This was a good ride today.
The weather once again, mercifully so, was less bad than had been predicted. We had been warned of not just precipitation, but thunderstorms, by late morning. That never materialized. I am in Indianapolis now, and the sky looks increasingly ominous, but no bad stuff so far. Nice!
Bad weather in this region is again predicted, for the next few days or so. That does have me concerned. Still, I guess that it is what it is! (Maybe I should say that it will be what it will be!)
The ride today took us from Crawfordsville to Indianapolis via an unbelievably complex and circuitous pathway. I guess that is necessary, in order to avoid the high-volume roads. Our cue sheet has generally had only two to three panels (quadrants) on the piece of paper, even for longer rides. Today however, the cue sheet was double-sided and had literally eight panels of information and directions.
We went through an absolutely beautiful region of farmland, largely corn and soy beans. These all seemed to be smaller family farms. Navigating all of the multiple left and right turns, each for relatively short mileages, on generally unmarked roads, was more than a challenge. Still, it was fun and I can say honestly that I never was lost.
Once in Indianapolis, we had the option to take an additional 3.8 mile side trip and visit the "Major Taylor Velodrome". I am so glad that I did that. This meant extra time in the saddle for me, something that I am otherwise trying to limit, but it was worth it. We were able to actually go in and ride our bikes on the track! this is a 300+ meter track, with remarkable slopes. What an experience! (It can bring out the kid in you!)
This also gave me the oportunity to actually read up a little bit about Marshall "Major" Taylor. (If interested, Wikipedia does have a nice short article about him.) He had the misfortune of bad timing, being an absolutely incredible athlete in this country, at a time when this country was simply not yet ready to have successful black athletes. The story of the adversity he experienced then is more than sad.
Today's ride was short, only 68 miles long. Still, with the extra time spent in the side trip to the Velodrome, it ended up in long hours today for me. That's not entirely good, as I need to somewhat minimize my time in the saddle now because of the long mileage days to come. On the next five consecutive days, those ending ultimately in Erie, Pennsylvania, we will have no short distances at all. Our next five days will be 83, 104, 97 , 91, and 89 miles long respectively.
Oh well! No rest for the weary, as they say!
Did you get to ride on the Velodrome? That bank looks pretty steep.
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