FLCC> Perspectives from Indiana

[Moorhead, Michael S]

All,

 

I've been getting my cycling legs back since moving to Indiana.  It
feels strange to be building "base" miles in late summer, but at least
I'm riding again.

 

Last night, I had my first opportunity to ride with the local club, the
National Road Bicycle Club.  FYI, the "National Road" is US40 that runs
through Terre Haute.  I don't think they're trying to make false claims
like "the World Series" where all but one competing teams is from the
U.S.  No world champions here...  They're all from Terre Haute.

 

The temperatures have been HOT here.  I wasn't ready for that.  Today it
will be 96 with a heat index well over 100.  I've been slowly convincing
myself that I can't use that as an excuse not to ride.

 

Last night's ride started from a park very close to the school I'm
teaching at.  The crowd was definitely on the older, professional side
of the scale.  After brief chit-chat and introductions, the group split
into two; a "fast" group and a "not so fast" group.  Those that have
ridden with me won't have to think too hard about which group I chose.
I was warned that the course that they had selected would be the "hilly
course".  Coming from the Finger Lakes, and having explored quite a bit
since arriving, I was curious exactly where the hills were.  It turns
out, as I should have guessed, that they have necessarily redefined
"hill".  By Ithaca standards, they would probably be called "risers" or
"little rollers".  Below is a link to the GPS information for the ride
(minus a few miles at the start).  You'll notice that the hills were
brief 7.5% grades, and there was really no rush to get to the top in my
group.  My kind of riding!!!

 

The pace was relaxed, perhaps 16-17mph average.  Socialization was
definitely the objective with this group.  I still feel like all three
groups on the FLCC Tuesday night ride were really A-groups in disguise.
I'd love to see someone in FLCC put average speed stats together
someday.  In my head, they would go something like (A = 22mph, B =
21.9mph, C= 21.8mph) ;-).  After I get some more miles in, I might even
try to stick with the "fast" group if the course is fairly flat.  I
never would have said anything like that in Ithaca.

 

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.p
kValue=147663&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=3797224

 

Indiana is home to the following rides/races:

 

Little 500 - Bloomington (in the movie Breaking Away)

The Hilly Hundred - near Bloomington (perennial "best ride" in Bicycling
Magazine)

Ride Across Indiana (RAIN, 160 miles in one day)

 

If you ever have an excuse to participate in one of these events, drop
us a line.  We'd love to see people from back home.  We miss Ithaca, but
we're adapting fairly quickly here.  We'll be back from time to time,
and I'll try to remember my bike.

 

Best,

 

Mike Moorhead

------------------------------------------------

Prof. Michael S. Moorhead

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Phone:  (812) 877-8829

E-mail:  moorhead at rose-hulman.edu

------------------------------------------------

 

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