictures during the ride, but only one turned out. Apparently, I had the camera set on landscape, which locks the focus on infinity (for mountains and such). There was a great shot of calves posing on a hillside that came out fuzzy – like everything else.

Except This One

Miles Ridden: 15.4

…on the South Work Route.

I traveled this same route last Friday, and for some reason, I was once again surprised at all of the dangerous passing going on. When will I learn?

Miles Ridden: 8.3

The neighbor and I have been adding a little to the return portion of the Granville Bridge Route, riding by the Fort on River Road, rather than coming back on Division Road.

Miles Ridden: 11.6

Miles Ridden: 6.8

Today I rode the South Work Route – in REVERSE!!! It was WILD!!!

Miles Ridden: 8.7