Dan on Bike

Since last fall, there has been a bicycle locked onto a high tension power line tower at the corner of Klondike and Lindberg in West Lafayette. I pass that intersection often, especially on the North Work Route as I did today.

I had planned to photograph the abandoned bike and offer it to my readers. However, when I came by today – camera in hand – I found that the bike was gone. I don’t know if the owner came back, someone stole it, or the power company cut it off.

Anyway, there’s no picture again today.

Miles Ridden: 11.7
Total This Year: 283

I rode to work today, and I had to get home quickly afterwards. I took the South Work Route home and tried to keep the speed up. The toughest thing with that is paying attention. I normally tend to let my mind wander away, and I’ll find myself moving at 9 or 10 MPH. Today I kept my mind on task and averaged 13.6 MPH. For me, that’s pretty good!

Miles Riden: 8.3
Total This Year: 272

I bought my daughter a bike at the Evil Empire today. The best part of the shopping trip was when I talked her in to test riding the bike in a cleared part of the store. I wish I would have had my camera!

Anyway, we took a short ride around the neighborhood to try out her new wheels. She is used to her 20″ fixed gear bike, so she can really pedal! I was a having a time keeping up for part of the trip.

Miles Ridden: 3.7
Total This Year: 262

I took a fast run on the River Road/Campus Route this morning.

Miles Ridden: 9.9
Total This Year: 256

Nikkieyes mentions me.

Great Ride Today!

The Highlights

Last night, I dropped off my wife at work. So, this morning when I went to pick her up, I threw the bike in the back of the van. My ride started from near Salisbury and Cumberland in West Lafayette, which extended my northern reach a little.

Not far into the trip, I came across this stone sign at the entrance to a new subdivision. I don’t think that this silhouette (presumably of William Henry Harrison) could be any more of a caricature. Probably not what they planned.

My goal today was to find the Cairo Watchtower. This 30 foot tower was erected in the 1950s so that volunteers could watch for Soviet planes and report them to the Air Force. (The author of the linked page proposes another, hidden purpose.) I was actually surprised by the small size of it. Maybe the trees weren’t there 50 years ago, but I’m sure it would be tough to see planes from the deck now. Not that I would actually want to climb it. It looks to be in pretty bad shape. These photos from 2001 show the platform to be in much better shape than my photo from today reveals.

Unless some work is done soon, I’ll wager that it will be coming down.

I could see the water tower from Brookston about three miles to the north when I crossed SR43. I contemplated running up there, just to say that I had done it, but decided to save it for another day.

I’m guessing that this family has been having trouble with mailbox vandalism.

(It’s probably secured to a buried car axel.)

Along Pretty Prairie Road (which was very pretty), I road past a box laying in the ditch that seemed to have a picture of a naked woman on it. Upon closer inspection, I found it to be a blow up sex doll. I didn’t take it out of the box (afraid to touch it), but I found it most interesting that it would be cast out along the road. Maybe the owner couldn’t find a place in his bedroom to hide it from Mom.

No trip to the northern part of Tippecanoe County would be complete without a stop at the Tippecanoe Battlefied Memorial (where my friend Kathy is the Park Manager). The park includes some very old trees that were standing during the battle in 1811. I’ve heard that some even contain bullets from the fighting.

There were some pretty strong headwinds when travelling south on Tyler, Pretty Praire, and North Ninth Street roads. I think that if I had gone on to Brookston, I would have been quite tired before reaching Lafayette.

My ride ended at my office. I had left my car there on Friday, and after working for half an hour, I loaded the bike in the trunk and drove home.

The Route

• Starting at Salisbury and Cumberland in West Lafayete, I headed north on Salisbury, which out of town becomes 50W (aka County Farm Road). This took me past the Tippecanoe Villa and Harrison High School.
• After a quick jog to the west, the road becomes 100W.
• I stopped at 850N to view the Cairo Watchtower.
• Continuing north on 100W, I crossed over I-65 and turned right (east) on 900N.
• This road led me across SR43 and through the former town of Ash Grove.
• 900N ended at Tyler Road, which I took south.
• Tyler travelled a short distance to Pretty Praire Road. I followed it south west into the town of Battleground.
• Downtown, I turned south onto North Ninth Street Road and pedaled into Lafayette after a quick stop at the Battlefield.
• I continued south on Canal Street and grabbed the Wabash River Heritage Trail at the base of the Harrison bridge.
• After passing the Amtrak station, I crossed the Wabash on the John Myers Pedestrian Bridge
• I took Tapawingo Drive and Brown Street around Wabash Landing.
• After a quick run up State Street Hill, a left on Grant Street depositied me at the office at Grant and Wood

Miles Ridden: 28.0 (This blows away Friday’s one day record!)
Total This Year: 247

After a quick shower and breakfast following my morning ride, I left for work (a little late). It had already warmed up considerably since 6:00, and I was comfortable in my short sleeve shirt.

I rode home on the North Work Route, and I had the camera ready looking for shots of students moving out. Finals ended today, and I had seen several Ryder trucks clumsily backed up to porches and alley doors during lunch. However, by 5:15, they were all gone. So, no photos today.

Miles Ridden: 11.7
Total This Year: 219

That makes 22.1 for the day – this most in one day this year! I’m sure I’ll have longer rides (maybe on Sunday), but I feel like a marathon rider today.

Once again, my thumbs are stinging with pre-frostbite (I’m so dramatic) after a cold morning ride. The thermomemter read 40°F as the neighbor and I took the Granville Bridge Route. We’ve been taking an extra jog at the end where we take River Road from Division to 350W, then north back to Division. With the closure on River Road near the Fort, there isn’t any traffic on that stretch. Division Road, however, was pretty busy during the entire ride.

Miles Ridden: 9.4
Total This Year: 207

I rode to work today along the usual route in with a quick stop at SSOF for a meeting. I took the North Work Route home with a detour north on Salisbury to visit the inaugural Sagamore West Farmers’ Market up in Cumberland Park in West Lafayette. My wife and daughter were there buying a tree. There were a few booths selling plants, but it was mostly crafts and jewelry. They even had a band playing.

The ride was pretty good – cold in the morning, mid-60s in the evening. Plus, there wasn’t much wind either time.

Miles Ridden: 14.8
Total This Year: 195

Total for April: 162 miles