Great Lakes - Cardinal Greenway Trail

Well, I met up with Mariner Fan (A BF member) over in Gaston, Indiana to take a turn on the Cardinal Greenway.

Mariner Fan is a great ride partner, by the way! Good talker and great company! I'll ride with him any day!

OK, on to the trail! As a MUP, it's really nice! Good riding and the only real bottleneck area is in Muncie. There is good facility access and a small campground, it looked like off the trail South of Muncie. We rode down to the round barn and back. All in all, I highly recommend this trail. It starts off Broad Street from Elm in Gaston. It's easy to find!

It was a nice leisurely 32 mile turnaround. I was riding with a new leather saddle though and was having some minor pain issues, but nothing I couldn't handle. I WILL be happy when it breaks in though, as it bodes to be really comfortable. Any new leather you can turn 32 miles on and still walk at the end is great!

Here are some of the pics from the ride

Me:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway005.jpg


Mariner:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway002.jpg


The Depot
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway001.jpg


The Round Barn
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway009.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway006.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway010.jpg

A Seriously stuck bulldozer along the trail!
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway017.jpg

A Granola Munching 'Bent Jockey:D
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway019.jpg
:D

I am here to testify that Tom is not Saddam Hussein, though he would not confirm or deny if he was one of Saddam's body doubles. :D

I had a great time on the ride and both of us think it would be cool to see more of you local BF members out there. How bout it?

http://cdn-60.cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users13/marinerfan/default/large-msg-116734485585.jpg

http://cdn-66.cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users13/marinerfan/default/large-msg-116734497746.jpg

It wasn't bad, 49℉ or 9.5℃!

Could have been this
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/GawkyEndymion000/snow2.gif
or this
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8536/2823v2yu.gif

Or all of the above, this is Indiana after all!
or this
http://www.funfilesandsmiles.com/smileys2/28_2_2.gif
http://www.indianatraveler.com/images/indiana_flag_lg1.gif

Looks like a great ride! How'd the Passage ride? I just took my front wheel apart for a good cleaning and looks like mine will be off the road for a bit for some replacement parts.

If I could I'd love to take like a six month coast to coast road trip to stop and ride with as many BF's members as I could in that time. Maybe a few years down the road when my wife won't notice I'm gone for that long! :lol: (j/k)

It was a nice leisurely 32 mile turnaround. I was riding with a new leather saddle though and was having some minor pain issues, but nothing I couldn't handle. I WILL be happy when it breaks in though, as it bodes to be really comfortable. Any new leather you can turn 32 miles on and still walk at the end is great!

Here are some of the pics from the ride

Me:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway005.jpg


Level out the nose of that saddle, Tom. IMO more pain comes from saddle position than from any mythical break-in period. ;)

Looks like a great ride! How'd the Passage ride? I just took my front wheel apart for a good cleaning and looks like mine will be off the road for a bit for some replacement parts.

If I could I'd love to take like a six month coast to coast road trip to stop and ride with as many BF's members as I could in that time. Maybe a few years down the road when my wife won't notice I'm gone for that long! :lol: (j/k)
Ride is spectacular! I did have a scare when I dodged a jogger and wound up off the path in the loose gravel, it got a little squirrelly there! Skinny tires and deep soft gravel are a bad mix! :eek: Just coasted down, standing the pedals and using my best single track technique to get it stable and back on blacktop. :D

Bike rides like it's brand new though and the saddle ain't bad considering it was only the third ride on it and it isn't broken in yet!:D

Let us know if you are coming to Indiana, I'm sure Mariner and I can arrange a hookup for a ride! If you like distance, I have a double century route I'm itching to try in a day! Lafayette to Cincinnati!:D

Level out the nose of that saddle, Tom. IMO more pain comes from saddle position than from any mythical break-in period. ;)
It's a springer saddle, Chip, and it levels itself when my can gets on it!:D

It's a springer saddle, Chip, and it levels itself when my can gets on it!:D

Trust me, m'kay? If I'm wrong I'll buy you a rubber ducky. ;)

Trust me, m'kay? If I'm wrong I'll buy you a rubber ducky. ;)
OK, I'll level it tomorrow, if it works, great, if not, no worries!:D

Hey Tom,

I took the Lemond out today on the trail. I haven't ridden this bike since I put on a new Brooks Swift Saddle. Funny thing about this bike is that it tasks me to ride it fast. So there I am peddling like mad and realizing how out of shape I am. :eek: I’m glad to report that the Swift was very comfortable and is much lighter than the Team Pro due to the Titanium Rails.

I rode up to the place with the buried cat and there were two guys getting it out of the ditch! I told one of the guys that I thought they would never get it out and he said he thought it was stuck forever too!
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway017.jpg

Well, it was a nice ride. I wish I would have brought the camera along but I travel lite with this bike.

Hey Tom,

I took the Lemond out today on the trail. I haven't ridden this bike since I put on a new Brooks Swift Saddle. Funny thing about this bike is that it tasks me to ride it fast. So there I am peddling like mad and realizing how out of shape I am. :eek: I’m glad to report that the Swift was very comfortable and is much lighter than the Team Pro due to the Titanium Rails.

I rode up to the place with the buried cat and there were two guys getting it out of the ditch! I told one of the guys that I thought they would never get it out and he said he thought it was stuck forever too!
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Cardinal%20Greenway%20and%20other%20rides/CardinalGreenway017.jpg

Well, it was a nice ride. I wish I would have brought the camera along but I travel lite with this bike.
Sounds liker you had a great ride, and I do hope they get rid of that dozer! :D

OK, I'll level it tomorrow, if it works, great, if not, no worries!:D

Did you try Chip's suggestion Tom? We have had bad weather here for the last two days so I've been a couch potato. I hope I don't have to resort to using my trainer! :eek:

Ahhh Muncie! Sniff. I joined bikeforums to get some advice on a good saddle and I find your thread. I have seen the Cardinal Greenway but have never had a bike to take a ride. My base when in the US is Munice and I've fantasized about all that smooth flat Indiana road coming from a very hilly part of Australia.

Did you try Chip's suggestion Tom? We have had bad weather here for the last two days so I've been a couch potato. I hope I don't have to resort to using my trainer! :eek:
Yep, I sure did and he was right!:eek:

Ahhh Muncie! Sniff. I joined bikeforums to get some advice on a good seat and I find your thread. I have seen the Cardinal Greenway but have never had a bike to take a ride. My base when in the US is Munice and I've fantasized about all that smooth flat Indiana road coming from a very hilly part of Australia.
Well, you get in and get hold of Mariner and me. Especially if you have some time for long rides. I have some really nice routes including a 205 mile route from Lafayette to Cincinnati, OH and a 366 mile route from Fort Wayne to Evansville!:D

Well, you get in and get hold of Mariner and me. Especially if you have some time for long rides. I have some really nice routes including a 205 mile route from Lafayette to Cincinnati, OH and a 366 mile route from Fort Wayne to Evansville!:D
I know Fort Wayne too. I'm sure I'll find some time to sit in a saddle for 366 miles. I did my first driving on the wrong side of the road from Fort Wayne to Evansville. At least on a bike the gears are where they should be and I won't have to worry about all that car on my right side.

Yep, I sure did and he was right!:eek:

Excellent! We need to hunt him down someday for a bike ride.

Excellent! We need to hunt him down someday for a bike ride.
Sounds great to me!:D

I'm down for the 205 from Lafalott to Cringe-innati. Seriously.

Whew! I got clobbered on the trail today. Rode from Gaston to the Depot and back but had a 12 to 20 mile head wind on the way home. It was only 21 miles total but I'm bushed!

Whew! I got clobbered on the trail today. Rode from Gaston to the Depot and back but had a 12 to 20 mile head wind on the way home. It was only 21 miles total but I'm bushed!
Ya, it was breezy today for me as well! I took a little 15 miler today, but too windy for Crazy, strong wind sets off her asthma.:( We're going to do some road riding tomorrow around Lafayette. In March, we're going to do a short spring break tour, weather permitting. Probably going to ride over that way and down to Richmond and back to Laf. By the way, you want to join my Tour de Cure team? Link is in my siggie!:D