Dan on Bike

We’ve been suffering through a heat wave for the last week and a half, so I haven’t ridden much (except for the N.I.T.E. ride). Today, I traveled the River Road/Campus Route. It was actually a little chilly in my T-shirt and bike shorts as I went down the first little hill.

On River Road from Newman down to the Purdue horse farm, there was much damage from Tuesday night’s wind storm. Several large trees and lots of branches had blocked the road and trapped customers at McGraw’s for over an hour. It’s going to take a few days to get it all cleaned up.

Bike Lane in Academy Park

Miles Ridden: 10.0
Total This Year: 248 + TBD

My wife and I attended the Navigate Indy This Evening, or N.I.T.E. Ride, on Saturday night. The ride leaves from the Major Taylor Velodrome at 11:00pm and meanders through the IUPUI campus to Monument Circle. After a SAG stop at the American Legion Mall, the route heads north on Meridian and Washington streets, cuts through Butler University and the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art before returning to the starting point.

[Click Here for the route map]
However, this isn’t about the route or the town, it’s about my wife’s first bike ride over 10 miles. I bought her the bike back in April so that she could ride on the N.I.T.E. ride with me. I’ve been there 3 or 4 times before, and she said it sounded fun. Somehow, I talked her into it.

It takes a long time for the ride to start, so it was 11:30 before we left the park. She was riding around 8MPH, so we were passed by most of the riders behind us. It was when the volunteers (green shirts) started passing that we started feeling like the last riders on the route. We eventually got to the SAG, and found it very crowded. We took a short break and took off before the rest of the crowd did so that we wouldn’t be last. My wife decided to ride a little faster, and we started passing others. It was fun!

Once we hit 46th street, we noticed that the police officers directing traffic were disappearing, as were the green shirts that should have been posted at the turns. It was then that I noticed the marks on the street indicating the route. We encountered few of our fellow riders for the last six or so miles.

Back at the Velodrome, we got in line for our supper. Cold, soggy pasta from Fazoli’s does not hit the spot after a two hour ride! We drank a soda and bought some ice cream for the ride home. We arrived back in West Lafayette around 3:30 and hit the hay.

My wife is very proud of herself for finishing the ride, although she says she probably won’t do it again.

Miles Ridden: 20.1
Total This Year: 238 + TBD

Tom talks about wanting to go car free today.

While he laments not being able to let go of his four-wheeler, I’m still impressed. He owns a car, but routinely chooses to not use it in situations where the rest of us wouldn’t dream of it. He rides to work in the winter! In Buffalo!

I’d love to ride to work (as well as for errands), but I always find an excuse. Weather is the biggest one (too hot, too cold, too wet), followed by time, clothing (I need to dress up for work sometimes), and company (my wife and kids won’t/can’t ride along).

I’ll keep trying, and I hope that Tom keeps inspiring me.

This was a good day for a ride to work. I was scheduled for training all day, so I didn’t have to dress up, and the weather was looking great.

I started in a little early, and the trip went fast. I took Harrison Street in place of State because of the construction in front of Matthews Hall. When I arrived, I noticed that I had forgotten my bike lock, so I parked the Trek in my office. (I have a feeling that if I were to ask permission to bring the bike in, I would be told “NO”. Sometimes, it is better not to ask.)

However, my wife and kids decided this was the day to hit the county fair. They talked me into being picked up at work so they wouldn’t have to wait 45 minutes for me to get home. It worked out pretty well since we beat the crowds, but my bike is still at work!

I’ll pick it up tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll have it for the NITE ride. More on Sunday.

Miles Ridden: 3.8 (not enough to count as a ride!)
Total This Year: I’ve really lost track of this. Hopefully, I can get the numbers figured out soon.

The neighbor and I headed out in the steamy, hot morning air for a quick ride. I had to take my son to school and be at work early, so I needed to be home by 7:00.

We headed northwest on what ended up being a modified Llama Route (with 500W in place of 550/575W). The problem was that even though he said we would be back maybe five minutes late, we didn’t return until 7:15. I ended up not getting breakfast at home, leaving late, stopping at Mac’s on the way in, dropping a piece of Egg-a-Muff on my pants (which immediately left a small grease stain), and walking in 10 minutes after 8:00. Things were already hitting the fan.

Welcome to Monday!

Miles Ridden: 12.3
Total This Year: TBD + 214

Here’s a GMaps Pedometer Map for the route.

UPDATE: Oh! I forgot to mention that there were workmen on Division Road preparing to add the bikelanes to the newly paved stretch. We thought that maybe they had decided against installing them. This will make this road much safer for us cyclists.

It was 11:15 before I started out today. I had to see the end of the Tour stage before I left.

I thought about taking the Lilly Road Route clockwise, but at the last minute I decided to head into West Lafayette. I ended up on River Road pointed north. My legs were feeling great, and the speed was good. One car honked at me for being in his way, and I didn’t let it bother me. I just waved back (with all of my fingers – not just one).

I turned northwest onto Happy Hollow Road. It’s a bit of a climb, but I’ve done it before. However, about half way up I started feeling quite bad. Hot, dizzy, a bit queasy – I pulled over for a rest. After a couple minutes straddling my bike trying to get my breathing under control, I walked over to a shady spot under a bush and sat for a while. It was 10 minutes before I felt normal again. I need to quit riding right after watching a bike race run up a few mountains. Lance Armstrong I’m not!

Anyway, after I recovered I completed the hill with dark clouds rapidly moving overhead. The route continued north on Soldier’s Home Road and east on Kalberer Road. A few raindrops came down, but no big storm.

I turned south onto Salisbury and traveled down to Grant, and on south to Stadium. A right took me west by the dorms and Slayter Center. South on McCormick, west on SR26, and southwest on Newman brought me back to Division Road and home.

This would have been a good ride to have taken my camera. I saw:

• A golden lab on a walk wearing booties. I’m guessing to protect his feet from the heat.
• A partially hidden police car setting a speed trap.
• A four wheeled “pedal buggy”. I don’t know the proper name for this contraption. It had two passengers, and they were pedaling down the street pulling a trailer carrying 4 plastic recycle bins.

Maybe next time.

Miles Ridden: 15.8
Total This Year: 202 + TBD

I’ve been going into work early every day this week, and my plans for today are the same. Therefore, I once again took the reverse South Work Route. Nothing notable happened – no traffic scares, no wildlife, no joggers (weird), and no rain. It was, however, a nice mind clearing time.

Miles Ridden: 8.4
Total This Year: TBD + 186

Since the remnants of Hurricane Dennis are due to dump a bunch of rain here this week, the neighbor and I took advantage of the nice morning to get a few miles in. We took the Granville Bridge Route with an extra mile south on 700W.

Miles Ridden: 11.5
Total This Year: TBD + 178

After watching the Tour this morning, set out to ride the bike to work (I had an hour or two of things to catch up on).

My route basically was another run of the South Work Route in reverse with an added trip up to Five Points via South St.

The Five Points Fire Station features a pig from the Hog Wild event in 2003
I also sped up the State Street Hill rather than Williams Street.

It’s on the hill, but on the level

I tried something new on the ride today. A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law gave me an MP3 player for bike rides. I have never used it during a ride since I like to hear the traffic to help keep track of cars. I even once chided Nancy about it once in a comment. Today, I listened to a podcast from Bicyclemark (I don’t agree with most of his views, but he’s fun to listen to and makes me think about things). Since it was a recording of BM talking and not music, I was able to hear the traffic noise just fine. In fact, there were times when a passing truck would drown out the dialog. I may try it again some time.

Miles Travelled: 12.0
Total This Year: TBD + 166

(Gmaps Pedometer Map of the route)

I stumbled upon this neat tool called the Gmaps Pedometer that allows the user to enter a route and see it on the map along with a calculated distance. Pretty cool!

Click Here for a map of the South Work Route.