Total for April

Total for April: 162 miles

To the Forest

The neighbor and I rode to Martell Forest this morning. It was a little chilly at first, but I warmed up soon enough (except for my thumbs, which never do).

This sexy gal walked over and said hi to us.



Miles Ridden: 11.7
Total This Year: 180

(I'm actually writing this on Friday morning. For some reason I have zero urge to ride today. It's 45° and calm - great riding weather - and storms are forecasted for later today and tomorrow. I guess I'm not riding again until Sunday.)

Riding with my Buddy

It has been said that wind is your training buddy. If that's so, he gave me quite a workout today. A WSW wind in the low 20s made the North Work Route a tough one. Despite the wind, I feel pretty good (runner's high, maybe).

Going slower than usual, I was able to see things I don't normally see, such as this couch pillow that must have flown out of the pickup during a move west.



Miles Ridden: 11.8
Total This Year: 169

I'm wondering why this same route has come up twice at 12.4 miles, and twice at 11.8 miles. I'm beginning to question my odometer.

Angry Biker

When I told my wife I was going to ride to work the other morning, she said "That will put you in a good mood." And it did.

Well, not today. After fighting several wardrobe malfunctions this morning (stains on the shirt, dog hair on the slacks, and holes in the socks), I finally got out of the garage at 7:30, which was about 15 minutes later than I had planned. On the way in, I was passed by numerous cars while on a hill or coming up to a blind curve (or both). I even had one oncoming car cross the double line!

So, as I was pedaling along, I had imaginary arguments with the drivers. I was always very witty and had the last word.

I'm not feeling any better, but I do feel more superior. Shouldn't that count for something?

Miles Ridden: I'll post it at the end of the day
Total This Year: Not enough

Biking in DC

The family is taking a 5 day vacation to Washington, DC at the end of next month, and I've been thinking about renting a bike for a ride on one of the mornings that we are there.

BikeWashington.org has some good information. Their list of the best routes in DC includes the Zoo Review route. It's 20 miles and just 5 blocks from our hotel.



The Visitor's Guide includes a list of bike rental companies. One even offers free delivery.

As soon as we get our itinerary figured out, I'll give them a call to get the details.

Could be fun!

Bike Blogs

I entered 'bike blog' into Google and found a couple of interesting reads.

A guy named Thomas Woods has 'My Bike Blog' that chronicles his rides in the Buffalo area. He is using a format similar to mine, but he seems to have more to say (or at least a better way of saying it). I hope to get some inspiration from him.

There were several other blogs listed, but they were either professional or business sites, or personal sites that have not been updated in quite some time. I'm sure that this little diary will fall out of my favor at some point as well. I'm just trying to finish the entire 2005 season, and then I'll see if I wish to continue.

Lindsey Was Wrong

This morning, little Lindsey Butor said that it would be 65 and sunny at 5:00 today. So, I packed shorts and a T-shirt for the trip home. However, when I rode home this evening on the North Work Route, it was 55, cloudy, and windy. Needless to say, I was a little chilly for most of the trip.

After I got home, my wife and I tooled around the neighborhood a couple of times.



The bike lanes in West Lafayette are pretty good - except for the occasional yard waste obstacle. However, the lanes outside the city limits are covered with sand and gravel remianing from the winter battle against snow and ice. The County won't sweep the lanes, so we can only hope that a good strong rain comes along and washes it away.

Miles Ridden: 12.9
Total This Year: 157

Calm Morning

The neighbor and I rode the Granville Bridge Route with a little extra at the end. It was a pretty calm ride, although we did spook a small herd of deer that were grazing in a field near the road.


Miles Ridden: 10.0
Total This Year: 144

A Nice Sunday Morning

We started out on the Montmorenci Route, but the neighbor decided to head west on 350N after will left the little town. We rode to County Line Road (1000W) and cycled south to Division Road, which is 700N in Fountain County. We sped east on Division with a good tail wind and kept going straight where the road becomes River Road. A quick jog north on 350W brought us back to Division and on home.

Beautiful ride!



Miles Ridden: 21.2
Total This Year: 134

Not As Cold

I took the North Work Route to and from work again today. The nice part was that I left early in time to make the Purdue Faculty/Staff/Retiree pancake breakfast.

My daughter reminded me to take my camera this morning since I always see something neat when I don't have it. However, I couldn't find an empty memory card, so I left it behind. On the way home, I came up on a pair of pheasants that were walking along the road. I probably wouldn't have been able to get the camera out in time anyway, but I would have tried.

Miles Ridden: 11.8
Total This Year: 112

Work Routes

I have two basic routes to work, the North and the South. They differ only in the ride home, as I like to keep the ride in as short as possible (to minimize the sweat factor).

The Ride In

Starting at the intersection of Division and Newman Roads near West Lafayette, head northeast on Newman. At SR26, take a right (east) and head towards the Purdue campus. At the intersection with Airport Rd/McCormick Road there is a choice. Option 1 continues on State Street east to Sheetz. Hang a right and travel south for one block, then turn left onto Wood St. My office is at the corner of Wood and Grant. Option 2, which offers much less traffic, travels south on Airport Rd. to Gates. Turn left on Gates and ride east all the way to Intramural Drive. Continue east on Harrison Street to Grant Street, and turn north and pedal one block to Grant.

North Route

The ride home starts at Grant and Wood streets. Roll north on Grant street. The bike lanes begins at State Street and is very helpful in the 5:00 traffic. Travel up the hill past the high school to Salisbury. Turn left (NNW) on Salisbury (more bike lane) and continue to Lindberg Road. Head left (west) on Lindberg (still more bike lane), ride past the Celery Bog, across McCormick Road, and across Klondike Road. At 400W, turn south and ride all the way to 350W and Division Road where the big tree is in the middle of the road. Turn left (east) on Division Road to go back to Newman Road.

The north route is around 12 miles long.

North Route Extension

When riding on Salisbury, continue north to Kalberer Road. Head west to the Cattail Trail, and follow the trail south and west past Wal Mart to Lindberg Road. A right on Lindberg rejoins the original route.

This variation of the north route adds 3.5 miles.

North Route Modifed

This started out as a detour around bridge construction, but I found that it is a nice route anyway - especially when I don't have quite enough time for the full North route.

Instead of taking Lindberg all the way to 400W, I cut south on Klondike Road. Then, east on SR26, south on Sharon Chapel Road, and SW on Newman Road gets me home. I sometimes take a shortcut on Drury Lane to limit my time on the highway.

Total distance is 10.7 miles.

South Route

To head home on the South Route, start south on Grant St. a couple of blocks to Williams (in front of Freehafer Hall). Head left down the hill to River Road. Turn right and travel west in the handy bike lane. At the stop light take a right to continue on River Road. Roll west a few more miles to Newman Road. Turn right (north) and ride back to Division.

The south route is around 9 miles long.

Another Option on the Avenue

The Wabash Avenue Route runs within a block of my office building, so a reverse of that route is another fun way home.

Cold Morning

I rode to work again today, on the North Work Route. It was quite cold when I left in the morning with a wind chill of 31°F. However, in the afternoon, it was a perfect 70°F.

Miles Ridden: 12.2
Total This Year: 101

Up The Hill

This month brings a lot of 'first time this year' rides. This morning, my neighbor and I took a morning ride west on Division Road that included the first climb of Indian Creek Hill. Most hills we climb are short, but this one has a long, easy lead-in that ends with a steep section. The first time I ever rode up without stopping, I felt like I had conquered an Alp! It wasn't so tough today, but still fun.



Miles Ridden: 11.2
Total This Year: 87

And There Was

I packed up all of the bikes, and the whole family drove over to a small park by the Wild Bird Shop. After unloading everything, inflating tires, and spending way too long to get my wife's front tire back on, we rode the north branch of the Cattail Trail - up to Hadley Lake and back. We didn't ride for very long, but she's still getting used to the whole thing - especially shifting.


Miles Ridden: 2.8
Total This Year: 76

Tour of West Lafayette

My Sunday ride today was a nice route around West Lafayette.

I started out by heading east on River Road towards the Levee area. Just south of the Wastewater Treatment Plant is the beginning of the WL portion of the Wabash Heritage Trail. This trail is nice little path through the woods that takes us through Tapawingo Park and farther north, and it is almost a mile and a half long on this side of the river. (I'll profile the Trail in another post.) I travelled north to the other end of the WL trail at North River Road and Quincy St.



I headed up the hill northwest on Robinson, and on up Salisbury, past the water tower, Happy Hollow School, and US52. I hung a left (west) on Kalberer Road and rode up to the Cattail Trail. Travelling south, I took the trail past the Evil Empire to Lindberg Road. I then cycled west to 400W and came south back to Division Road and home.

A quick word on bike lanes: The good people of West Lafayette have provided great bike lanes all over town. Today, I was able to ride safely out of traffic on US231, Salisbury, Kalberer, and Lindberg. Other streets, including Grant and University and also marked for bike travel. Along with the various trails, it is very easy to wheel around town without raising the ire of angry motorists. It's too bad that Lafayette can't follow their lead.

There may be another ride later in the day.

Miles Ridden: 17.3
Total This Year: 73

Morning Quickie

The neighbor and I took a quick, cold ride this morning. We traveled up 400W to Lindberg, east to the Cattail Trail, south to McCormick Rd, West on 26, and Newman back home.



If I had time, this would be a good day to ride to work. However, it's already 7:20 and I haven't showered yet. I have to leave by 7:30 to get there by 8:00.

UPDATE: Added an extra .9 miles riding with my wife on her NEW BIKE!. We bought a Trek Navigator 100 at Hodson's Bay Company today during their Super Sale. We've been looking for a bike for her for about a year, and the price was pretty good.



Miles Ridden: 9.4 10.3
Total This Year: 55 56

Inaugural Morning Ride

The neighbor and I kicked off the season with our first before-work ride. We took the Granville route with a little extra riding south on 700W. It was a little chilly at first, but I warmed up quickly. With the road closure on Division Road, the traffic is light. (Pretty soon, they'll start tearing up the pavement, and we may have to alter our route.)


Miles Ridden: 10.5
Total This Year: 45

I Saw Goats Today

I'm realizing already that I'm going to have a tough time naming these posts for each ride. Since I snapped this shot of goats in a pasture, today's title is more individual than most will be.



I rode the Montmorenci Route today. It's going to take a little time to get my bike legs back, but I did pretty well. I was also able to take a few photos today, including a couple of new ones for the route page.

A little bad news: the section of 125N between 750W and Kerber Rd that had been paved is now covered with gravel. I'm hoping that the County Highway Dept. is planning to repave it at some point, since it is already rippled and rutted.




Miles Ridden: 16.8
Total This Year: 35