Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

June 25, 2012  PEDALS adventure: If you patronized  children’s TV in the 1990’s , the PBS children’s show “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” would have been (or at least should have been)  must-see TV for you.  Under the guise of finding the notorious globetrotting super criminal Carmen Sandiego, kids were given clues about assorted geographical locations, with the aim of educating the young fans about the locations and facts to help them deduce Carmen’s location.   The theme song, sung by the incredible group Rockapella (follow the link for some nostalgia!) and the lowest bass voice I’ve ever heard from a tall skinny guy,  was one of my favorite parts and  it always set the stage for the most interesting and surprising locations.  It was that song that I kept hearing in my head during today’s adventure….maybe it will get in your head too!

The area we biked was a couple of hours drive from our house.   While the trailhead was a bit hard to find, when it was located we were soon surrounded by trees overhead, a limestone path under our tires and a serene “stream” of water passing by on our right.   The sun was out, but the dense foliage kept us cool as we passed a few hikers and other bikers.   There were, at times,  some vehicle sounds that invaded the serene park-like setting we were traveling, but those receded into the background as we pedaled.  Not long into the trip we could see an outdoor amphitheatre through the trees, as well as the home of a long-ago “drug baron.”  (any ideas where we are yet?)  The “stream” gently turned back and forth and a larger river was seen through the trees on the other side of the path.  As this was a new area for us, we felt totally amazed at the peace and tranquility this path was creating.

Swamp Thing 

 Looking ahead, a strange creature was disturbing this peace while churning through the water, not unlike a Riverboat paddlewheeler.  Drawing closer, we saw that “Swamp Thing” was labeled on the side of this machine and it was slowly churning up (and I suppose eating) the yucky green algae that was beginning to show in the “stream.” What an awesome job to run this on the water on a beautiful clear day. This was a photo op if I ever saw one.

A short side trip over a bridge revealed a hidden formal garden that rivaled in design the gardens in Lincoln Park in Chicago…except it needed rain!   To the rescue was the very large tractor that passed us, pulling a giant container, filled with water.  A short jaunt back over the rickety bridge and we were on our way under our canopy of trees…any ideas yet?  Sounds like typical Indiana, doesn't it?

The overhang of trees gradually gave way to a few homes and eventually our path was between the peaceful “stream” (complete with additional Swamp Things) and a busy street.  Our peaceful park-like path was actually the Central Canal Towpath (also known as the IWC Canal Greenway)  in Indianapolis.  Starting just a few miles west of downtown Indy, we were surprised to find a path that looked and felt like we were riding in a state park in rural Indiana.. ...definitely NOT rural Indiana.  With the White River on one side, the canal on the other, and trees providing almost 100% coverage, this little piece of nature goes on quietly on while the rest of Indy bustles around it.

We eventually ended up in Broad Ripple, where the CCT joins with the Monon, a Rail-to-Trail bike path we have often traveled.  We stumbled across the 3 Sisters Restaurant which we recalled was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.  It was lunchtime, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to eat at another of his featured spots (we’ve already done that in Indy and Kentucky…hey, that could be another blog theme!), and I do Bike to Eat (see previous blog entry) so we stopped for lunch…or maybe it was brunch since we had the cornmeal pancakes with berry sauce and a dollop of cream as featured on DDD (they have them marked on the menu).  Pancakes at 1:15 in the afternoon…very fun!

We were soon back on our way, passing the hissing geese through Broad Ripple, passing the Swamp Things finishing their tasks, passing the gardens at Butler University (no tractor this time), passing the Lilly Mansion that sits on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (remember the “drug baron”  reference? Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals is BIG in Indy) and soon back to our car parked across from the Indiana Naval Armory on  30th  Street.  Along the path is a cutoff to the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s 100 Acres Park that looks inviting for another day and another ride….we’ll have to be back.

The Central Canal Towpath is an oasis of nature in the midst of a big city, and I’d venture to say most of its residents are clueless as to its presence and beauty, what a shame!   To end with another bit of nostalgia (and apologies to Gerry Rafferty’s 1972 hit), Canal to the left of me, the White River to the right, here I am, on the Central Canal Towpath with you.

Ride stats:  11.5 m (RT), Time: 1 hrs. 31 min, ODO: 268 miles

Notable Nature Sightings:  A very large heron, several turtles (including one that was roadkill in a busy intersection..evidently couldn’t make it across during the allotted WALK signal time …very sad and actually kinda gross) and several Swamp Things (OK, not actually nature, but with such a cool name, the machine deserves a Notable Nature shout-out.)  

I Bike To Eat

June 9, 2012  PEDALS adventure.  Most of my favorite biking adventures have a component of eating as part of the adventure.   It is my opinion that ALL bike trails would be better with some type of snack place to relax at during or after the ride (especially Starbucks!) .  With that in mind, our urban adventure this morning was biking to IHOP on Washington Center and Lima Road for breakfast.
When INDOT widened Highway 3/Lima Road to 4-6 lanes, a very wide multi use sidewalk was installed on both sides of the road.ALMOST to Washington Center (more on THAT later.) We decided to ride "against traffic" on the sidewalk because it made it easy for us to see if someone was going to turn into a cross street in front of us or a left turn on the side of us.   It was an easy ride with not much traffic at 7:15 am on a Saturday.  There were a couple of gentle hills that caused us to downshift, prompting Tom to comment that we never notice these hills when we ride in a car!    As I said, the ride was easy...UNTIL we were within 1/2 mile of our destinaation.  There, unexplicably, the wide sidewalk abruptly ends at Ludwig road. The irony of the ending sidewalk is that the corner of Lima and Ludwig roads is a major shopping and eating area: Sam's Club, Lowes, Meijer, Applebees, Logans Steakhouse, Starbucks, Panda Express just to name more than a few!  If one were inclined to TRY reduce gas consumption by switching to "pedal power," your safe travels end just  as you get near the Promised Land of shopping and dining.  It would be like running the gauntlet to get yourself to some of these desirable locations.  Why put 4 miles of nice sidewalks that essentially go nowhere and end them before a possible destination?  Trust me, the ride down Highway 3 is not one you should take for its aesthetic qualities because there are non.  The Highway 3 "trail"  is desirable because of its potential destinations...FOOD! (NOTE: see title of blog entry above and ending below).
Luckly, we were prepared for this as we had been scoping out this potential adventure all winter, planning the easiest and safest route to pancakes.  Our final plan was hatched after checking out Google earth on Friday night: cross Ludwig at the light, attempt to go thru the parking lots of a couple businesses, cross a empty lot and go around a small "dead end" guardrail and enter the Ludwig Park housing addition, then use the lightly traveled addition streets to get to Washington Center immediately across from IHOP.   The plan worked great, although the empty lot was a bit bumpy as we walked the bikes. 
As we came out on Washington Center, the plan was to cross only the first 1/2 of the road and wait in the median strip for traffic to clear the other way....the plan was unneeded.  The lack of early Saturday traffic gave us a clear road both ways and we easily zipped across...we were at Pancake Heaven and this is why this entry is called "I Bike to Eat."   I ordered my usual International Crepe Combo (2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausages, and 1 totally delicious cream cheese and strawberry crepe) and didn't feel the least bit guilty about the calories...I had just biked over 4 miles and had another 4 to go back.   YEAH!
As a side note, we had shopped at Dick's Sporting Goods on Thursday and I had picked up a dry fit golf shirt and a long sleeved, collared  dry fit hiking shirt to wear while pedalling.  The dry fit for comfort and the long sleeves to cut the wind when it is cool, and a collar to look nice at any restaurants we may come across that we want to enter.  As Tom (dressed in his own long sleeved collared dry-fit fishing shirt) so aptly said over our coffee. "I don't want to be mistaken for someone who takes biking seriously."  My new clothes kept me just cool enough, just warm enough, and just fancy enough to walk into a restaurant right from my bike.
With breakfast over, we again got a break and were able to dash across 4 lanes of Washington Center at once with no traffic in sight.  Tom spotted a house with 3 connected rain barrels and we had an interesting chat with the lady who lives there about how her husband created their system. (My rain barrel system was an internet purchase of a converted pickle barrel!)  We did learn on the way home that one should always press the "walk" button at an intersection because the "walk" sign is not automatically displayed when the green light  is showing. The best part of the "walk" sign is that they give you a countdown to when it will turn to red, allowing a person to judge their time and speed.  We again rode on the sidewalk "against" traffic and found out it was a bit of a challenge to cross Lima Road near our housing addition...our earlier path was not appropriate.  Next time we will be going all the way to Dupont, using the crosswalk there (there is no crosswalk at the Starbucks light) and entering the shopping center parking lot that take us to the entrance of our addition.
I give this ride 2 forks up and hope to do it again and go to Cosmos, the IHOP's locally owned next door neighbor breakfast restaurant.  The Pufferbelly Trail of the Rivergreenway takes us to Dunkin' Donuts and DQ; I think I'll call this  ride down the sidewalks of Lima Road/Highway 3 the  "PANCAKE TRAIL."

Ride Stats:  9.7 miles; Time: 1 hour 7 min.; ODO 256

Notable Nature Sightings:  A house w/ a triple rain barrel system connected to the entire roof that still has water in it although we are officially in a drought.  Impressive!

Tourist in Your Own Hometown

June 7, 2012 PEDALS adventure.  Thursday's excursion was short on distance, but long on variety as we pedaled around downtown Ft. Wayne.   After Wednesday's 18 mile ride, Tom decided riding INTO downtown Ft. Wayne as we normally do was beyond him, but I convinced him riding AROUND downtown would actually be easier than walking around it.  (NOTE: I went on a downtown architecutural scavenger hunt with 5th graders last  year and can attest to the energy it takes to walk all around FW...it's bigger than it seems.)
After picking up some tickets for a future Tincaps baseball game, we parked at the library lot (free parking w/ library card) and unloaded.  Although it was only 10:30, we were hungry for lunch and we pedaled to the new Auer Arts United Center across from the Art museum and Performing Arts Center which is almost to the most eastern side of the downtown.   I read about a  cafe/bakery there, so we passed on going to our favorite restaurants in favor of this new one.  We each got a 1/2 a sandwich (Chicken salad w/apples on apple artisan bread) cup of split pea soup with northern European seasoning and a cookie.  It is significant because of the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodle I chose....there was cinnamon, there was chocolate, but there was a TON of cayenne pepper in it...the spiciness just kept growing in my mouth and the top of Tom's head started sweating.  It certainly NOT a cookie for those old bitty judges at the State Fair to taste...they would HATE it.  Me?  It was interesting but I rarely like anything that overpowers the taste of chocolate, so I will opt for the chocolate chip cookie next time.
After lunch, we pedaled north to the new MLK bridge that is FINALLY reopened and am happy to report that the downtown portion of the Rivergreenway that also was closed is also re-opened.   We continued west along the Greenway to The Depot bike and kayak shop, then went to Downtown Pizza and Ice cream for something cool and creamy (see above lunch comments).  We were now almost as far west downtown as you can get.  I was sad that the caramel preztel ice cream was sold out, but did enjoy blackberry cobbler ice cream.  However, the smallest portion is a double scoop and from now on it will be shared with Tom....too much ice cream for one sitting (or pedaling for that matter).  I hate when supersizing is automatically done to you!  
After ice cream, we did a quick pedal back to the more central area of downtown and attended a free organ concert at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  While I've been to many of the downtown churches to hear their organs, this was my first at the Cathedral.   It was a lovely 1/2 hour concert (sponsored by Germanfest) although it always seems strange to hear organ music but not be able to watch the organist.   It was just early afternoon so we did a short pedal to Freimann Square to watch the fountains and play Mr. Word (scrabble) on my IPAD.  The day ended with a pedal back to the library for a quick checkout of a couple of books, a ahort chat with a teacherfriend of Tom's at the library and then we were done.   All in all, bikes are a great way to get around town by using the Rivergreenway when possible, the dedicated bike lanes on the east/west streets, and lesser traveled surface streets when necessary. 

Ride Stats: 4.2 miles; Time: 37 minutes  ODO: 247

Notable Nature Sightings:  None, unless you count some of the interesting people we spotted at the fountain and around town! 

Cardinal Greenway 2.0

June 6, 2012  PEDALS adventure:  Today we traveled south to Muncie to ride the Cardinal Trail.    We’ve been hearing that the trail is excellent, with many options.   Technically, we rode part of the Cardinal Greenway when we took our Gas City/Jonesboro thru Marion trip last summer, but it is not yet a continuous rail-to-trail from there to Muncie, the heart of the Cardinal Greenway.  We decided to start at the Cardinal Greenway Depot Trailhead @ 700 E Wysor St because it said online that the restored Depot housed the  headquarters of the Cardinal Greenway….it was an excellent choice.  We found a very knowledgeable worker and purchased a detailed map for $2…the one online is very confusing.  She recommended all the trails for different reasons, but we decided to take the south trip, with a goal of 9 miles to Prairie Creek Reservoir.

 The path was excellent and had a good canopy of leaves, so much was shaded.  As would be expected with Rails to Trails, the ride was generally flat with just gentle inclines.  The beginning of the trip was residential, with numerous stops for cross streets, but soon we were in the rural area, with several benches and informational signs along the way.  Of interest was the Round Barn marker, giving background about Indiana’s round barn era of the early 1900’s.  A round barn can be seen from the trail, but we took a short side trip to see it up close (and for a photo op).  We did make it to the Prairie Creek Reservoir, but one has to venture off the trail into the Red Bud Nature Trail and on surface roads to find it.  The “path” on the map around the reservoir is not much more than narrow hiking path, not appropriate at all for bikes.  During a snack break of grapes, cherries, a banana and trail mix, we looked up the road ¼ mile and 2 huge deer were sauntering across the road.  Not too sure how big they were, but they were BIG from far away, so they must have been large!  After finishing the snack we turned around and headed back to the Depot Trail Head.  A nice picnic table  and pit stop at the trailhead @ 96.5 mile marker gave us  a needed rest. We highly recommend the trail and there are several trailheads along the way where one could park and start.

Ride stats:  18 m (RT), Time: 2 hrs. 2 min, ODO: 242 miles

Notable Nature Sightings:  2 deer, a heron, a possible female Scarlet Tanager, blue jays and of course many cardinals!!

Epilogue: On the way home, we took a side trip to Gaston to check out the Gaston Trailhead, which is currently the northernmost trailhead connected to downtown Muncie.  It is a great trailhead too and the lunch (breaded tenderloin..yum)  at the recommended Mill Street Inn (breakfast served all day) rounded out the day.

Winter Catch-up and Spring Launchings

OK...so I didn't add any "trips" to this blog  since October....but that doesn't mean we didn't take any.  Let's get up to date (as far as my memory serves):
Jan. 2012  PEDS event: On the way home from the Chicago memorial service of Aunt Corinne's, we stopped at Madeliene Bertrand Park and did some snowshoeing on the Cross Country ski course.   Fabulous sunny weather...great time....who knew that would  be the last snow of the season and the only winter PEDS  event
March 2012:  PEDS in INDY:  Unseasonably warm weather allowed Tom and me to trek the southern Monon Trail (from Broad Ripple).  We went past the State Fair Grounds, over Fall Creek and turned around when it became industrial.   It was a long ride to start the spring, but fun to see new stuff.  We picked up M & D @ Jon's house and then headed back north.
April 2012:  PEDS w/  friend in INDY:  CZ and I took Mom and Dad back to Indy to pick up their car during Spring Break....and made a break for the Monon Trail.  It was windy to start the day, so lunch in Irvington helped us pass the time until the weather got better.   We  started at Broad Ripple, but went north this time.  It was a bit cooler than earlier in the week, but CZ enjoyed her first Monon trip.  After getting back to Broad Ripple some "sluething" helped us find a bakery with some scrumptious desserts...a visit w/ baby Miles and we were off again to home
May 2012: PEDS for summer started!!!   A trip on the Maumee Path of the  FW Rivergreenway from Carrington Field trailhead to Downtown Starbucks was a great start!  We discovered a different way to leave downtown by following the street bike lane east and eventually crossing back to the bikepath over the Tecumseh St Bridge.   Any trip that includes Starbucks is GREAT!

Memorial Day, May 28 PEDS with FRIENDS:   A morning bike ride w/ Jen & Alex, Karl and Ann to Dunkin' Donuts via the Pufferbelly trail and neighborhoods!   Great fun, great donuts, great exercise.  Best quotes of the day?  Alex: (as he gets on the trail around the "Y") "I've never been on this trail before."  & (as he gets in line @ DD): "I've never been to this Dunkin' Donuts."  Jen:  "Welcome to FW!"

June 4:  FIRST PADDLE of the season.  Tom finally got the kayak saddles on the car so off we went. We started w/ an easy trip:  Amish donuts @ Grabill then put-in at Leo-Cedarville Public Access @ 8 am.  Only one other fishermen on the water....we scored BIG with wildlife.  Saw several orioles, a muskrat swimming, a deer that came down to the river for a drink, and several turtles sunning themselves on rocks.   Perfect day...even had to wear long sleeves to stay warm at first.  It was calm, peaceful (except for lots of birds chirping) and a great paddle.

Hope for a longer, out of area bike ride later this week.  We'll see what Summer Peds 2012 brings.