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!

Sunny Day

The sun came out today and farmers are able to get into their fields to cut their soybeans. Sorry for the crappy picture, but this is the first time I've been able to capture my shadow in over a week (clouds and rain).

Happy riding!

LeTour Fixed Gear

I didn't bike commute at all last week, but I took my Schwinn LeTour III fixed gear conversion with me each day and rode at lunch. One of the nice things about having a pickup truck is I can leave the bike in the back and ride from different starting points.

This afternoon I rode from home out to the Van Zile bridge on my fixie. I've been riding it more lately than my Tricross.
It's fun to ride, but it's a much different ride. The frame is very comfortable, but the saddle, well, it sucks. It was the saddle that came with my Tricross, which I promptly replaced. I need to wrap the handlebars - I have the tape, but want to put something under the wrap to make the bars more comfortable. Thanks to Myles, I think I'll use old innertubes for the base wrap, then put the other tape I have over the top.

On the way home, I passed this hot air balloon taking off from the park in Leo.



I like winter, but I really miss the warm weather. Not quite used to putting on layers to bike.

Anyway, hope all of you out there are having good rides!