Dan on Bike

The same weather pattern that is making life difficult in Kansas City and other points west of here made for a great weekend here. Unfortunately, errands, visiting relatives, and a bad mood caused me to not ride. (The excuse generator was on overtime.)

This morning, I got back on the horse with a ride to work. I used to work on the west side of campus, so after my haircut I took the old route home. Basically, I rode north on McCormick Road to Lindberg. A left put me on to the North Work Route, which I followed home*.

Miles Ridden: 11.3

*Of course, the bridge is still out on Division Road, so I couldn’t follow the route, could I? Actually, I did – by walking the bike through the construction zone. It looks like they’ve made some progress on the bridge, but there’s still a lot to do.

Road Closures are for Sissies!

I had planned to take a morning ride today, but my excuse generator was on 11. First, I was having a tough time waking up. Then, I decided it was too cold, and I didn’t want to wake up my wife looking for something long sleeve in the closet. Finally, I thought it was too dark.

Instead, I decided to ride the Pilot to work instead of the usual 820. It’s not a great commuter bike (no racks for the panniers, uncomfortable seat without bike shorts, my dress shoes don’t work with the toe clips, I can’t bring myself to lock it outside), but the ride home was great.

I stowed the bike in my office in the same place I used last week.

Bike in the Cube Farm
There’s another bike commuter in the building. One of the ladies upstairs, whose husband runs Old Skool Cycles, has been riding a KHS Urban X the past couple of weeks. She lives on the east side of town on the other side of the river valley, so she has an uphill at each end of her ride.

Soccer Fields on Kalberer Road

Maybe this weekend I’ll write about my new briefcase pannier.

Miles Ridden: 14.2

Oh, I almost forget to mention… The Terranaut was gone today. I asked the building deputy if she had it removed, but she had no idea. (I don’t think she ever really noticed that it had been there for so long.) I guess the owner must be leaving – either for the summer or forever – and came and got it. Let’s hope it goes to a better place.

Send your best thoughts to Steve in Halifax. He was tagged by a jeep on Monday and required surgery.

Steve is the ultimate bike commuter – traveling longer distances and carrying bigger loads than I would ever consider. He’s one of the bloggers that inspire me to ride more and drive less. Let’s hope he can get back on the road soon.

As I was climbing the hill on Newman Road this morning, a pickup truck was crawling up behind me. When we were about 2/3 the way up, he gave his horn a tap and passed me. At the time, I thought he was letting me know he was angry about waiting, but now I think he was warning me about the manuever. Regardless, it was totally unnecessary.

At the top, I said hi and gave the head nod to a jogger. That’s when I noticed that I wasn’t wearing my helmet. So, I went back down the hill, up the other hill to my garage, and grabbed the brain bucket. This meant that I had to do the hill a second time. So much for minimizing perspiration.

I came home via the north part of West Lafayette. At the park where the Farmer’s Market was being held, I cut through to catch the bike/ped trail around to Kalberer Road. Unfortunately, I instead ended up lost in a subdivision. Somehow, I made it over to the Research Park and the Cattail Trail. And the trail was swarming with tiny bugs. I hate it when something gets inside my helmet and crawls around on my head. Aarrgghh!

Just them, my phone rang. I answered to hear my wife telling me that there was an unattended brush fire in the backyard of the rental next door. The owner has been doing some work, and I guess he decided to set the trash on fire and leave. My wife called the number on the For Rent sign in front to tell them that they had five minutes to get back before she called the fire department. They didn’t make it, so she dialed 911. Since she had told the dispatcher that it wasn’t an immediate danger, they sent the truck without lights and sirens, but one of the neighbors who is a volunteer on the force arrived pretty quickly and watered down the edges with a garden hose. The truck arrived shortly after, and they hosed it down and stirred it around to make sure it was out. When the owner arrived, they scolded him for leaving, and for including old railroad ties in the burn pile. We found later that the fire had spread to some other brush and down to the creek bed.

Miles Ridden: 15.1

My first ride in May was also my first morning (before work) ride of the year. With Indiana now observing daylight saving time, I have to ride partly in the dark to get a ride in between 6:00 and 7:00. I took the River Road/Campus route, but I traveled clockwise so that I would be heading west on River Road. With the morning traffic heading east, I figured I’d be safer.

Wrong! An SUV came up behind me while I was in the hilly and curvy section, and the driver decided that he couldn’t wait more than 2 seconds to get around me. He jumped out to pass, and just then a pickup heading west (at a pretty fast clip) appeared over the hill right in front of us. SUV guy floored it and swerved around me – forcing pickup guy to dodge into the grass to avoid getting hit. I just grabbed my brakes and braced for the debris storm. Somehow, no one made contact with anyone else, and we all rolled away. SUV guy fled at top speed, and pickup guy just kept going. It took me a few seconds to remember to pedal again.

In my environment, unsafe passing seems to be my worst threat. It happens to me on every ride. I’ve only had one encounter (that I can recall) where a driver didn’t see me, and that was many years ago. (A young lady was turning left from a side street as I crossed intersection. She had a stop sign; I didn’t. Just before she rammed into me, I yelled ‘HEY’ in my best angry dad voice. She slammed on the brakes and looked very guilty.) With my lights, reflectors, and orange vest, I’m pretty visible. Plus, I ride in the right tire path, so I’m not hiding in the gutter out of their line of sight. Each time this passing thing happens, I find myself riding farther to the left hoping to convince the drivers that they need the whole left lane to get around.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Despite that one incident, I still had a good ride, and I hope to get more mornings in.

Miles Ridden: 10.4

Even with all of the days lost to rain this month, I was still able to beat last year’s total and surpass the amount required for my secret goal by over 30 miles. I hope that I can keep up this dedication/enthusiasm all year.

April 2007 Total: 195.3
April 2006 Total: 124.3

2007 Total Miles: 301.6

Two More Bikes in Arizona
I thought at first that these bicycles were part of the garden decor, but then I noticed the grocery bags tied around the seats. The riders must be storing them here between rides.

Today ended up being a record setting high temperature day. Also, another great bike to work day.

As I rode into work this morning, I had a fun encounter with a red pick up that saw fit to rush around my bike and then make a right turn in front of me. Three blocks later, when I was almost to the office, an aging VW Rabbit pulled out of a parking spot on the left side of the one-way street. He never looked back to check before he gunned it, and I thought for sure he was going to merge right and take me out. Luckily, he was working on a left at the corner, so he stayed on his side.

I came home on a slightly modified north work route. (The bridge is still out on Division between Newman and 350W.) At the intersection of Grant and Northwestern, there was a car coming around the line of cars waiting at the light – across all of the lanes. He was barely rolling, and he looked at me as he slowly crossed my lane. I stopped a ways back, giving him plenty of room. He finished crossing into the right turn lane (which is to the right of the bike lane), and then proceeded to back up across my lane again to get himself facing the right way. All of this happened in what seemed like slow motion because he was being so careful. It was then that I realized that he had probably turned onto the one-way street the wrong way and was trying to fix it without hitting anyone.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.

Miles Ridden: 10.8

I’m hoping to take longer rides during the weekend to help me prepare for the RAGBRAI ride in July. Last week was 24 miles, and the neighbor and I decided to try the Independence loop today. We did this last year in a clockwise direction, so we went counter-clockwise this time. The weather was fantastic, the wind was cooperative, and we had plenty of water. What a great ride!

We crossed this creek somewhere close to Independence
It’s tough to put into words how calm this ride was. Traffic was light, and those that passed often waved, and they always waited patiently behind us on hills. Trees and wildflowers are starting to bloom, so there were neat smells everywhere. Even the skunk odor we went through added to the experience. The plants are just starting to leaf out, so we could still see into the trees, yet everything was green. It’s tough to beat rural Indiana in the spring.

Soggy Fields
For some reason, the turkey vultures were out in force today. There was plenty of roadkill, and at one point, we passed a group of eight or ten birds huddled around something (hopefully a deer). I thought of the Far Side cartoon. (Hey look! I’m a cowboy. Howdy, howdy!) They all scattered into the air as we rode by.

Vandalism at Work
$500 Reward
We couldn’t figure out what the point of this sign is. Are they labeling this dilapidated building as an example of vandalism? Perhaps to encourage it? Is someone trying to find work as a vandal? Don’t know.

We modified the route slightly from last year, so we gained a couple of miles.

Miles Ridden: 35.6

UPDATE: Route here.

I’m planning a longer ride tomorrow, so I just went out for a short one this afternoon up Indian Creek Hill (Alpe du Kerber) to the Ravines Golf Course and back.

No Where to Hide from the Wind
The west wind was pretty strong, and I found that while riding on the floodplain on River Road, there was no protection from it. However, the tail wind coming back was nice.

Big Trees at the Golf Course
Coming back, I had to get around the bridge construction on Division Road, so I headed up to a second golf course – the Par View.

I Love the Quote Usage
On my last road ride, my cyclocomputer wasn’t registering the cadance. Today, I didn’t get get any distance or average speed numbers. I think it’s time for a new battery. I used Gmaps Pedometer to estimate the mileage.

Miles Ridden: 16.4

On the way out this morning, I met my neighbor at the entrance to the subdivision, so we ended up riding in together. He usually leaves later than I, but I was late and he was early, so it worked out. Since it was so close to 8:00, there were a lot of cars, which prevented us from talking much.

Came home on the direct route.

Miles Ridden: 6.8