A new Front End to Edwardsville

Over last weekend my friend Tim headed out to get a taste of the Knobs of Southern Indiana. We talked a little on Thursday night about the best way to return to New Albany from the Knobs but we did not talk about how to get there. Tim found a different way to get to Corydon Pike via Budd Road/Highwater Road. This requires spending some time on Indiana 111 which is reasonably crowded just outside of New Albany. Tim recommended these roads for the scenery aspect so I thought I would give it a shot. It did not disappoint. I came upon this area and could not help but stop and take a picture:

Right after this picture it was straight down a nasty gravel strewn road then across some tracks and to Corydon Pike. This was good for me to mix up a relatively rote portion of this regular ride and improve it. As I rode across the Quarry Road ridge line I was stopped in my tracks by a large 10-12 point Buck standing in the road. I stopped and was trying to reach around to the back to grab the camera but he hit the trail. Meanwhile I snapped this pic to show off the foilage in its finest:

It was a great day and I great ride

Rock and Roll Means Well

About a month and a half of anticipation finally came to fruition last Thursday night October the 30th. The Drive-by Truckers and the Hold Steady choose to kick off their month long tour right here in Louisville, KY. I told people about the show and talked it up for some time. By the time the day rolled around I had commitments from my friend Ian and his GF Chelsea with Tim on the fence. I gave some pep talks on the way home and it was finally looking good.

I headed home to take care of my obligations at home. Leaving early is always a strain on the other to get three little ones to bed including infant twins. To make it worse as I looked into the times it showed that the doors were to open at 7 and the show was to start at 8. Kinda early. I had the feeling that both bands could play 2 hours plus and I was concerned that the show would in fact start at 8. Tim called back and confirmed he was going, that he could drive me there, and that the box office confirmed it was going down on time.

We headed down to the bar formerly called Coyote’s now referred to as City Block for the show. Spirits were high as we lined up to get in. I heard a girl come out with a smallish camera bag and tell someone they wouldn’t let her carry her camera in. As at most shows I go to I had mine in my back pocket. It is one of my favorite things about the shows.

We got in around 8, grabbed some beers and sure enough the DBT’s came out shortly thereafter. This was my first time seeing the band live and it was impressive. It is great to see people play who are clearly so comfortable together. It absolutely rocked. They have a guy how took Jason Isbell’s place playing the lead guitar fills but does no singing. This seems to greatly free up Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley to just do their thing. And they played “Zip City” A little into the show a burly security guy informed me that if I took any more pictures he would take my camera. That’s weak. I am not really for sure why this happened – the band, the venue, or the beginning of the tour? It doesn’t seem characteristic for either band but who knows. I did manage to get these snapped prior to the “ban”:

After a quick break The Hold Steady took the stage. We made some good moves towards the front (not as good as we could have with Ms. Tim) during the break. Then some other bike nerd overheard us talking about bikes and joined on in.

As soon as the music started I felt locked into the tractor beam and pulled close to the stage. The kids were going wild and it was tons of fun. There did not appear to be any trash cans at the City Block and there quite a lot of loose bottles and busted bottles on the floor. It made me think of “Kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer”. It left my shoes looking like this:
This was a rawk show at its finest – crowded, hot, loud, with everybody jumping around dancing and singing. Here are a few pictures I took from my new position and increased courage – not to mention everybody else was doing it:

Tim bailed around 11 which I understand. I’m sure he intended to ride his bike to teach school the next day.

My good friend Ian hooked me up with a ride home – quite nice since it was certainely not on his way. I had to laugh because Chelsea indicated that Tim used to be one of her high school teachers. I don’t think I have been to one show with him where we have not encountered former students.

It was a great night and really recharged my battery. I made it to work on time (6:45) and really felt fine even though I didn’t get to bed until around 1:00. I made my ride the next day and life was good.

End of the Month

YTD – 739.16
October – 257.38
Thursday – 14.86
Friday – 15.72

Coming into the last two days of the month I had already surpassed my mileage goal of 200 for the month and I was looking to break 250 instead. I had two good days to do it in as the temperature had climbed back in to the lower 70’s.

On Thursday I went for a new route to fill in some more of the area in the northwest Knob areas outside of New Albany. In an interesting turn I went up a big hill climb I had previously only come down. I went through my normal small climb of Capt Frank/Valley View and went right to head out Old Vincennes Road. It doesn’t make the list of 100 steep climbs but it is no joke. It also offers a few choice vistas of downtown Louisville of which I did not take a picture. I made it to the top with out stopping so I was pleased with that. I have found that it is easier for me to clear these hills if I am familiar with them, something about knowing when it will be over helps. I headed over to Old Hill Road which was not as it sounded. It was not a steep climb, instead it was a short stretch of up and down on just average asphalt. This led me down Paoli Pike for a short bit and then back into the country. I had a dump truck coming up behind me and pulled into a driveway like a wimp! Oh well… I ended up in the Spickert Knob area hoping to revisit some of the glorious riding from a few weeks ago when I “lost” in this area. It did not disappoint. The only drawback to heading this way is that unless you loop back the way you came the only real option for return is Green Valley Road. As I did last time I rode the main stretch back (including a bridge over the interstate) on the sidewalk. The road is peppered with large wheel killing rocks, dips, and expansion joints. It was close quarters a little but I made it back fine.

By this time I was feeling very excited about the evenings festivities. I was headed to The Rock and Roll Means Well Tour featuring the Drive-by Truckers and The Hold Steady. I had one friend committed to go and one on the fence. More about the show to come.

Friday was a pretty pedestrian ride to the Falls of the Ohio that I do quite often. The big news for me was surpassing 250 miles for the month. I set my goal per month at 200 since I mostly ride at lunch alone. So to get that many miles logged for the month was very satisfying. Of course I benefited from a beautiful month of very mild weather. Up until the end most days were an absolute pleasure to ride in.

Swing State Polling – N’albany Style

DSCN1263_edited.JPG, originally uploaded by cdale.

A Little Chilly….

YTD – 689.79

MTD – 208.01

Today – 16.38

There was definately a chill in the air today not seen yet this year. NWS says we topped out at 48 today…I believe it. Although I have been meaning to for some time I have not rotated cool weather clothes into my workout bag. I walked out to get a bead on the weather before I left and thought – oh boy. There were only two choices – stay or go unprepared. I chose to revel in another of the Rivendell Tips for Happy Riding that states “Go for a one-hour ride underdressed sometime, because it’s good to be really cold on a bike every now and then”. Mission Accomplished. As I left the office my friend TD offered me his jacket, I declined and so he said I’d be back. I left with two polypro shirts and basketball shorts on. It didn’t feel too bad when I walked out, but as soon as I took off the wind and the cold came on strong.

I went out toward Edwardsville as I often do. The route gives me many options and when I take it to the top it offers some great post-climb relief. The first hill up went fine and I went through Silver Hills and down a freezing Camp Rd. headed to Indiana 62. The wind was absolutely punishing on the steady pre-climb. I was really feeling it on my bare forearms and tumbling into my ears. The hill climb itself was a minor relief from the wind. I was able to make it further up than ever in the saddle before standing up. It was a good climb, and a nice ride across the ridge back toward town. The descent was very cold and uncomfortable, I rode back into town and took the most direct line back to work, no extra through town riding. I was ready to hit the hot shower. This was also the first real test on my lungs for sucking in all that cold air. It takes some adjustment for sure.

I got a call from Tim after I got home and scored a tire for the Bridgestone to replace the marred rear tire. He showed up with a surprise pair of size L Cannondale pants that were a race win prize. I said “oh, hey, great”. “Actually I rode today in 2 shirts and shorts”. The reply – “dude, get real”. Anyway – Thanks Tim. It is nice to have a benefactor.

I clipped my mileage target today with three legit riding opportunities left for the week. maybe I’ll get 250 which would be pretty sweet.

Tomorrow I think I will stretch out for a long, flat one.

Gear envy

I am often beset with gear envy. I really do like to buy things and generally enjoy having nice stuff. I stumbled into Gatlinburg Spoke Junkie’s blog and found a most amazing cycling jersey.

The actual post is here. I have been looking at wool jerseys lately and I must say that this one is most fine. It comes from a Portland Cyclewear. I only wish I could come up with something as cool to have stitched on the front. I told my friend we needed to come up with something right away.

Falls of the Ohio

Falls of the Ohio, originally uploaded by cdale.

YTD – 673.41
MTD – 191.63
Today – 15.72

Moser Knob Road and beyond

HPIM0241, originally uploaded by cdale.

YTD – 657.75
MTD – 175.97
Today – 17.22

I set out on a new path this morning to check out a different portion of Floyd’s Knobs. The big question is how to travel through New Albany Proper to get to the hills. I settled on Riding most of Green Valley Road. It is definitely the most obvious path. Unfortunately it made for poor riding especially from about mile 3 to mile 5. Heavy traffic and shitty roads do not make a good ride. I was also dealing with a steady incline that you can’t really see but its there. By the time I headed up the hill I was panting and feeling the stress of the traffic.

I knew Moser Knob was a significant climb, it is listed in a 100 Steep Climbs List that Tim pointed to. It was an absolute bear of a climb. It brought me to me knees, well off of the bike at least. It took me several climb/walk cycles to get to the top. By the time I reached the summit of the Knob I was bushed. I had some flat land to recoup on and headed on. Here’s were it got a little funny, I almost never have directions with me but today I printed a cue sheet from MapMyRide. I ended up missing a turn on to South Skyline. I ended up on Campion Road which turned out to be Instant Karma from the nasty hill. Between the beautiful weather, flat land, nearby stream it was just perfect. My head cleared and I really enjoyed that stretch.

There really is much to be said about unencumbered riding on empty country roads.

As I mentioned I was lost, but not really too bad. My internal compass and general idea of where I was and what roads came out of this area had me feeling fine. Sure enough after about two extra mile I picked Spickert Knob Road back up and had the way back to work under control. I took the picture above just before beginning the descent back to New Albany. I have been watching you bike bloggers so I took the picture with the bike on display. It was a fast run to the bottom and once again that is a place you can really feel the speed in that bike. I came to the portion of Green Valley that gave me such grief before and said “screw it” and took the sidewalk until I got closer to my left turn. I properly and assertively merged into traffic and signaled to turn left. It is a liberating thing to do. Heading up Daisy Lane I hit a substantial bumb and heard a loud noise. I thought for sure I had blown the back tire. I pulled off of the road and felt it – all was good. I thought well I’m stopped how about some water – hey where is my water bottle? At least the loud noise mystery was solved. I ran back to get it before a car hit it. I rushed back to work running about 10 minutes late. 15 miles turned into to 17 but man it was great ride.

Further out Utica Pike

HPIM0238_edited.JPG, originally uploaded by cdale.

YTD – 640.47
MTD – 158.69
Today – 18.48

Ready to hit the road after the weekend off I decided to stretch out across Utica Pike and look for 9-10 miles out and then the same route back. I found a park/boat ramp looking area called “Duffy’s Landing” around mile nine and pulled over to take this picture (I ran it through a PikNik filter to get this look). I headed back to work afterward and felt great overall. I am really coming in to the Bridgestone and had a very comfortable ride. My hands felt better today and I think they are becoming accustomed to the positions offered by the drop bar I ran a little long but had a lot of trouble with lights today. Twice I had to wave people up to trip the traffic signals. Tomorrow should be to the hills

BOB

I have been spending quite a lot of time lately looking at the Rivendell Bicycle Works page over the last few days. They have posted a great list of “Tips for Happy Riding”. It includes one of the funniest pieces of advice I have ever read. It is a very succinct observation of the relationship between men and women. Here it is:

If you pass another rider going up a hill, say more than “Hi,” but if it’s a woman and you aren’t, don’t assume she wants to chit-chat. Treat her as you’d have a generic guy-rider treat your wife/daughter/girlfriend.

If you’re a woman and it’s a guy, you can chit-chat all you like, they won’t mind.

Ha! that is classic. Be sure to read the whole list, it is very entertaining and espouses an overall philosophy to life via bike riding that is very appealing to me.

I have also been learning quite a lot about what they call a BOB. Since my friend loaned me a Bridgestone RB-1 I have been researching it on the internet. I have learned that it is a nearly mythical creature of bicycle lore. The BOB philosophy is at the core of the Rivendell thinking which is not surprising since they are born of the same gentleman Grant Peterson. Mr. Peterson has established a beautiful wonderful set of believers and followers. Most of them would be well at home with my previous statements on snobbery. This is the finest type of snobbery as it is based on the love of things that are pure and effective, not just trendy and popular.

Looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow at lunch. Meanwhile, looking lovingly at Brooks saddles on eBay….