TO RIDE WITH LOVE

June 2, 2013 PEDALS ADVENTURE



Tom stopping
"Where the (Monon)
 Sidewalk Ends"

Between the Ride That Never Was on Memorial Day, May 27, and our next ride on June 2, the much anticipated arrival of our first granddaughter, Myla Rose, on May 28 occurred.  A quick trip on May 28 to Indy to meet her was arranged and a great time was had by all.  Of course that little bit of "Myla time" certainly wasn't enough.  So we combined our goal of finishing the Monon Trail in Indy AND visiting the newest family member into one awesome day.

Over last year, we rode most of the Monon Trail, starting at different points  but were prevented on our Double Birthday Ride from finishing the northern leg of the trail because the trail was closed.   Using our newly acquired smart phones, we found a trailhead in Carmel and set out going north to find the end.  

The Monon again went through some neighborhoods, through a light industrial area, and finally ended at a nice family park in Westfield.  It had taken some perseverance, but we found (with a nod to Shel Silverstein's famous children's book) ,"Where The Monon Sidewalk Ends."

These BBall goals are the largest I've seen!



The park was impressive, although deserted except for some bball players having a great time at the largest and heaviest bb poles I have ever seen!  A quick picnic lunch and we set off to find the other end of the trail where we were stopped  last summer.  

Passing by our car in Carmel we found we only had to bike a couple miles to our ending spot, and discovered the cause of last summer's bike path closure...a large overpass for the Monon!   It certainly was a large project and I was grateful we did not have to cross the traffic below. 

Impressive and new overpass for Monon users



We continued to Carmel's Hagan-Burke Trail which we also rode last summer on the birthday ride....and it also had its construction problems.  We were pleased to see that the construction was done, the path was easy to follow, and we again were amazed that so much nature could be preserved in such an urban environment.

Nature and US 31 together in Carmel!

A view down the Monon



We turned around (after all we had a darling granddaughter to visit) and returned to the car.  I stopped to read the sign about the namesake of this section of the Monon...and discovered another great motto, "I will do almost  anything outdoors.".  While this sentiment wouldn't describe me if taken to the  extreme, I will say it gave me pause and made me smile!

STATS: 11.57 (RT)  Time: 1:19   ODO: 489 miles

"I do anything that's outdoors!"



Double B-day Ride

July 28, 2012  PEDALS adventure: 

One of the benefits of having Tom’s and my birthday “next-door” to each other (his is the 28^th, mine is the 29th ...one year and one day apart!)  is that you can more easily have an “event” that celebrates both.  We did that by having a Double Birthday Ride on the Monon with Jon, Ashley, Ryan and Heidi on Tom’s day, July 28.

Meeting at the Monon as it crosses 86^th  St. in Nora is a great place because  (1) there is a shopping center with great parking away from the stores, but close to the trail and (2) there is a Huddles Frozen Yogurt store at this spot on the trail…always a bonus to have food on the trail!  Not an official trailhead, but it ought to be.

Booth Tarkington Theater in Carmel

We love the Monon because it is almost all wooded and shaded, which helped on this sunny afternoon.  The beauty balances out the challenge of the high number of users on the trail…I always keep an eye on my  rearview mirror for speed bikers coming up behind us on this trail. After a short ride north (about 3 miles) , we were in the town of Carmel.  We took a side trip to look at the two new performance venues that were built in Carmel along the trail.  The Palladium and the Booth Tarkington Theater share a large area with a garden in between the buildings....and absolutely REEK of wealth and affluence.  You can tell a place is “rich” when they “draw” the parking lines in the brick street with other different colored bricks (as pointed out by our resident building cost estimator Ryan).  Checked out the 2012-13 schedule at the Booth Tarkington Theater….My Fair Lady in the spring….one of my favs!

A few blocks north and we stopped at Bazbeau’s outdoor seating for pizza!!  I’m sad I forgot to get a picture to remember this 3^rd time we’ve stopped here during a Monon Ride, but the 3 pizzas were amazing (The Luke, The Meat Lovers and The Margharite).  Since this is as far north as we have ever been on the Monon, our goal was to continue north to see the end of the Monon. 

That goal was cut short when we reached a “road closed due to construction” sign on the trail a mile or so north!  We had noticed several side trails in Carmel and Heidi suggested we take one of them as an alternative.

The Gang at the Hagan-Burk Trailhead

We happily rode down the Hagan-Burke Trail, which turned out to be another urban trail filled with trees and peacefulness.  The H-B trail had a  connector trail, The Greyhound, which took us to Carmel HS, where we reminisced about HS tennis matches that the guys had played at Carmel.  Back on the H-B trail, we found ourselves going through lots of trees, passed a Carmel Police officer (immaculately dressed in shorts and a golf shirt driving a golf cart on the path), rode under Keystone Blvd) and came to the end at 146^th street in the town of Westfield.  Jon was impressed we were so far north of Indy.

The Monon Tunnel under I-465

The ride back was just enough to get us ready for frozen yogurt at Huddles, where we enjoyed loading up our bowls with awesome flavors and yummy toppings.  My personal favorite was Grapefruit frozen yogurt. It was perfectly refreshing, "as is" without toppings, after a long ride...and after a bigger helping of chocolate and caramel fro-yo with oodles of chocolate toppings that Tom and I shared.

Heidi's and Ashley's Fro-yo creations

We finished the Celebration Ride with a shopping visit to Marshall’s, conveniently located in the same shopping center (along with a Starbucks shop).  The day was filled with good people, good times, good food….and a shopping trip to boot!  Happy times and happy birthday to Tom and me!

The stats: 15.7 (RT), Time: 1 hrs. 47 min, ODO: 344.51 miles

Notable Nature Sightings:  None…too many people on the trail

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.)