I might be moving from sunny Bakersfield CA to Fort Wayne Ind in the next couple of months and was wondering if there were any riding clubs there. And no I haven't tried the bike shops yet. Thanks.

I'm sorry.

Froze,

Try Three Rivers Velo Sports

https://www.3rvs.com/

Ron

DanR; I'm kinda of sorry but kinda of not! The pollution level is very high in Bakersfield but I will miss the mountain rides!

Areles; thanks for the tip, I went to the web site and found it to be very helpful and already contacted with one of the members on it. Again thanks!

My condolences to you.

wow, I can say that IN is a real sh*thole, well I know terre haute is. I know that there are some clubs up there and IN is full of rides in the spring/summer. Its ok during the season, but the winter here is SOOOOO cold!!!

well good luck, but why Fort Wayne? you live in CA!!!
-Ross

"but the winter here is SOOOOO cold!!!"

True but the summers in Bakersfield is soooo hot!!!!! So you can't ride for 3 months in the winter-and I can't ride for 3 months in the summer!!

"well good luck, but why Fort Wayne? you live in CA!!!"

I have friends and relatives in that area and was offered a different job, plus I can sell my house here and buy one there without having a $1,500 mortgage payment!!! As far as a tax deduction goes-no big deal, I'll just purchase a 6 or 8 unit apartment complex and have a loan on it.

But CA is in a major fiscal crunch, and I see major tax increases as the only way to get back on track-I pay enough taxes now. My property tax is $2200 year-in Indiana it will be only $850 PLUS I'll have a larger house with NO mortgage. Hmm, can any if you think of why I should'nt go?

Froze, if you do move to ft. wayne, you'll be a heck of a lot closer to terra haute indiana. It's on the Il/In border, I did a ride called RAIN ride that started in terra haute and went across the state and ended in Richmond In. It's a looong ride, at 159 miles and it's a one day, thus what RAIN stands for, ride across indiana, it's normally on the second saturday in July, this year was my first year doing it, and I'm thinking of doing it again next year..They kind of bill it, as a tour, but also encourage you to do your best time across the state in one day..So it's kind of a challenge also....I'm not sure if you're into that long of riding or if you do road riding or not, but I though I might mention that to you.

Best of luck if you do move, and keep us up to date.

Benjamin

Indiana is one of those places that just grows on you.

Unfortunately, I am from Indiana and it just never did grow on me.

I don't know much about riding there, but I hope it has everything to offer you. Good luck.

There is also a week long tour of the Indiana State Parks called TriRi. You ride from park to park. Last year the tour was around Fort Wayne. The terrain is very flat.

Summer of 04 will be near Cincinnati and a lot hillier.

The Flat Fifty ride is in early June. That's out of Decataur, which is not to far from Fort Wayne.

One interesting thing about Fort Wayne is that all restaurants have "smoking rooms" with doors on them so that non-smokers are not exposed to cigarette smoke. Much better than smoking-non smoking sections.

There's a nice lakes area similiar to the lakes in Michigan.

BTW, my sister just moved to St. Louis from Fort Wayne.

Also, it's snowing there.

Kathi

I haven't been to Fort Wayne, but Indianapolis is a nice city. Try www.cibaride.org for local clubs. You should come down to Indianapolis in July for the NITE ride. It's a great time! Midwest, like any place, is what you make of it. Personally I enjoy the slower pace of life here in Indianapolis, much more laid back than it was on the East Coast. Summers here are absolutely wonderful, and I've become quite accustomed to riding in the harsh winters.

I did spend a veeeeeeeery long year in Terre Haute, however, and it was an awful place.

Ah yes, the slower pace of life is one of the things I will look forward to in Fort Wayne-what a difference from California!

Well, one thing you can look forward to is the fact that Indiana like Michigan, Ohio and Illinois is set up in a grid system. Roads run North and South or East and West. Generally there is a road grid 1 mile apart in the country. Of course, paved roads are often 3 miles apart. But these states have really great rural road nets which makes for superb cycling during the prime riding months from May till September.

I am not that familiar with Fort Wayne. But there are two multiday rides in Michigan (just a bit to your north) that you might think of trying. There is the Shoreline Bicycle Tour which is a bit laid back but it has very nice scenery. This one follows the shoreline of Lake Michigan. And there is DALMAC put on by the Tri-County Bicycle Association in Lansing MI. DALMAC has 4 day and 5 day option and a quad century. It goes from Lansing MI to St. Ignace just over the Macinaw Bridge.

As for the cold, well it isn't that terrible. When I lived up there, I used to ride through the winter. You just need the proper clothes.

Hey good points and rides that you brought up Pat, Froze I've done that Dalmac ride that Pat is talking about, I did the 5 day tour back in 2001, and had a blast!!, the club I ride with though does the quad century each year, so I know that it's a good ride, and I'd recommend it to you if you're into that kind of touring also!..

Benjamin

Also, if you don't know what chip an seal roads are like to ride on you'll find out. They were my incentive to buy carbon fiber frame.

Kathi

Thanks for the tips guys. Not sure what a chip seal road is Kathi. I drove around Fort Wayne quite a bit and did not run into any rough surfaces-but that was in the city not the rural areas. My last impression of mid west rural roads was when I use to live in Ohio, and that seemed to be gravel mixed into blacktop-is that chip seal? I rode on those when I was a kid on steel bikes and never experience any problem, but as a kid the rough stuff was good! But alas I'm older now so I will probably have to wait and see-or feel.

Well, not exactly....

What they do is go and spray down some really nasty wet n sticky asphalt stuff on a road that is getting rather along in wear and then they throw on a whole bunch of pea gravel about 3"-4". At least, that is how I have seen it done. They do not roll out the stuff. They just figure that the cars will eventually force all of the pea gravel into the asphalt and sort of make a new layer of pavement. They generally do this during the hot months of summer so the asphalt will stay nice and sticky long enough. It does force things into all the cracks in the road and fills them in pretty well.

It is not nice to be riding along and then hit a stretch of this stuff on the bike. You can even get little splatters of asphalt on your bike and yourself not to mention pea gravel flying everywhere. It doesn't happen that often. It is just something that your remember for a very long time. I did know a guy who was descending down a steep grade in northern Michigan in the high 40s and he went around the corner and there right in front of him was a long stretch of road with a nice 3" deep layer of pea gravel. He did manage to slow down in time but apparantly it was quite a shock. Three inches of pea gravel is not something I would like to plow into at 45+ mph.