August 5, 2023
I’m 65 and refuse to put up with any more half-wheeling.
Quote of the day: She said, "Life's too short to worry"She said, "Life's too long to waitAnd it's too short not to love everybodyAnd life is too long to hateYeah, I meet a lot of men who haggle, finagle all the timeTryin' to save a nickel and make a dime"She said, "Not me, boy, no sir-eeNo, I ain't a-got the time". Todd Snyder song “Ballad of the Devils Backbone Tavern”. https://genius.com/Todd-snider-ballad-of-the-devils-backbone-tavern-lyric
Tough day today. First the decision had to be made as to how to proceed in light of the upcoming rain and predicted severe storms. I couldn’t make a decision right off the bat upon waking so ate some yogurt and rode to Peru IN where I ate at subway, scoured the weather apps, and decided a cheep motel outside of Marion would be the best bet. And it would allow me to stay on rail trails s hood part of the way.
The first trail was the Nickel Plate Trail which I took to Miami before hopping on roads to get to the second and third trails, the Converse Connector and the Sweetster Switch Trail. All three are great trails but the last two, though short, should stand as examples to trails everywhere. They are well maintained with groomed grass either side, wild flowers beyond this, lots of RR themed decorations, park benches, scattered houses for bluebirds, and some real RR memorabilia. The bridges are even well made covered bridges with benches inside out of the sun. The only thing missing is a source of drinking water and toilets.
Temps were cool today due to the cloud cover and rain threat. I think the warmest it got was 77. The storms were heading in from the NW and so the ground winds were from the SE due to the vacuum effect caused by the approaching front. Luckily the trails attenuated the wind but once on the road I fought a 15-20 mph headwind. That was tough especially for the last 10-15 mikes which always seem to be the hardest. It was all I could do to manage 6-8 mph even downhill! But I made it to my destination before the real rains and only got drizzled on a bit.
I am disappointed as I lost my bandanna that I use to keep sun off my neck. This is the second one I’ve lost. Early on I lost the phone mount for my selfie stick and in week 2 or 3 I lost my favorite Cycology cycling cap my sister gave me. Stuff just disappears.
Rick, with whom I have been riding past couple days, decided to go further and I believe put in another day close to a hundred miles. In spite of all my riding, AGM and Clunk just can’t tolerate that length of time in the saddle.
On one trail I caught up with a guy riding a mountain bike. He seemed to want to talk and told me he rides 50 miles everyday in the trails out here. Even so as soon as I caught up to him he sped up and half-wheeled me for miles. This is when two riders ride together dude by side but one always stays a half wheel ahead of the other. If I sped up to be right alongside him, he sped up to be a half wheel ahead. I tried to back off a few times when we approached other trail users but he would just wait for me and half wheel me again. It’s a passive aggressive move and I am not a fan. We finally got to a place where we needed to take to the road and I told him I was not sure where I was headed yet. At my age I have no need for people like this. It’s like those that have to put others down constantly to raise themselves up. I’m done with those folks too. Don’t make me out to be an idiot in front of others so you look like a genius.
Not much around in way of restaurants near my cheep motel. It’s really just a few fast food places and a Flying J truck stop off an interstate. So I made some of my camping food in the microwave. Hopefully the rain will stop in the AM and I can go across the highway for food tomorrow. It’s supposed to rain off and on tomorrow but Monday is calling for storms again. There was a tornado siren a couple of hours ago here but I didn’t see anything but dark clouds and pouring rain out my window. I’m not sure how I would even know where a tornado was as I got no warnings in my phone and radar just shows severe weather. I don’t think this place would last long if hit anyway.
Random pics of the day:
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 1 | Link |
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48627/browse_photos?place_id=31
Yellow ones are grey head coneflowers.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/85331/browse_photos?place_id=31
A few wild bergamot lurking in the background.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/85320/browse_photos?place_id=31
And off to the left a couple little blazing stars.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48690-Liatris
9 months ago
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 1 | Link |
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/116735/browse_photos?place_id=31
Another busy bumblebee too, as well as out of focus probably bergamot and blazing stars.
9 months ago
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 2,893 miles (4,656 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
9 months ago
I will be watching here for an update. It would be fun to ride along and chat for maybe 5 miles or so.
I've met other cycle tourists at Eastwood Park where the Mad River Trail terminates and you pick up Creekside Trail. Easy to find.
The construction detour for the path puts us on a fairly busy road for a couple blocks, but then goes through a rather hilly residential area, but compared to what you have already done, it is nothing. Most places, at construction a cyclist can work through, but not here. They are doing overhead work tearing out and replacing a bridge. Even on non workdays it would be tough because there are 4 ft high concrete barricades blocking passage. I rode through a few times before they put up the barricades as did many others before the overhead work started.
9 months ago
9 months ago
If you look on google maps, I only live about a mile plus southwest of the intersection of Creekside and Iron Horse in the northeast edge of the Belmont area near the Smithville and Wayne "T" intersection.
9 months ago
9 months ago