Time For Some Epic Tours
The hot summer in the Ohio Valley is over now, so now it's time to start thinking about this area's fair and dry weather of September and October. My wife, Willow, and I rode out to Oliver Winery yesterday on the tandem. A very attractive ride on my part: a bottle of Blueberry Moscato Wine with some cheese and crackers was the deal breaker for this 26 mile ride!
After riding the tandem on Katy Trail on our measly 32c tires we opted to get some 38 behemoths for any future gravel riding. We got them on to prepare a Covered Bridge Ride in Putnam and Parke Counties in September. I spent a few hours last night after the Oliver Wine on RGPS designing a four day trip of 191 miles with 32 covered bridges. I'll try to let you know of the dates, and come along if you'd like. We'll be going especially slow!
In October I'll be leading a HeartCycle ride in southeast Ohio, also named Ohio Appalachia. This was the original frontier of our new country in the late 1700's and it seems to have regressed back to a frontier-like setting for a bike ride. I was born a Buckeye and spent lots of time in Columbus and the Hocking Hills area, so what better way to share the wealth to my HeartCycle friends.
I attempted to start my small group tours this fall, trying to bookend a southern Indiana ride after the Ohio trip. I've realized that my Friends of Indiana Jim need a little more "heads up" time, so I'll start my small group tours in 2022. I'll be looking for 10 to 12 riders to spend a full week of riding comfortable distances along with a professional SAG with vehicle and me. We'll stay at nice hotels usually with complimentary breakfasts and have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the overnight towns.
The first of the season will be April 15-22 starting in the heart of Nashville's Music City. We'll be bicycling south on USBR 23 down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. We'll then return back to Nashville on the Natchez Trace. Too early to be hot, and the trees will be leafing out over all of the wildflowers. This ride is scheduled just before HeartCycle's Shenandoah Valley tour, so there's the opportunity to ride two weeks worth of lovely scenery in some southeastern hills. I plan on doing both!
The fall will feature Southern Indiana Hills, October 27 to November 3, 2022. Starting in my home of Bloomington, we'll travel to Little Nashville for a couple of nights, then to Bedford, then to French Lick, back to Bedford via a different route, and finally back to Bloomington. This was my first tour for HeartCycle back in 2017, and it surprised quite a few Coloradans and West Coasters of the beauty of the Ohio Valley. This tour starts a few days after my HeartCycle Old Man River tour ends in St Louis. Spend a few more days in B-Town!
And then gravel road season starts...
Friends, spread the word out to all your
cycling acquaintances for some great rides and I still have FREE midweek centuries during spring, summer, fall and FREE midweek gravel rides in those cold months of southern Indiana!
Website: indianajim.biz
Facebook page: Indiana Jim's Bicycling Adventures
Email: jimmyschweb@gmail.com