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Media Relations

Where the water meets the road

Early spring riding is always exhilarating, we are finally released from the cold wet winter. Spring has great riding weather, cool enough you don't overheat, and warm enough that you don't need extra clothing. The hardy spring flowers are out, all the migratory birds are in the air above, and I am rubber necking the whole time, taking in all the sights and smells.

This spring has been wet, wet, wet, and the water is up, up, up, with Lake Monroe at near record levels. My favorite 20 mile lake loop, which includes the great downhill run on Stipp Road, is closed due to the flooding at Moore's Creek. The bridge over the creek, and more than a half a mile of road are under water, and though I've been able to cycle through with wet feet in years past, this is the highest I've ever seen it so I didn't even try.

Another favorite route is east on Lampkin's Ridge to Friendship Road, but this quiet gravel road is entirely under water. Farr Road along the Bean Blossom is closed, and Pine Grove Road is flooded, while many of the valley roads around Stinesville are closed.

Lake Monroe has been rising all through February, March and early April. As I write this post, the water has leveled off at 554.9 feet above mean sea level (AMSL). Flood level is 556 feet AMSL, above that the water flows over the spillway and Valley Mission Road just south of the dam. How do I know this so precisely? There is a very utilitarian (plain, but useful) Web page from the Army Corps of Engineers that tracks lake water levels in our region: http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/wc/reports/lkreport.html.

During the cooler winter months I was able explore some of the back roads around Lake Monroe and Yellowwood Forest, as I've realized that my bike can travel perfectly well on gravel, I just had to slow down and get used to bouncing. All my flat tires in the last year have been from glass I picked up on the streets in Bloomington, not out in the forest. (You folks who smash beer bottles in street, hey, what's up with that?)

An especially challenging ride is McGowen Road, which branches south off of Kent Road, it first rambles south along the Salt Creek wetlands and then climbs up into the hills east of the Pine Grove bay. McGowen (which changes its name to Eldridge Rd. in Google Maps) winds back and forth through a number of little wooded valleys, until finally climbing to Gilmore Ridge Road just south of the T.C.Steele Park. I must admit I walked that last big vertical ascent to the ridge, it resembled a creek bed more than a road, and my back tire just would not grip the mud. The county's sign at the beginning of the road reads: "Seasonal Access only this road is not plowed or treated during the winter months." They aren't fibbing, and as a result there is no traffic on this road.

Though I've enjoyed riding deep into the woods, I may be using the paved roads for a while, until things dry out in a month or two. On a recent ride up Dubois Ridge Road, the muck under the gravel seemed to reach up and grab my tire, it was like riding over 3 inches of chunky peanut butter, and I was really whipped after the ride.

But then again, I saw a pair of red-tailed hawks doing their acrobatic courtship display -- I think it was a fair trade; I am always ready to provide some extra effort in exchange for a special moment. The week after, I watched as hundreds of sandhill cranes came together squawking their greetings and circling in the thermals over Lake Lemon on a cold March day. It was well worth the calories and time spent, but that's how I feel about all my rides!

To read more Active for Life posts by Rice, visit http://newsinfo.iu.edu/cat/page/normal/386.html.

Mitch Rice works for Indiana University's Office of Creative Services. He also serves as the chairperson of the Bloomington Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Commission. Rice also blogs about his rides at http://www.mitchrice.org/bike/.

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