Biking the Hoosier Uplands, Fall 2008

This Sunday I had to help out with the toddlers and Friend’s Meeting, so Jojo and I took off just after 1pm. Last week was a killer tough ride, so we wanted to take it easier today. However, the heavy cloud cover was moving quickly from the west, and we were ready to get wet. We met at Bloomingfoods East and rode down 446, chasing the clouds the whole way, at least the wind was at our backs.

We rode down Pine Grove Road, which we still a bit flooded at the bottom of the hill, but we pedaled right through and continued to the boat ramp. There were were just a couple of trucks with trailers, and no one in sight. It was windy and cloudy, but warm, so we quickly shed our clothes and put on swim suits and jumped in the water.

As the water was high, there were trees and rocks that we were able to use for diving into the water, which felt warm in contrast to the 15 mph wind. We goofed around for about half an hour, then got out and dried off, it got sunnier and sunnier as the wind blew the clouds to the west.

We headed back up Pine Grove Road, and with the wind in our faces, we did not even break a sweat over the 1.4 miles of climb, which goes from 550 ft. amsl to 825 at the ridgetop, 275 feet of climb, yet it is made bearable in that it comes in stages. The first big climb is about 125 feet, it then flattens out before rising again in several stages. We stopped to peruse the coal train along the Polly Grimshaw Trail, and then headed home.

The ride was only 20 miles, and after the longer rides through the forest we’ve been doing, this was easy riding, a quick day at the beach.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed