Polar Bear Pedal II Ride (not race) Report

Edit 1/14/13: Finally figured out a work around for the photo uploading issue. Two Three photos added.

The 2^nd Annual Polar Bear Pedal hosted by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard was held this past Saturday morning. Nothing much to report as it was a social ride, but since I mentioned it a few weeks back, I felt a follow up was needed. The ride went well and it was a beautiful day (clear and 18 degrees) for riding the streets of Indianapolis and is a good indication that cycling is gaining more of a foothold and overall acceptance in Indianapolis.
 

Gathering of riders before the PBP. This is only a portion of the riders as
many others had already moved to the start area.

Folks struggling over a snow bank on their way to the start line.

This year’s ride looped around the north side of downtown, past the Soldier’s and Sailor’s monument and then down to Fountain Square and Garfield Park. (Strava file here) Overall it was a nice ride, although I think I enjoyed last year’s edition a bit more. That ride set off in the middle of a fairly heavy snow fall which added some excitement to an otherwise easy ride. Still, pre-registration for this year’s edition was over 1,000 which for the second year of a ride that is held in early January was pretty good.  It seemed everyone enjoyed themselves and stayed safe, save for the two bikes that got mixed together near Garfield Park. Interestingly, the roads the ride followed were snow/ice free and covered in a nice 2 inch layer of salt while my street was still an icy mess. Hmm….

After the PBP I went for a short base ride along the Monon Trial and Canal Tow Path. Parts of the Towpath were impassable with snow and ice, but the section near Butler University was covered in perfectly tamped snow and was simply fantastic.

Side note, I got a truing stand for Christmas from my parents and have been slowly getting the hang of using it. Turns out I have no shortage of out of true wheels in the garage so I’ve got plenty of test subjects.

Second Side Note: I had several photos to go with this post but the upload tool on Blogger seems to be not working as it doesn’t give me the option to attach photos from my hard drive. Not sure what the deal is, but this post would have looked a lot nicer with some pics.