Rain Out and belated Memorial Day Riding Report

Memorial Day weekend turned into a fantastic riding weekend. The forecasted rain did not arrive on Saturday and Sunday allowing plenty of singletrack riding. While I had planned on traveling to French  Lick on Saturday, reports from the ground suggested lots of mud.  I didn’t want to travel to BCSP due to the high traffic on the trails from the holiday weekend.

Instead I went to Versailles State Park in south eastern Indiana. Versailles has 13 miles of fantastic trail but only a fraction of the use that BCSP gets.

 

The bustling Versailles State Park trailhead. All two of us enjoyed the trails.

I saw only one other mountain biker on the entire trail, plus three BMX’ers with no helmets. I also saw several campers in jeans and windbreakers (and no helmets) out for a spin and about to get into some of the more serious singletrack. I tactfully suggested they be careful and wear helmets before trying those trails.

Versailles is also a DINO race later in the year and I wanted to ride the course which runs opposite of 24 Hours of DINO route. I’m glad I did as there were a few places in the trail that I’ll keep in mind for the race. The trail itself was a bit muddy in spots, but generally very nice and the ride was a blast.  I put particular emphasis on pushing any descent that I came to since I tend to be a bit too conservative on downhills.

I ran across these interesting…things near a picnic table on the Grandview Loop:

I’m guessing some sort of mushroom or fungi. Each one was the size of a dinner plate and about five or six inches high.

And of course, the obligatory single track photo:

 

And the remains of the best post ride snack ever:

 

 

I was expecting rain Sunday but the morning dawned cool and partly cloudy but with no rain in sight, so  I took the singlespeed over to Fort Ben for a few laps. The Fort had been a mud pit last time I was there, but trail work targeting the muddy spots and warm weather had mostly resolved this. Overall a nice day, although I saw very few bikers. Heck, I even saw more birders than mountain bikers. Of course, the Indianapolis 500 was that morning so people may have had someplace else to be.
 

Monday morning a heavy rainstorm came through turning the red light on all local trails. Instead, I went for an early ride over to Crown Hill to beat the Memorial Day crowds. The cemetery was beautiful and the weather was perfect for an easy spin. However, I ran into many signs like these:

 

I ride through Crown Hill quite often, but rarely do I see more than one or two cyclists in the cemetery. I chased down an employee in a golf cart and asked why the signs had been posted.  He said that they had been having problems with large group rides and impromptu racing recently (although I suspect they were assuming a group ride was a race). He specifically noted a 20+ group ride earlier in the week which interfered with a funeral procession. He said I was fine since I was riding by myself.

However, another employee in a huge Mercedes (manager?) stopped and said that he had kicked out a group of four cyclists yesterday for riding too fast and cited liability issues related to potential injuries. He also emphasized that Crown Hill was private property. No need for further explanation of that statement. Memorial Day is a busy day at the Crown so I can understand concern for that day, although it sounds like there might be a crackdown on group rides (small ones included) even outside the holiday. Plus the guy driving the German tank seemed to be keen on lecturing me about the problems with cycling and kept talking over me whenever I tried to say something. I got the feeling he was looking for an excuse to kick me out so I wrapped up my ride and got out of there. I actually went back to Crown Hill on Wednesday for a ride, and although the signs were still there, I s no employees patrolling and only three cars from a distance.  Hopefully Monday was a one time experience.

And now the rain out portion of the post. As of this afternoon, the Brown County DINO race for this Sunday has been rained out. Besides being a great race venue, I was anxious to get this season going after the two previous races were also rained out so I am in a bit of a pissed off mood. Is it drought time yet? Anyway, now the race season will begin in French Lick in two weeks. I will be there come hell or high water. Seriously. Even with high water they will still have that race.

And among other things, Bike Week 2013 happened

Whew, that was a long two weeks. Work got a little nuts and last week was Bike Week in Indianapolis which included a busy schedule of events so no time for updates.

Bike Week started  on Saturday May 11 with IndyCog’s Two Wheels One City festival which celebrates and promotes bicycling in Indianapolis. The event included bands, vendors, beer, and various cycling related competitions that seem to be won by the same three bike messengers each year. This also coincided with the opening of the Cultural Trail, a dedicated pedestrian and cycling path which loops throughout downtown Indy.

 

SIDEBAR RANT: While I have been using the Cultural Trail for the past two years, the official opening was on Friday May 10. That same day, as I was riding to work on the Monon Trail (which connects with the Cultural Trail), I happened to think how I had not had any close calls with cars lately. Not 5 minutes later a woman ran a stop sign at an alley that crosses the Cultural Trail and I came within inches of going over her hood.  It was the closest call I've had in a while, and my legs were actually shaking afterwards. No way this could happen again right? Wrong. On the way home, not far from the morning incident, a woman made a much too fast turn into a parking lot adjacent to the trail, just as I was passing. Two times in one day was too much and after barely avoiding her front bumper and riding through some trail side landscaping I turned and let loose a string of profanity at her open window. Not terribly civilized, but at that point I did not care about maintaining cyclist/motorist relations.

Anyway, continuing with the Bike Week events was a special showing of the movie Reveal the Path presented by both IndyCog and the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association with proceeds from ticket sales going to both groups. The movie was produced by the same folks who did Ride the Divide, and followed a group of mountain bikers as they rode through several countries in inhospitable terrain. While the scenery was nice, I liked the added drama that the racing atmosphere brought to Ride the Divide. Reveal the Path was heavy on deep thoughts about cycling, but was a bit light on the thrill aspect. Still, the event was well attended and I met many new cyclists as I was working the IndyCog table.

The final event of the week was Bike to Work Day on Friday May 17. My wife had been helping to organize this so I had seen this thing from the inside out. Despite the stress in planning and watching the weather, Friday dawned with perfect weather and a great turnout. Here are a few pics from the event.

 

 

 

 I also ran into this little piece of history (excuse the poor photo):

 

 

A 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper. A classic early mountain bike in great condition. In speaking to the owner I had mentioned that I had seen one on Craigslist in Fort Wayne earlier this year and had considered buying it. Turns out this was that bike. Wish I had gotten some more pics.

 

Overall, Bike Week was a great success, although the organizational aspect was at times stressful. However, I do have a few ideas on how to improve the events for next year which hopefully we (IndyCog) can incorporate as we plan for 2014.

In race news, this season is starting out with sort of a whimper. Following the Barry Roubaix, the next race was the DINO series practice race at Town Run. Unfortunately, this was canceled due to water logged conditions from recently receded flood waters.

The next race was the DRT XC Time Trial at Brown County State Park on May 5. But, since the weather gods are not being kind, rain moved in and the outlook was bleak. At first the rain was positioned over Bloomington and seemed to spare the park. However overnight the rain pushed north and that was it. Two weekends in a row with a cancellation.

Fun note, the time trial was rescheduled to the same weekend as the 24 Hours of DINO at Versailles State Park in September. The DINO event is on Saturday, while the DRT race is on Sunday. I'm planning on doing the 6 Hour DINO race on Saturday, which ends at 6 pm. Considering how destroyed I was last year following the 6 Hours I'm wondering whether I will be up for both races.

The next race for me is the Brown County DINO race in a week and a half.  I plan to get several hill workouts in before then, primarily at Crown Hill Cemetery. This holiday weekend I am planning on driving south and hitting the French Lick trails for the first time, with a stop off in Bloomington to ride their Wapahani Mountain Bike Park on the way back.