Tuesday, October 20, 2009

New Auburn Trail

At lunch I've been riding a new trail the City of Auburn Park Department is building. I keep my Schwinn fixed gear bike in the back of my truck. Today I took a video using my camera. I held the camera with my right hand and held onto the brake with the left. It's pretty bumpy, so if you get seasick easily, don't click on it.



Over the past few weeks, the entire length has been topped with limestone gravel and much of it has been compacted and is ready for asphalt. A section of the trail behind Rieke Park has already been paved with asphalt.

I believe this segment will be called the Rieke Park Trail. It is a part of the old New York Central Rail Line. The state of Indiana claimed the 150 mile right-of-way some time ago, but last year divided up the trail and gave each segment to the county/municipality in which it passes.

By following this trail to the end, it is a short hop east on Betz Road to a bike and walking trail along old US 27 that connects Auburn with Waterloo, Indiana. From my office, it is about 5.4 miles to Waterloo.


View Rieke Park Trail to Waterloo in a larger map


Nice to see some progress on the trail front in NE Indiana.

Happy riding!

4 comments:

Rat Trap Press said...

New trail, that's cool. How much of the 150 miles is ridable?

RANTWICK said...

That cam was pretty stinkin' steady for the most part... nice work!

Any time I've tried holding a camera the results have been hopeless.

Apertome said...

Great to see some Indiana rail trail action. IN definitely lags behind some other states in the rail-trail department, but I have read about a few projects in the works, so I have hope.

Personally I think things like this don't need to be paved, and they could definitely make sections accessible a lot cheaper/faster if they didn't pave them. But, I understand why a lot of people do want them to be paved.

Big Oak said...

RTP - as far as I know, this is the only segment so far (1.7 miles). The next county south (Allen County) is in the process of converting much of its portion, which is between 20 and 30 miles.

RW - thanks, I'm concocting a rig to mount the camera to - sort of like yours.

A - Many rail trails I've ridden in Wisconsin and Michigan are covered in crushed lime, which locks tight in place and makes a very smooth riding surface. The only problem is when the trails are wet, then you and your bike get covered in a fine grey coating.