I started my first touring day with a simple breakfast at home. I then finished loading up, said goodbye to Linda, and was on the road. It’s nice to have a tour that starts from your driveway; otherwise, you have to load the bike, confirm you have everything, then strip it to load the car, and repeat the process at your remote start. I rolled out of the neighborhood for the easy mile to our Monon trailhead, and then started north. I had 4 miles north on the Monon Trail to Westfield, and then heeded east on Midland Trace for the 6 miles to Noblesville.
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| Wild Flowers along the way |
Leaving the Midland Trace, I worked my way across the White River and through downtown Noblesville. The Midland Trace trail is currently a work in progress, with a White River crossing into Noblesville due to be completed in the next year or so. From downtown, I continued east on quiet, tree-shaded streets with older homes, which gradually transitioned to newer homes and the area high school complex. After crossing a state highway, I was riding past subdivisions on the outskirts of town. By the time I left Noblesville, I had almost 20 miles, and the riding transitioned to rural farmland on a quiet two-lane road for the next dozen miles into Anderson.
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| Rolling hills east of Anderson |
I entered Anderson on some quiet side streets and used a state route to cross under I-69. This brought me to a Culver’s for my lunch stop. After lunch, I made a quick stop at a supermarket that was right next door, picking up some fresh fruit. Back on the road, the transition back to quiet 2-lane rural farmland took just a mile or so, and that would continue all the way to my overnight stop.
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| Tire troubles |
About a 1/2 hour after lunch and at the peak of afternoon heat, I encountered a stretch of recently applied chip-and-seal, a stretch a 1/2 mile after the last intersection. The road had streaks of oily sealant seeping through the fresh coating of sand and stone, and soon the sound of stones being thrown into my bike fenders was pretty constant. When I noticed my bike felt like it was bogging down and was getting harder to accelerate, I first thought it was the loose chip-and-seal surface, or that I had a soft tire. But then I came to dry pavement, and I continued to hear stones hitting my fenders, and my bike still felt slow. I stopped to check the tires.
Looking at my rear tire, much of the center band of file tread was filled with tar, small stones, and sand. It was almost the same for my front. It must have added at least a couple of pounds to each wheel, and it was not coming off easily. I assumed this was enough to make the bike feel like it was bogging down and started down the road again. Rather than the normal buzz of tires on pavement, I was treated to the constant ping of small rocks hitting my fenders as my tires slowly shed the small stones. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the start issues which would continue over the next couple of days.
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| More rolling farm land |
I continued on, enjoying the quiet road and new scenery, while the sound of the thrown stones slowly decreased. But my bike continued to feel like it was bogging down. Finally, as I pulled away from a crossroad stop sign, I looked down and realized my rear tire was very soft, and I pulled off the side of the road into some shade. Since it was a slow leak and not a blowout, I considered using my frame pump to top off the tire and see how long it would last. But on the other hand, I had good shade, and I had time to spare, so I decided to change the tube. I found a pin-hole leak in the tube, but there was no apparent stone chip or glass tire in the tire case. Assuming the cause had fallen away, I replaced the tube with one of my two spare tubes, and was back on the road in about 20 minutes.
The afternoon continued to be pleasant riding. The terrain was mixed with short rolling hills and small creeks, but nothing challenging, even with my touring load. What I didn’t realize until the end of the day was that I had gained almost 400 feet in elevation over the 40 miles since leaving Noblesville. As the afternoon went on, I passed through a few quiet crossroad villages and an abandoned grain elevator. By about 4:30 in the afternoon, with 60 miles, I was riding along the north boundary of the park with a view of the lake. It was another half dozen miles until I was at my campsite, riding 3/4 of the way around to the south side of the lake.
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| My first day destination |
The campsites were all on fingers of land extending into the lake. Like most campgrounds, with each passing year, it is becoming more “motorized” oriented, but I was able to find a level and soft spot for my tent. While I was setting up, a squirrel was trying to investigate my gear and tent, and acted like it was used to hand-feeding. As a result, I recruited a couple of kids from the next campsite to watch my tent while I grabbed a quick shower. Thankfully, the squirrel appeared to lose interest as night came on. I used my JetBoil to prep my freeze-dried meal, and enjoyed some cold water and cold Diet Coke, thanks to the bag of ice I purchased at the camp store on the way to my site. With everything cleaned up, I settled in for my first night on the road.
Stats
- Departed 7:49 AM
- Distance 65.6
- Average MPH 11.7
- Riding Time 5:36 / Total Time 10:16
- 1,612 Feet Ascending
- 1432 Feet Descending
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