Cardinal Greenway, Jonesboro, Indiana to north of Marion, Indiana

August 15, 2019
35 miles
including:
Sweetser Switch Trail
Converse Junction Trail

Started out in the Gas City Trailhead parking lot. It was 69 degrees and overcast so again I'm wearing my jacket. It's August and I'm cold, it doesn't make sense!

 Street signs in Gas City, Indiana

First thing I noticed this morning was this northern section of the Cardinal Greenway has been smoothed out where the roots had bumped up the trail. It's a rough surface but so much better than the bumps! You can see from the picture below how bumpy that would have been if it hadn't been ground down. It gives you an idea of what we have been riding over the past few days. Another nice feature of this section is that there are a succession of 9 bridges that go over roads, streams and railroad tracks. It was much more pleasant not having to watch for traffic and slow down at every road crossing. 

 Smoothing out the tree roots

 Trail bridges through Marion, Indiana

At the end of Cardinal Greenway north of Marion the Sweetser Switch Trail begins almost seamlessly. It is a short trail (4 miles) but very beautiful and interesting. It also has an actual toilet and not a porta potty! In downtown Sweetser is an old train with a fiberglass Garfield standing at the back of the train. Jim Davis, creator of the comic strip Garfield is from Marion, Indiana. A local leader in the area came up with the idea to place a Garfield in every community in the county hoping to bring in some tourism.

 Entrance to Sweetser Switch Trail

 College bound Garfield, Sweetser, Indiana

 Bikes Peak, Sweetser, Indiana

As a bonus we discovered that another short trail (3 miles), Converse Junction Trail, connected to the end of Sweetser Switch Trail. Somehow we missed this trail on TrailLink so it was a surprise to us. We've come this far, why not add this on to our ride today. Once in the town of Converse we found a great BBQ restaurant and immediately made it our lunch spot. On the way back to our car the sun finally decided to come out, I actually took off my jacket and by the time we finished it was 76 degrees, perfect riding weather in my opinion. We've had a great three days of cycling in Indiana!

Cardinal Greenway, Muncie, Indiana south to Economy, Indiana

August 14, 2019
57 miles
including:
White River Greenway

We left this morning around 10am. Once we left the city of Muncie we discovered why there was a fog advisory this morning. There was lingering fog in the fields and it was very overcast. The temperature was in the 70s but I had to wear a jacket because without the bright sun I was cold. Again, we went through sections where the trail was extremely bumpy. Also, along this trail you have many road crossings which mean you are constantly slowing down and/or stopping.

The trail goes through some very small towns and there aren't many places to stop for refreshments or potty breaks. Most trailheads have porta potties which I guess should help with the bathroom breaks but..... I looked in one porta potty and immediately decided I could wait. It looked like someone had a blowout all over and in front of the potty!! 

On the way back to Muncie we stopped in Losantville and ate lunch at the Pizza Barn. I think this was the only restaurant we passed on the trail today. It was very good. I've come to the realization that while long distance cycling all food tastes really good!!

Back in Muncie we stopped at the Wysor Street Depot (built in 1901) where they have bicycles to "rent" and it is also a gift shop. I put rent in quotations because it actually doesn't cost anything, you just have to leave your license with them while using the bikes. What a nice service that is! We also learned that the Cardinal Greenway is part of the Great American Rail Trail. Using current trails and connecting them to make a coast to coast trail from Washington DC to Seattle, Washington. I wish it was completed right now so we could ride coast to coast without being on the road!

 Wysor Street Depot, Muncie, Indiana 

We decide that we would bike another trail that was connected to the Cardinal Greenway. It is called White River Greenway and goes along the White River in Muncie and through a section of Ball State University. 

 E.B. Ball Mansion

White River

Today's ride was our longest this year. Tomorrow we will drive to the section of trail that is disconnected and start from a trailhead in Gas City, Indiana, thereby avoiding bicycling on the road. 

Cardinal Greenway, Muncie, Indiana north to Gaston, Indiana

August 13, 2019
24 miles

Arrived in Muncie, Indiana and checked into the Airbnb (first-time user of Airbnb) at 5pm. Unloaded the car and quickly changed into our cycling clothes. We were anxious to get out on the trail, which was conveniently only 3 short blocks away. Our first priority was to eat supper before riding the trail. We checked out places to eat before leaving the bnb and found a Chick-fil-A that was just off the trail and easy to bike to. Yay, we love CFA!

 Carriage House Loft Apartment

 Our dinner view

Not long after leaving CFA we hit something on the bike. We think it was a rock but whatever it was really bounced our bike and we heard it shoot off into the trees. We are very fortunate that we didn't crash. It was in a section that was tree covered so the trail had lots of shadows and was dark, especially since it was evening. We had to stop to inspect the bike because something didn't feel right. The only thing we found was a loose spoke. Clay was able to tighten it and we were back riding within a short time.

Approximately 12 miles north the trail ends at a town named Gaston (playing the soundtrack from Beauty and the Beast in my head). There is a 11 mile gap where you bicycle on the road, with no shoulder, before picking the trail back up in Jonesboro, Indiana just south of Marion. This gap exists because the private landowners acquired the former rail corridor. It's a shame to have this trail disconnected. We didn't want to ride on the road so this is where we chose to turn around.

It was a nice ride but I have to say that there are many places along this trail that are very bumpy because of the tree roots. Our bicycle really took a beating this evening! 

Official Ride in Alaska

Skagway, Alaska
July 8, 2019
22 miles

Today was our official ride in Alaska because we are actually on a tandem bicycle. We threw in yesterday's ride in Juneau as an "extra". It is another perfect weather day. How could we have been so lucky? We rented a Trek tandem from Sockeye Cycle Co. and are on our own, no group tours today.  

We rode 11 miles out to Dyea, Alaska, which was a boomtown during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-1898, but is now a ghost town. The road started out paved but 4 miles out of Skagway it turned into a dirt road. Fortunately the bike was outfitted for that kind of surface. It is a good thing we left our tandem at home and rented one here. Our shoes were not locked on to the pedals and we struggled throughout the day because of that. My foot kept slipping off of the pedals and we were unable to stand when we would go uphill. And, we had plenty of uphill! It's Alaska, I shouldn't have expected anything else! Let's just say - our legs got the best workout in all of our previous 48 states that we have ridden in.

After the first uphill, overlooking Skagway and the cruise ships.

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking!!!

Along the way were several places to stop and read about the area, the gold rush and Chilkoot Trail. We took advantage of all the stops so we could learn about the history and to rest our legs! There were times along this road where we were the only people around. It was an amazing feeling to be bicycling with no one in view and to have the majestic mountains, the crisp cold water and a regal bald eagle as our backdrop and companion. 

Alaska was the 49th state to enter the Union and it was our 49th state to ride a tandem bicycle in. Cheers to number 49!

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

July 7, 2019

8.5 miles

Disclaimer: I know that we are not riding a tandem bike (that will come later in our trip). I still felt like writing a blog about our experience here in Juneau. This was an excursion offered through the cruise line. Since it involved bike riding, hey what the heck, why not do it!

We were met at the dock by our tour guide and driver. There were ten of us from two different cruise ships participating in this excursion. My cousins, Byron and Christy Cate, decided to join us on this tour. We were driven to the starting point on the campus of the University of Alaska Southeast. Alaska was in the midst of an unusual heat wave, it was a perfect riding temperature of 77 degrees. As a matter of fact, all the biking clothes I brought on this trip were for cool to cold temperatures and possible rain. I didn't need any of those clothes today. As you can see from the picture, I am wearing regular clothes.

Our first stop was by a rain forest. It is strange to me because I wouldn't have thought that Alaska and rain forest would have been used in the same sentence. Our second stop was a viewing point for Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls in Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in North America. We had a clear, picturesque view which our guide said does not always happen. I am so thankful that we had a perfect weather day!

We ended our ride at the visitor center for Mendenhall Glacier. From there we decided to hike to Nugget Falls. It was beautiful and gave us a close up view of both the glacier and falls. 

We saw lots of Bald Eagles today. No bears or moose (I was watching for them)! To celebrate our fantastic ride we ended up at Tracy's King Crab Shack for the biggest and best crab legs EVER!

Flag Day 2019

June 14, 2019
21 miles
Madison County Trails

Today is National Flag Day and the flags were really flying. There was a stiff wind out of the South and we really struggled going into it. We are trying to make up for some lost riding time and we've ridden almost every day this week so we are very tired. We just didn't have the stamina today for the brutal wind! After fighting it for awhile we decided to turn around, which changed our planned route slightly. 

It was a very interesting riding day. We encountered several work vehicles on the trail. We've never seen this many on one ride. We had to pass 4 different areas where they were doing work. It is nice to know they are taking such good care of the downed trees and other problems. We love our MCT Trails!

Another strange occurrence today was we passed Captain Underpants, at least that's the nickname Clay dubbed him. He literally was wearing very tight, very skimpy underpants (or could have been a speedo). I'm also pretty sure they were Red, White and Blue. I guess he was showing his support for Flag Day. I wanted to get a picture but it was too awkward. By the way, he was a walker, not a bicyclist. 

We don't have a lot of rides planned for this summer but we will pick up our 49th State in July - Alaska. We also would like to do another Century ride but still need to put in many more miles to get in perfect shape to accomplish that, so that ride will probably occur in the hottest month of the summer - August!