“A Cookie Monster Loose on the Cropcircle"

 

“A Cookie Monster Loose on the Cropcircle"

I won’t lie to you I was a little nervous heading out to Cropcircle Road yesterday on Phantom.  It was not because at least in my mind they had named the road Cropcircle because of some alleged alien sighting or even a Cropcircle.  I mean, it is southern Indiana and as far as paranormal states go, Indiana is up there, but my guess is they called it Cropcircle because like most things in Indiana it is around or near a Corn field or bean field, so the name is pretty fitting.  

So, no, I was not worried about aliens yesterday, and I certainly was not worried about little green men kidnapping a cookie loving monster and probing him relentlessly, although, I would be lying if although I’d be lying if I said that imagery didn’t keep popping into my head.    

I have not been out to Cropcircle since 2024.  What I remember about Cropcircle is it is not flat to get there.  There is a little up from Clear Creek Trail up Dillman that has a nasty little grade on it, and I always hated riding up that little thing.  Then also, I don’t recall getting up Cropcircle being a joy ride, I remember it being a little long, and a little harder on the way up.  Doable, but not easy, which, honestly, is what I was looking for.  Wisconsin is 70 miles with hills and I must be ready.

To get to Cropcircle, I don’t take the way that I learned with the bike club, well not 100% anyway.  I cut through local neighborhoods by my house and get to Winslow, take Winslow until it becomes Tapp and push up Tapp to the start of the Clear Creek Trail (CCT).  Lately, I have been riding by the start of CCT, and climbing the entire hill on Tapp, and taking it to I-69, then crossing it, and looping back to the Trail.  I just like to get a little extra climbing.  

I was on fire on the CCT my legs felt amazing.  My cadence was up in the 80’s and there were times I was propelling myself to 20+ Miles Per Hour.  As, I have said here before, cadence has been a huge focus for me in 2026.  I feel like each ride, I grow stronger and better at it.  Still seem to average around 10 MPH on every ride, but I know I am getting better.  Even earlier, when climbing up Tapp, my cadence was in the 70’s and 80’s going up and for me that is winning.  I even went down on my drops as I was powering through the CCT.  I felt like a real cyclist out there.  I was probably the happiest person on the trail, saying hi to everyone I passed—even if they just frowned back at me. Obviously, I was having way more fun than them.

There is something inherently spooky about the CCT on overcast mornings.  The trail is dark.  Almost a scary place in certain parts when you are packed in by dense woods on all sides.  For a guy who has been working on a spooky story in his free time, it resonates with me.  The CCT will be showing up in a story soon.  I mean two weeks in a row, this trail-inspired horror idea has been dancing in my head and now we have it down on paper, so there we go. 

After crossing Dillman the CCT comes to an end.  I was just over an hour in, and I stopped there and had my ‘Uncrustable” for my first snack of the day.  I refilled my CamelBak and got off the bike and did a little pacing.  Trying to keep the legs loose as I ate.  

Then there was nothing for it.  It was time to turn left on Dillman and head out to Cropcircle.  Dillman, while short, is every bit the pain in the ass I remember.  It is just a short little nasty bump in the road.  However, I took the lane, rode straight and true in my granny gear, I was working my way up it.  I was bitching to myself the entire time, but you will have that sometimes.  

The contrast between riding on the CCT and being out on the roads of Bloomington really came down to one thing and that was the sun.  Most of the CCT is shaded and makes for good riding when the temps are up.  Once I hit Dillman though, the protection of the trees was taken away and the sun beamed down on me.  I am a creature of the sun and love being in it; however, I am not a lover of riding hot, thankfully I was out early and wasn’t in the heat of the day, but that lucky ole sun, still warmed me up a bit.

As, I crested Dillman, I really hoped I remembered how to get to Cropcircle.  I was 99% sure it was taking a left on the first road you come to, stay on that road until it runs out, take the next left and the first right.  Lucky for me, I was right.  Look there are a lot of good places to get lost on your bike, I would say Bloomington and the multiple hills of southern Indiana is not one of those places.  Been there done that back in college.  

I made it to Cropcircle.  I was not nervous anymore.  The nerves left me when I took the left on Dillman.  Cropcircle is a long gentle bend up.  I had never not made it up it.  I was not going to let today be my first time walking it.  So, I got into my gear and I pushed up.   It was a good climb.  My legs felt it and ached a little bit, but not bad.  I just keep making loops with my legs and I kept going up and up.  Then, I crested it and was at the top.  decided to go right at the top because I had never done that. As it turns out, there was not much to see; the road runs out quickly.  So, I did a 180 and headed back to the CCT. 

Riding the CCT back to Tapp was harder than it been the last few times I did it.  First, my old friend wind god was back and blowing in my face.  That never makes riding very fun.  However, worse than that, my legs felt fatigued.  I was not even at the two hours mark yet, and my legs were paying the price.  I was not stressed, I had blown them out or anything like that, not like when I did the four horsemen of the vanguard, but I just knew they were tired.  With so much time to gone on the ride it worried me a little bit but not for long. 

I stopped before Tapp because I just hist the two-hour mark and it was time for meal number two.  I went Jelly Bellys because Jelly Bellys are awesome.  Then it was time to get back in the saddle and take Tapp road back to the B-line.  

Tapp is pretty much a rolling ride. However, with cross streets you can’t take advantage of the downhills to push you back up.  Then there is one particular nasty area, which I call Goose Poop Point.  Mainly because all the geese hang out there, and they shit all over the place.  Also, the grade going up Goose Poop Point back to the B-line gets a bit steep.   However, like the champ I am, I nailed it!  I have now ridden it so much, it is starting to feel less like a climb and more like the way.  That made me feel good.

I had time, I was aiming to do at least 2-hour and 45-minute ride, and I was not close to that, so I decided I would take the B-line out to the end and then come back and then push home.  I love the B-line.  I really love it, now that they have finished it all the way out.  It is a good path, it has crossroads, but if you are an alert cyclist then you shouldn’t have any issues.  

The final push home from the B-line is all up hills.  However, I don’t really think of it as uphill, because again it is just the way home.  You have to it no matter what.  Most of the time the issue at the end of a longer ride isn’t even the final push upwards, it is the heat you endure on that final push. The days get hot here as they wear on.  Yesterday was no exception, so, again you are on the street fully exposed to the sun with little to no shade protecting you.  However, I nailed the last bit home, rode in my cadence zone the whole way.  I felt strong on the way home, the heavy legs from earlier on the CCT were gone.  Of course, that little voice in the back of my head wouldn't let me just stop, so I had to ride all the way to the end of Jaime, and then do a loop around the cul-de-sac on Benson Court just to make sure the job was fully done, for some reason, even over on time, I felt the need to complete the circuit.  

In the end it was an incredible ride: 32.52 miles, 1,552 ft of elevation gain, ride time was 3 hours and four minutes, and average speed was 10.6 Mph (but we will call it 11 mph).