Battle Ground Heritage Loop 7/22/01

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Twenty-three brave cyclists arrived with hearts eager and muscles ready to climb the hills on the Battleground Heritage Loop. The weather was perfect, a cool 65 degrees with the sun burning off the clouds to bring us up to the low 70’s later in the day. To get everyone ready, Team Blueberry topped off cyclist’s glycogen stores with donut holes (trying to keep things light), croissants, and pastries. Folks happily munched while Louie gave the pre-game pep talk to inform everyone about the detours and regroup points. Team Blueberry led out through Battleground and then waved folks on to take their usual spot at the back of the ride. Louie had marked the route with Dan Henrys the day before to make it easier for the group to find their way.

Team Blueberry always rides sweep to make sure everyone has a good time. Louie loves to jump off and fix tires in no time flat, sort of like the Indie 500 guys.

At the first regroup, Lucia Falls, half the group went down to the falls to look for jumping Salmon. They had no such luck this day but enjoyed the scenery anyway. Gayle went around handing out sweets for the sweet. Riding with Gayle and Rich is always a treat! Half the group took off while Team Blueberry rounded up the remainder to encourage them to get back out on the road. There were many more hills to climb!

The group was treated to beautiful views of the green, tree covered hills, rolling fields, or fenced farm animals at every turn. Team Blueberry arrived at the end of the construction detour only to find that at least one person had made a wrong turn. Rick and Renee had taken off after her but could only get close enough to see her crest a hill and go over the other side. After three such rollers, they decided to come back to tell Team Blueberry and flag down a motorist to do the chase. The motorist did their duty and found our lost cyclist and directed her back to Worthington Road where Team Blueberry was waiting. Just then, the other cyclist phoned to let us know she was lost as well. We reined her in and then we all rejoined the group at the Grist Mill for lunch.

After lunch Team Blueberry and Rick and Renee decided to stay to see the Grist Mill and get some flour. We were treated to the grand tour and historical talk by the Vice President of the Citizens for the Preservation of the Grist Mill. We learned all about why the mill was there and how it worked. We were wishing the other folks had taken the time to stay because it was very interesting.

Louie tried to encourage Rick and Renee to carry at least 10 pounds of flour in an attempt to slow them down up Dobbler Hill road. Team Blueberry can climb just about anything, but we are not known for our breakneck speeds. All the way up the hill, Louie was wondering how the other folks had fared. On Dobbler Hill road our inclinometer reads out at a 20 % grade! Whew!

With most of the ride behind us we settled in to enjoy the last few miles. When we arrived back at the van, we found notes on our windshield telling us how much folks had enjoyed the ride. That was a nice way to finish up a great ride. We hope to see you all out on the next Blueberryride adventure!