The Harrison: TMD Stage 4

"The hardest part is over.

You showed up."

Jess Simms

 

When I step out the door to put my bike in the car, it feels chilly but not uncomfortably so.  I make sure I have a jacket and vest thinking I will use one or the other. I debate between  shorts and knickers, and thankfully decide on the knickers.   But when I arrive at the ride start, it seems like the temperature has dropped significantly and I will end up wearing both.  

Most of the riders are having the same dilemma.  Larry is sorting through riding apparel he keeps in his car.  I notice a new rider, Zeke, age 16, I believe, in a short sleeved jersey.  I shiver looking at him. I end up offering to loan him my spare arm warmers and he accepts. Larry loans him long fingered gloves.  Meanwhile, Harley is talking about whether to change to long pants rather than his shorts.  Amelia struggles with how to dress so as to be warm yet not overdress.  Only a few riders seem comfortable with the choice they made leaving home.  All of us have ridden enough to know that we should be chilled at the start to be comfortable while riding, but it is hard to know just how chilled because it is not much fun having to ride faster than your preference to stay warm and still being cold. Oh, well, misery loves company.  And there is lots of company today.

 

Despite the bite of the air that seems too sharp for this late in April and is enhanced by the dampness, everyone is laughing, smiling, and chatting as they do when they are a tad nervous but anticipating a good ride, a good course, and good company.  The hardest part is, indeed, in some ways over because we made the decision to roll out of bed and come out to play.  I briefly think of how seldom that I regret the decision to ride.  Occasionally, but not very often.  There is just something about a good bike ride that makes me happy, and I know this is a very scenic course, particularly the first half.  By the time spring rolls around each year, my eyes and my soul have been starved for green and color and there is just no better way to absorb it than on a bike ride.  I am always glad when God grants me another spring on the bike.

 

Cars continue pulling in even as we near start time.  Bob begins to fret about whether there will be enough parking.  Twenty one riders show up:  Bob Grable, the ride captain, David Frey, Glenn Smith, Amelia Dauer,  Larry Preble, Zeke Ledford, Joe Bolen, Harley Wise, Jerry Talley, Steve Rice, Tom Askew, Dave King, Bob Evancho, Glenn Smith, Mike Kamenish, Jon Wineland, Keith Baldwin, Vince Livingston, William Gillen, Sharon Jeter, and Jeremiah Westendorf.  It is nice to see two other women riding, though I don't actually see Sharon Jeter except at the start and driving off in her car.   Sharon is very strong and fast.  And it is nice to see Vince Livingston come to a century.  Again, as with Sharon, I see him in the parking lot.  I do not see him driving away.  In fact, I suspect he has reached home and showered by the time I come in;-)  It is also nice to see Southern Indiana Wheelmen joining us again.  There are two riders, Joe Bolen and Jeremiah.  I also have the pleasure of meeting Joe's wife, Janet, before the ride begins.

 

Bob gathers everyone for the pre-ride speech and I later tease him about whether he is trying to take the record for the longest pre-ride speech.  (The record is probably held by Kirk Roggencamp but Bob comes very close this morning;-)  Bob is concerned because just this morning, he was looking at the course and noticed Google has marked a road we are to ride as being closed.  It wasn't closed when he drove the route a few days prior, but we all know that can change overnight.  He has everyone put their phone number on the sign in sheet just in case and tries to tell everyone a complicated work around that I know I won't remember and I doubt many others will either.   I know I will be in the back with Bob, so it is not so very important to me anyway.  And if I am not, my GPS has a "reverse route" button on it.   It won't be the first time many of us have faced an obstacle on a century ride.  He also is concerned that some of the roads may have water on them from all the rain.  But they don't other than a few puddles here and there and water lining the sides of the road.  The road he was concerned about does not end up being closed either.

 

While it is cold at first, the beauty of the scenery soon steals one's attention.  Everything is turning green.  Traffic is light to non-existent in places.   The yellow flowers of spring fill some of the fields.  Bob says he has learned that some are wild mustard (this I knew) and some are wild beets (this I didn't know).  Whenever I see wild flowers that I can't identify on a ride, something that  happens quite often as I never was good with names and am worse now), I think of Duc Do.  Many of you have never met Duc as he no longer rides with the LBC, but he once was a member.   If you are into flowers, I recommend you check out his web page on flowers he has found wandering the roads of Indiana and Kentucky:  https://www.kywildflowers.org.  Anyway, they are beautiful  and  like daffodils,  a sign that summer and warm weather is knocking.  Soon arm warmers, knee warmers, balaclavas, and long fingered gloves will be forgotten and put away and shorts and jerseys and bandanas will rule.

At the first stop store, most of the riders are still there but a few have come and gone.  I don't see Jerry or Sharon or Vince.  There may be one or two others that weren't there.  Someone tells me this is their favorite country store of all the stores we frequent, and I agree that it is a great store.  In front of the store sit two liars benches, one labeled for Republicans and one for Democrats that always amuses me.  The people that work there are nice. Amelia and I share a glance when a non-rider chides the checkout girl for putting his full order of biscuits and gravy in a small rather than a larger container because neither of us can see what it would matter.  David Frey introduces himself and says he rode with the group once last year.  It is just so good to see new faces taking on the challenge.  One of my dearest wishes is to see the tour continue and grow.

 

The group takes off for Corydon where the lunch stop is.   By this time I am riding with Dave King, Steve Rice, Bob Grable, and Amelia.  If you know Dave King, you know that he takes great pleasure in eating, so much so that it is fun to share a meal with him, so I ask where he wants to eat and he says Culver's.  After the long climb up the hill we arrive and find that Mike Kamenish and Jon Wineland have chosen to eat there as well.  They ask about others and Amelia said she saw bicycles at Subway. Mike and Jon surprise me by waiting for us and we head out together.  Everyone is groaning about the headwind, but it does not turn out as bad as I thought it might and we reach Palmyra to find most of the other riders there.  The sun comes out and most of us have stripped a layer or two, but it is still nippy and there is not much danger of overheating unless one really overdressed.

We all head out afterward except for one abandon, but the faster riders pull gradually ahead.  Near the end we find them waiting for us and we all finish as a group of 15.  I try to remember when a stage finished with a group of fifteen.  What is unusual now was once the norm and it was rather nice.   Zeke has finished his first century and since the course is a bit short, signs in and rides it out.   Thanks, Bob, for a pleasant course and thanks to all the riders for a pleasant day.  And thanks to all who came out to play.  It was a great day!

Finishing groups are as follows:

 

Joe Bolan                        3:19       group of one

 

Vince Livingston             3:36      group of one

 

Jerry Talley                     3:53     group of three

Jeremiah Westendorf      3:53     group of three

Sharon Jeter                    3:53     group of three

 

The group of 15 which finished at 4:09:

 

Larry Preble

Mike Kamenish

Jon Wineland

Zeke Ledford

Tom Askew

Keith Baldwin

Bob Evancho

Harley Wise 

Steve Rice

Amelia Dauer

Glenn Smith

David Frey

Bob Grable 

David King

Melissa Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ride Report: Tour de Hanover, TMD Stage 3 2025

"The hard part isn't getting

your body in shape.  The hard

part is getting your mind in shape."

 Anonymous

 

It is with dismay that I see that it is going to be cold in the morning.  The older I get, the less I like riding in cold weather.  Lynn Roberts once told me something I have never forgotten.  "It is harder to be mean to yourself when you get older."  And he was right.  I can still do the miles with no real issue and climb the hills with no big issue.  I am just slower at those things and my knees ache on climbs in a way that they did not use to ache.  I still have all the clothing that makes riding in colder weather less of an issue.  It is the mind that is the most difficult to tame, and if there is one thing that years of distance riding has taught me is that most of it IS mental.  And it is there I begin to fail.  At one point during the ride, Steve Rice asks if I have ever considered doing PBP again.  I tell him I don't really think I am capable and he points out this very thing, that is is mainly mental.  But I lack the mental discipline that I used to have.  Or that is my excuse.  Perhaps I just don't want it as much as I would need to want it to train that hard and to be that damned tired.  

Anyway, it makes a huge difference knowing that the sun is supposed to shine all day.  And while wind is predicted, it is supposed to be about 10 mph not the higher winds of previous rides.  Despite the cold, the riders arrive with smiles on their faces and a spring to their step.....  Well, except for Dominic Wasserzug who arrives only to find he has forgotten to bring his riding shoes.  (Perhaps he smiled in relief on the drive back home;-)  He may have arrived smiling and anticipating the camaraderie and the ride,  but not after finding out, already having signed in, that he was missing his shoes.  After he leaves, the group talks about a few people who have forgotten their shoes but have ridden anyway.  The general consensus is that this is probably not the wisest choice a person could make.  Thomas Nance and another  (sorry, I don't remember who you were) comment on how they have forgotten things in the past as they are used to riding to the start of a ride rather than driving.  I think most of us have, at one time or another, forgotten things for a ride and while I have teased about it, I doubt it is Freudian in nature.  We are, after all, human. 

 

Thomas "The Train" Nance (of course since he was the RC), Larry "Gizmo" Preble, Fritz Kopatz,  Jerry Talley, Harley Wise, Bob "Backpack" Grable, Bob Evancho, Steve "Mule" Rice, Taylor Smith, Bryan Holden, Joe Bolan, Michael "Diesel Dog" Kamenish, Cory Lambert, John Dippold, Jon "Lunchbox" Wineland, Bob Evancho, Camito Molina, and William Gillen all attend.  There is also one other, but I can't read his name of the sign in and don't know him, just as I don't know quite a few of these people. This is not a big deal since he is not a club member and thus not eligible to be a final finisher.

 

 I also notice that, dressed in balaclavas and other winter riding gear, I have trouble recognizing some of those that I do know.  This makes me think of Eddie Doerr, one of the first Mad Dogs, now gone, who used to joke about not recognizing people with their clothes on because people look so very different with a helmet and riding clothes.  Of course, the way he said it lead to lots of innuendos and laughter.

 

Some are newer riders, some from Southern Indiana Wheelmen, and some from Ridenfaden.  The majority all look young, fit, and much younger than me.  The few that are a bit older than what appears to be norm look like they have legs built from years of traveling the roads. Oh, well.  I am just glad to see the crowd.  There is chatter and some joking with Mike talking about the rooster statue at third store stop.   Since it is a bit off color, I won't include it though I did renew it at the third store stop much to the shock of some of the gentlemen.  I never had much in the way of a filter, and I am old enough now to pretty much say what I please.  Well, if you want to know these things, you just have to ride with us;-)  This makes me think of him on a ride that passed through Salem where the store stop had a cow statute.  I can still see him riding that cow.  For those that don't know, Mike has an allure for cows.  On one ride, one that was loose came close to charging him.  But that was years ago.

We roll out and stay pretty much together for longer than I expect us to, but eventually divide into groups based on pace.  Maybe we stay together more because the first of the course does not have the wide, open country roads that we eventually roll out onto. Even the back group is a pretty fast pace for me anymore, but I manage to hang on.  I talk for a bit with a rider I don't know named Cory.  Cory used to work with Thomas in the past, but they both went on to different jobs.  When they were working together, Cory didn't ride.  Thomas did, but not Cory.  They later had a coincidental met up, unexpectedly, at a paid ride thus renewing their friendship.  Cory said he will ride with us to the first store stop but is then waiting for a friend who arrived late at the store stop.  The friend turns out to be Garrett?  (He signs in as William but goes by Garrett I think)  had started the last century on a gravel bike with super wide tires and decided to throw in the towel.  Today he is riding the same bike with narrower tires and later in the ride leaves me and some of the others in the dust.  Bob Grable suggests a Mad Dog name for him and I broach it with him after the ride, but I won't post it yet in case it is a fail. 

Some people stay with their same group and some will rotate back and forth.  Steve Rice, Bob Grable, and I are together pretty much the entire ride other than when Steve left the third store stop before us. It is good to see Bob Evancho for the first time since the fall.  He says that he struggled with whether to come out or not as he has been traveling and had not ridden much in the way of distance.  (He does fine and ends with one of the faster groups).  Bob visits his children and grandchildren regularly and also went on a cruise or two so has been busy.  You could not tell he has not been riding by how he is turning the pedals over. 

 

When we arrive at the first store stop, everyone is still there.  I notice that the faster riders tend to take longer breaks at stops than the slower groups.  Since there was no restroom at the ride start, the port-a-pot in New Washington gets quite the workout.   A few of us ride out while some are still waiting.  This will happen again at the third store stop and I tell people they have been Upsall'ed explaining that when Mike Upsell, a friend,  lived here and rode with us, we once mistakenly, all rode off leaving him the restroom.  He thought we had done it purposefully so was a tad peeved.  Thus the term being Upsall'ed.  

 

At the store, I begin what will be a slow strip tease as the day warms.  I have brought a backpack for this purpose and feel like a girl getting her high school pictures where you change outfits for different shots.  But I notice others with bulging pockets where they also have begun the process of adapting to the warming temperature.  Not, however, Steve Rice and Garrett who make me chill just looking at them.  Steve Rice is in bib knickers, a jersey and arm warmers and Garrett is dressed in even less wearing only shorts. 

The fields we pass are still un-plowed, but that is, hopefully, a temporary situation caused by the rain and abnormally cold weather.  A purple haze hangs over some from weeds that grow in un-tilled farm land.  We even see one field of the bright yellow flowers that flourish in the spring torturing those with allergies but delighting the eyes with their cheerfulness.  And everything is turning a deep, luscious green as earth gives birth.  There are places with wildflowers and even a few daffodils left.  Red Bud trees are in the height of their glory and the dogwoods are beginning.

 

For those that don't know, Mike put this ride together so that it goes through Hanover College where he went to college.  The views there are what make the ride as in numerous places the road overlooks the Ohio River.  I don't stop, but find it interesting to see how evident the flooding remains.  After the college comes the busy road.  One rider tells me this is the part he really doesn't like, and I agree, but it is short and for most of it there is a shoulder.  

 

There are two lunch choices:  McDonald's or Subway.  Steve, Bob, and I got to McDonalds while everyone else picks Subway.  Joe Bolen is meeting his wife there for lunch and I am glad.  I remember how very hard it is when you first start riding with the Mad Dogs and you don't know anyone.  Or at least it was for me.  

 

After lunch is probably where most of the climbing is on this ride.  Bob, Steve, and I leave and are soon passed by a faster group who says there is another group in front and a group behind.  As always, I find the difference in hill count between Garmin and Wahoo amazing.  Their algorithms must be drastically different.  Wahoo says there are 19 climbs today.  Garmin says there are none.  My legs are beginning to agree with Wahoo.   And of course, the pace is faster than I expected.  

We meet up with some, but not all at the third store stop.  During this stop, Jon Wineland laughs and tells me one of the riders that has come and gone rode up and asked him if  he was Diesel Dog.  He told him he wasn't and was glad of it and that he was welcome to tell Diesel that.  I don't know if that information was relayed to Diesel or not.  Everyone is beginning to show the miles on their faces, but everyone still remains in a good mood.  

The ride ends shortly after.  Some of the riders have already departed by the time our group of 5 get in for we are the last group.  But it has been a good day.  The wind and weather was a bit raw, but as is almost always the case, I am glad that I came and I hope everyone else is as well.  We are training our minds for the upcoming, hotter rides which cause a different type of strain.  Thanks to Mike Crawford for the delightful course.  Thanks to Thomas Nance for captaining and his patience with my babbling and slow pace.

Finishers were as follows:

Jerry Talley:       group of 4        2:55 p.m.

Taylor Smith:     group of 4       2:55 p.m.

Bryan Holden:    group of 4       2:55 p.m.

Camito Molina:  group of 4       2:55 p.m.

 

Joe Bolen:           group of 1     3:18 p.m.

 

Larry Preble:          group of 8     3:46 p.m.

Mike Kamenish:    group of 8      3:46 p.m.

Fritz Kopatz:          group of 8      3:46 p.m.

John Dippold:        group of 8       3:46 p.m.

Bob Evancho:        group of 8        3:46 p.m.

Harley Wise:          group of 8        3:46 p.m.

Cory Lambert:       group of 8        3:46 p.m.

William Gillen:      group of 8        3:46 p.m.

 

Bob Grable:         group of 5    3:50 p.m.

Melissa Hall:        group of 5    3:50 p.m.

Thomas Nance:     group of 5    3:50 p.m.

Steve Rice:            group of 5    3:50 p.m.

Jon Wineland:       group of 5    3:50 p.m.