Dan on Bike

The neighbor was back from vacation yesterday, so we took a quick ride this morning on the Granville Bridge Route.

Miles Ridden: 9.1
Total This Year: TBD + 342

After wimping out on both Friday and Saturday, I finally got out on the bike today. I tried starting around 8:00, but the rain had started up again. I gave up and drove to work for a couple of hours. At 11:30, I started out again. It was sprinkling a bit, but I decided to not worry about the rain.

I took the River Road/Campus Route, just so I could see all of the new Freshman moving onto campus. There were lots of SUVs, U-Haul trailers, loft salesman, and mini-refrigerators. There were also many policemen around – at least one per dorm.

Miles Ridden: 10.0
Total This Year: TBD + 333

I haven’t been able to ride since the marathon tour on Sunday. I can point to a couple of excuses. My son has been in Marching Band practice this week, and I have to pick him up before the end of my work day. Therefore, I’ve been going in at 7:00 to make up for my early exit. Also, since I am coming home for lunch to visit my daughter, I can’t really ride to work. Plus, it has been too hot!

However, the real reason is that I have not been motivated. I think that I would have been able to figure out a time for at least one ride during this time.

I’ve lost about 5 pounds this summer (and it sure isn’t from eating right), and I’d like to keep that going as long as possible. I’ll try to get out in the morning (unless it is raining). 🙂

I was driving to work this morning, and I came upon a rider starting up “the hill“. I waited behind him as he struggled. He was in a tough gear, and he was trying to get out of my way by riding on the white line or in the dirt next to the pavement. I didn’t pass him, and he soon gave up on staying out of the lane.

Then, a small red car came speeding around both me and the cyclist. (Do I need to point out again that a driver shouldn’t pass on a hill – with a curve – and a double yellow line?) Unfortunately, a white car appeared coming down the hill. The oncoming car immediately slowed and pulled over, and the red car was able to squeeze through (although very close to the white car).

After that, I didn’t feel too guilty about yelling at the deputy. I just wish he had been there to see it.

I know what you’re thinking. What else would you do if you needed a little inspiration to get out a ride? Visiting every public parking garage in Tippecanoe County has got to be at the top of everyone’s list. Now that you’re all with me – let’s go!

Our tour begins at the Tippecanoe County Garage next to the County Office Building. This garage has two way driving and a nice slope – making it a good ride. The only problem is that the entrance and exit are on busy streets. They exit onto South street right at the bottom of the SR26 bridge over the Wabash, and I often have a long wait for traffic when I leave the garage after parking there for lunch. I would hate to be in line there at the end of the work day. It’s too bad the architects didn’t use 2nd street for the exit.

Next is the City Garage on 6th street. Unlike the previous garage, this one is laid out so that the exit is on the relatively quiet 6th street. It’s only a 3 floor garage, so it’s not much of a workout destination. This structure is connected to the office building where my wife’s pig art was hosted during Hog Wild in 2003.

Up the hill on Ferry street, I found the Home Hospital garage. This one is special to me because it was a common destination for me when I lived in southern Lafayette. From my house to the garage and back, including twice up and down, was 10 miles. I used to often ride there at night – with my bike lights on and taking advantage of the street lights along most of the route. I’m much less comfortable riding at night here in the country. It is just too dark!

Lafayette’s other hospital, Ste. Elizabeth, has a garage that I haven’t visited before today. While not as big as the Purdue University garages, it is the biggest so far today. I don’t ride into this part of town very often (except while speeding down Salem street), so it was nice to see the neighborhood where my daughter was born.

Back downtown, I jumped across the river on the Myers pedestrian Bridge to visit the Wabash Landing garage. This garage normally has an attendant, so I was worried about getting out without being scolded for ignoring the “no bikes” signs. However, while I was up there, I noticed several bikes chained to the posts inside. They probably belong to tenants.

I should mention that the garage is surrounded on two sides by apartments, one side faces a hotel, and the fourth opens onto the Wabash Landing shopping center. It is a neat place with a Borders, Scotty’s Brew Pub, and several other businesses. My family visits quite a bit. The top two floors are for hotel guests only, but I had no problem getting around the gates. Down at the exit, there was no one on duty in the cashier hut.

I had to head up the hill on Quincy street to get to campus, and I stumbled upon the West Lafayette Public Library garage on Chauncey Ave. This is the newest garage in town, and I had forgotten that it was there.

Those first six garages are exactly half of the total to visit today. The 2nd half dozen are on the Purdue University campus. I made a quick loop starting with…

…The Marstellar garage. This is a nice double spiral design (one path up, and another path down), and it was closed much of last summer for major repairs. There are nice views of the south campus and memorial mall areas from the top.

The Wood Street garage is the same double spiral design, but covers more area. This is a favorite destination of mine, since it is near my office. I have been known to hit the garage once before riding home from work. My family watched the downtown fireworks from the top a couple of years ago.

The Grant Street garage is a unique design utilizing square levels with up and down ramps in the middle. It’s not a very challenging ride up, since one has to ride around each level before getting to the next ramp. The hills aren’t long enough to get the heart rate going. This is the only garage offering paid visitor parking on campus.

Winning the award for the most interesting layout, the Northwestern Garage is actually two in one. One side is the same double spiral seen in other campus garages, but tacked onto that is another level that is oddly shaped to apparently fit the space available. There is only one set of ramps, but it is connected at each level to the original structure. It’s kind of confusing to drive through, since one has to use a different set of down ramps depending on which street exit is desired. The visitor information center and parking office are hosted on the ground floor.

The University Street garage is also two garages built side by side, and they are only connected at the top level. I use this quite a bit during the winter when attending meetings in Hovde Hall or Elliot Hall of Music.

Finally, the McCutcheon Garage is located near Purdue West, and is dedicated soley to student residence hall parking. It is also only three levels, but I’ve heard rumors that two or three additional levels may be added.

These garages aren’t that far apart, but starting at my house, riding up and down each garage, doubling back for photos, and heading back home, I traveled 26.0 miles during this tour. (I got a few odd looks from pedestrians when stopping to take a photo of a garage!)

It was a short ride, but an expensive one.

I threw the bike in the back of the van and drove to the mechanic to get the air conditioner fixed. I rode downhill to work.

A quick ride back after work (and one big check to write), and I was on my way home.

The path to work followed some parking lots, Navajo Drive, Salisbury Street, and Grant Street to my office. The return route was the same in reverse.

Miles Ridden: 5.6
Total This Year 296 + TBD

It was a quick ride to Granville Bridge this morning, and the fog was thick enough to require the blinky light.

It’s tough to get a good picture of fog!

Miles Ridden: 9.1
Total This Year: 291 + TBD

Total this month: 211.3 miles.

After yesterday, I thought I’d take it easy and stick to quiet roads and bike lanes. I didn’t really have a plan in place, so I just started riding. I ended traveling a couple of roads I hadn’t seen in a while, and some stretches that I’ve never seen before.

I started west on Division and north on 350W/325W. This passes the Par View golf course leading to SR26. A short easterly jaunt on the highway and I turned left (north) onto Klondike Road. This is a narrow county road that can be pretty busy, but this morning, it wasn’t bad. Up near the schools, I saw a couple of deer crossing the road. Klondike becomes 300W and then Taft Rd.

At 500N, I turned east. This took me by the tall trees I saw a couple of weeks ago. I continued east onto a portion of the road I’ve never traveled before. After a little bit, the road shot down a hill and came out on SR43 at the American Legion Post 492. I only rode south on SR43 at short time before coming to the end of Soldiers’ Home Road. On the tall trees ride, I had gone down and then back up the switchbacks in front of the Veterans’ Home. This time, the road went straight up the ridge, and it was a little tougher.

Heading back into town, I stopped at my friend Eric’s house and talked for about 20 minutes. He has been fixing up bikes he ‘rescues’ from campus bike racks after they are abandoned by students. He had a couple of Specialized models and a nice Trek in the garage.

Cumberland Ave took me west to Wally World and the Cattail Trail. I followed the trail to McCormick road, SR26, Newman Road, and home.

Miles Ridden: 20.9
Total This Year: TBD + 282

I’ve whined before about how I hate it when someone passes me unsafely. My routes to work take me up the hill on Newman Road where I have had trouble many times. More than once, oncoming traffic has had to pull over and stop to get out of the errant passer. I used to get mad about it, but now I just let it go – until today.

I heard the car coming up behind me and then as it began to come around. Imagine my surprise when I saw a Tippecanoe County sheriff car on my left! After he passed, I made the exasperated hands in the air signal, and he stopped. I rode up beside his window.

Before he could say a word, I started in:

DanOnBike: I can’t even count how many times I’ve wished there was a cop around to ticket people who pass me on this hill on a curve with double yellow lines – and now you’re doing it, too!

Young, wet-behind-the-ears deputy: How do expect people to get around a slow moving bike?

Dan: I expect them to wait until it is safe to pass!

Deputy: OK

Dan: The law is pretty clear about it, and you should know that!

Deputy: OK

Dan: Be a little more careful out there!

And I rode off.

(Imagine as you read that I was pretty much out of breath and pumped with adrenaline, so I sounded pretty upset. He had that “this guy is about to explode and I need to calm him down” look on his face.)

As I was riding on to work, my heart was beating amazingly fast, and I couldn’t tell if I should be laughing or scared or what. By the time I got to the office, I was feeling pretty proud of myself and had to tell someone.

However, as I said it out loud, it sounded kind of strange and definitely out of character for me. As I think about it this evening, I kind of feel bad for yelling at him. Most drivers don’t wish us cyclists any harm; they have been driving this way for ever. Instead of possibly convincing him that he shouldn’t do that, he probably thinks all bikers are nuts. Oh, well! Sorry, young deputy. (Did I mention that he passed me again closer to the top of the hill?)

Anyway, I took the North Route home and saw a couple of neat things on Lindberg Road. First, someone must be counting the number of dead frogs on that stretch (there are a lot of them). Each squished amphibian had a orange stripe of spay paint marking his final resting place. Also, remember the couch pillow from April? I seems to have met a nasty end thanks to the county lawn mower. There was stuffing everywhere. Oh, the carnage!

Miles Ridden: 12.9
Total This Year: 261 + TBD