tour guides

Last month Heather and I went to Louisville to watch Ironman Louisville, and ride ountain bikes at Cherokee Park. While there, we tagged along with a couple local guys who helped us find our way around the park. Without them, we would have been riding the same 1 mile loop until we got bored, instead we had a great 2 hourish ride around several somewhat confusing loops.

This morning we arrived at BCSP and one of the guys from Louisville had driven up with a friend for a ride. We got to return the tour guide services. We shared our trails, and everyone had a great time. It was a beautiful September day for a bike ride.

And the #2 sign of a good mountain bike race is...

...radar.

I just wanted to add some pics to go along with Randi’s post on the last DINO race in Indianapolis during hurricane Ick, I mean hurricane Ike. Indeed, I was also perplexed how mud and dirt could get into unimaginable places—not to mention the buddy moogers. While Randi escaped the camera’s lens after the race, she looked somewhat like Meredith and myself in the pic below. Before the rain started, it was more like this:

























Image taken 3 hours before the race start from NWS:














Ange & Meredith:

ode to pirates

twas the night before talk like a pirate day
and all through the ride
we tossed around aaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh's
as one of us let loose with the farrrrrrrrrghts

someone suggested shiloh
everyone likes a good hill
aaarrgh but it starts steep
and our heavy breaths are the only peeps

we laughed at old stories
Daaaaaang blonde bike riding girls are hot
aaaaaargh Randi growled back
as she blew a big hocker of snot

ahoy matey...Ang peeled off to go home
cheryl took a sign sprint
aaaarrrgh Randi grunted as she took the next hill
and only at 80 degrees does she say 'I just got a chill'!

so sad we are as the ride nears its end
the sun is dropping as dusk closes in
aaaaaaarrrrrgggggggh and catch you tomorrow matey
we say with a grin

And the #1 sign that I had a good mountain bike race is...

...dirt in my crack!!!

Yes, I actually ventured out for my second race of the season! Two races in a season is easily my all-time low, but after Cheryl asked me for the 87th time when my next race would be, I finally decided to do the season finale of the DINO Series up in Indy. I was just hoping it would be more fun than the mud-tastic Chickasaw Trace Classic I’d done in early spring. (I’m sure Chickasaw would’ve been ridiculously fun in dry conditions.) Town Run Trail Park is a super fun, super fast course. I can ride everything there, so it can’t be hard. The challenge there is going fast on the twisting, turning trails.

The trails were in absolute perfect condition for the first 1 1/2 laps. It started pouring rain about halfway through the second lap, though, and the rest of the race was pretty slick. There was plenty of standing water, riding the berms was no longer an option, and my sunglasses were fogging and collecting mud. I just had to slow down and slug it out. I had two wrecks on the third and final lap, and both of them were pretty funny and not very painful, so it was alright. I was just happy to finish without any major damage to self or bike, unlike my husband who played pinball with a couple trees. He has some bark rash on his face, a sore shoulder, and a chain ring gouge (and resulting skin flap) on his lower leg…but I think he’s going to be okay. His fork and handlebars won’t be, though!

It was fun trying to clean up at the car. There was mud everywhere—caked inside my socks, inside my ears, in my eyes (a bit inconvenient during the race), and everywhere! My buddy and teammate Charlie made a comment that he thought he probably even had mud in his butt crack, and I said I probably did, too. Upon arriving home and preparing for my shower, I confirmed that I did indeed have dirt in my crack! What a fun and crazy day.

Mama Mia!

Forgoing my usual weekend ride in Bloomington, I spent today riding with my mother from Washington to Vincennes and back. This would be her longest bike ride totaling 45 miles. Congratulations to dear ol’ Mom on achieving this tremendous milestone!
After a restless night and a couple of friends bailing out, we left the house just after 8 a.m. We had many discussions about the designated route as I preferred the quiet back roads while she favored the large shoulder of the 4-lane US Highway. We each made some concessions and both got our way.

We took Old Vincennes Road to Wheatland, home of the infamous Satin Lady. Unfortunately I missed the photo op of this, um, “gentleman’s club” in the town of 504 people. From there we took the bypass, which is US Hwy 50, to Old US 50 finally reaching our destination. We took a short break in one of the city parks.

Resorting to Wikipedia again, Vincennes is the oldest town in Indiana with quite a robust history. Growing up in southern Indiana, I think it’s mandatory for students to read, “Alice of Old Vincennes” at some point in public schooling. The part I could never grasp was Vincennes Lincoln High School’s mascot—the Alices. What kind of cheers and threats could the Alices make to their opponents?

For the return trip, we took Old Wheatland road stopping for a bite to eat at the Small Town Crossing store. We finished the route by riding on Hwy 550 back to Old Vincennes Road to Washington.


Mom was strong through the entire ride and continued attacking each hill at the bottom. She’s an expert at using her momentum to get up any incline following a descent. Now if I can only work on her weaving…..