Spring/Summer TE camping/biking at Brown County State Park?

I think it would be wonderful if we could put together a spring or summer meeting for TE members in Ohio/KY/Ill/Michigan/Wisconsin/etc. Perhaps a perhaps a weekend or long weekend camping trip to Brown County State Park and area with bikes (great road and mountain biking). Of course it wouldn't be limited to members from surrounding states :D

Is there interest in something like this? The main reason I am thinking about Brown County State Park is that there is something there for everyone - great mountain biking, nice camp sites, and beautiful scenic roads on which to ride. There are existing maps for routes between Brown and Bartholomew Counties that pretty much cover scenic and rolling hills to scenic and very challenging hills. The Park itself has some of the best single-track around and they are working to develop more.

I forgot to mention that one can also hike the mountain bike trails, and there are a good number of regular hiking trails. I only hike the mountain bike trails but there are options.

My interest will depend in large part on the date, as we have a fair amount going on already this spring and early summer.

DH and I cohosted something similar last April for Roadbikereview's forum. My best advice is to tie into an existing organized group road ride, e.g., the Horsey Hundred or the Hilly. It's a lot harder than you might think to coordinate a group ride for people who are unfamiliar with the area and who will likley have varying abilities. This is especially true in Southern Indiana where the terrain can be pretty challenging and the roads in questionable shape.

The logistics were overwhelming enough that we declined an invitation to host a Midwest RBR ride again for 2011. It was just a lot of work. In my opinion, it's far better to let somebody else worry about routes and SAG support.

That'd be awesome, but it does depend on the date and where I end up moving for grad school. I can't really do it if I'm in Tucson, now can I?:o

Good points, I was basically thinking it out while I typed. It makes sense to tie it into some existing ride - perhaps some weekend where there is both a road and mountain biking event in the area? There are several such times, or a weekend where there is a road biking event and if some want to go off on the single track while others hit the road event then they have that option.

The first step is to establish if there is interest - then we can focus on events and see which event dates would fit everyone's schedule the best. So far we do have several interested, dates depending, so that seems a good start.

Please post here if you are interested in participating in a TE member gathering that would be linked to an existing organized group ride in Southern Indiana, possibly camping at Brown County State Park (just an initial idea).

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Originally Posted by Owlie

That'd be awesome, but it does depend on the date and where I end up moving for grad school. I can't really do it if I'm in Tucson, now can I?:o

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Problem is solved if you come to Indianapolis for graduate school :D

Like everyone else, depends on the date, but I'm interested.

We love to camp. Where is Brown County State Park, what dates are you thinking. Looking forward to more details. Thanks

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Originally Posted by surgtech1956

We love to camp. Where is Brown County State Park, what dates are you thinking. Looking forward to more details. Thanks

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Brown County is about an hour south of Indianapolis and about a half hour from Bloomington, Indiana. Reserve early; it fills up fast.

Catrin, CIBA won't announce its calendar until about March. There are a few ride--like the Hilly--that have already been announced I think.

Would love to join... although I'm not much of a camper myself (i have no gear, whatsoever).

Here is a link to the actual park, and here is a link with information on the mountain bike trails at the Park.

I don't have much experience in solo camping myself, but I will try it - and am planning on doing that this summer anyway. There are a couple of hotels just outside of the park and in a close by town, so there are other options than camping.

If we choose the Hilly Hundred as our event to meet at, there is information here with the 2011 dates.

Should it turn out that more women are interested in mountain biking rather than road, there is the Brown County Breakdown - 2011 information is here. In 2010 this ride was on the same weekend with the Hilly Hundred, but not in 2011.

There will certainly be other rides scheduled, as IndySteel said the CIBA ride calendar won't be released until March. There are also other options such as the Hope Ride, which is a fundraiser for local food banks and they drew around 2k riders in 2010! This ride is a lot of fun and as there isn't a mass start it keeps things manageable and the roads were in great shape, SAGS were also quite nice. Here is information on the 2010 Hope ride, they have held it for years so there is little doubt that it will be held this year in September.

Obviously there is a lot of time for us to decide what we want to do!

If you want a ride earlier in the year, you might consider the Harmonie Hundred in New Harmony, Indiana. I would also suggest casting a bigger net and consider event rides in surrounding states. There are various other event rides that would lend themselves to a group ride.

There's a lodge at the park as well. We stayed there one year when we went to the car grand prix at Indy. It wasn't super expensive at the time, IIRC.

I'm interested but it depends on the date. The Harmonie Hundred is early in the season so there may be fewer conflicts for people. If we do it during the Hilly, I will have to train for hills:eek:

Sounds fun! Whether we pull it off or not, it's a great idea, Catrin.

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Originally Posted by Bike Chick

I'm interested but it depends on the date. The Harmonie Hundred is early in the season so there may be fewer conflicts for people. If we do it during the Hilly, I will have to train for hills:eek:

Sounds fun! Whether we pull it off or not, it's a great idea, Catrin.

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I was thinking about the Harmonie Hundred myself. Bike Chick, you have been on this ride, how hilly IS it? I've looked at the maps and it doesn't look like it is very hilly.

This ride takes place over two days, so there are two 50 mile routes, one for Sat and one for Sunday. Registration is only $15 and there is information here. The dates are April 30th and May 1. There is mixed information on this site just yet, some pages reference the 2011 dates and others reference 2010 dates. It does NOT look like there is a mass start as there is a 2 hour window to start - and I find that quite attractive.

How would those dates work for everyone?

DH and will be coming back from a hiking trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon on April 30th, so I'm out.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

DH and will be coming back from a hiking trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon on April 30th, so I'm out.

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Oooh, what fun! Sounds like the right time of year to go to that part of the country :D

Looks like a looooong drive between BCSP and Harmonie? Am I missing something?

There's a state park on the map at Harmonie - if the event is big it'll probably fill up quick.

The date's pretty early in the season for me, but I could probably make it.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Looks like a looooong drive between BCSP and Harmonie? Am I missing something?

There's a state park on the map at Harmonie - if the event is big it'll probably fill up quick.

The date's pretty early in the season for me, but I could probably make it.

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As Indy pointed out, most of the events around BCSP are later in the year and are quite hilly, so I was casting my net out a little wider to see what other appropriate events might turn up.

Bike Chick and I might meet up at the Harmonie ride, so I thought I might suggest it as an alternative that is quite early in the year. Nothing says that we can't choose a couple of events that might work and then figure out what works the best for those interested. We don't have to worry about planning routes/SAG support so that does give us more freedom.

BCSP and area are quite beautiful and scenic though :)

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Looks like a looooong drive between BCSP and Harmonie? Am I missing something?

There's a state park on the map at Harmonie - if the event is big it'll probably fill up quick.

The date's pretty early in the season for me, but I could probably make it.

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In an email to me, Catrin mentioned staying overnight in New Harmonie, so I'm guessing BCSP doesn't factor into the plans.

Sorry I won't be able to make it. I'm still hoping some TEers make it for the MTB clinic in June. For that, camping at BCST would be a great option since the clinic is held in the park.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

In an email to me, Catrin mentioned staying overnight in New Harmonie, so I'm guessing BCSP doesn't factor into the plans.

Sorry I won't be able to make it. I'm still hoping some TEers make it for the MTB clinic in June. For that, camping at BCST would be a great option since the clinic is held in the park.

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As so many of us are interested in this, it wouldn't be a bad weekend to meet at BCSP :)

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Originally Posted by Catrin

As Indy pointed out, most of the events around BCSP are later in the year and are quite hilly, so I was casting my net out a little wider to see what other appropriate events might turn up.

Bike Chick and I might meet up at the Harmonie ride, so I thought I might suggest it as an alternative that is quite early in the year. Nothing says that we can't choose a couple of events that might work and then figure out what works the best for those interested. We don't have to worry about planning routes/SAG support so that does give us more freedom.

BCSP and area are quite beautiful and scenic though :)

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I should clarify something. Minus MTB events that are actually put on inside the park, BCSP isn't particularly close (from my perspective) to any of the event rides that are held in southern Indiana. The Hilly starts about 40 minutes away by car. The Hope Ride is about the same. The Hilly offers camping for a nominal fee on site. While campfires aren't allowed, it's arguably a lot more convenient to just camp there, rather than at BCSP.

There are some CIBA rides that start in southern Indiana but I can't think of any that actually start in Brown County other than a ride put on by the Brown County Parks Department in October called the Brown County Hills Challenge. I'm sure the Bloomington Cycling Club offers some good summer rides, but I'm not personally familiar with them. All of them (I think) start in Bloomington, which is about a 20 minute drive from BCSP. The road between the park and Bloomington is a state highway and is not bike friendly.

This is why, quite honestly, I suggested casting a somewhat bigger net to figure out a ride that offers a mix of nearby accommodations and some other "amenities". For instance, at the Horsey Hundred in Kentucky, you can camp on site, stay in one of the college dorms for a small fee or stay in a nearby hotel that's within biking distance of the start. And because they offer a meal at the end of the ride, it makes for an easy meet up. You can also purchase a meal plan that includes breakfast for both Satruday and Sunday. My guess is that the Harmonie Hundred might offer some similar amenities. If nothing else, it's in a small town so people should be able to ride to the ride from where they're staying.

Now, it is possible to do an unorganized/non-event ride out of BCSP, but it would take some work to put a route or routes together. When my DH and I cohosted last year's ride for RBR, we marked the routes and very purposely picked one where there was a country store along the way so that we didn't need to worry about SAG support. It is doable, but entails extra work. Plus, it would arguably lack the festivity that I think you find at event rides.

Anyway, I'm certainly not trying to take control of the planning of this. I'm just trying to offer what knowledge I have of the area and of the rides offered in the area. I'm not the definitive source of such information, however, so if I'm coming off too strong, I apologize.

Indy, Your comments are very much appreciated, this was just an idea that I had the other day - along the lines of "wouldn't it be nice if..." As a newbie to all of this there is a lot I do not know, for sure. I know nothing about the logistics of such a thing, just trying to think of a nice way to get as many of us together who can make it. Hopefully we can make something work, if not then it was a nice idea :)

It does sound like the Horsey Hundred might have more amenities than the New Harmonie ride - at least I didn't see anything on their site that indicates breakfast - though they do mention that they serve food. Doesn't the Horsey Hundred organizers make lodging available on campus?

They don't have the dates yet for the Horsey Hundred but I think it is normally around Memorial Day weekend...

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Indy, Your comments are very much appreciated, this was just an idea that I had the other day - along the lines of "wouldn't it be nice if..." As a newbie to all of this there is a lot I do not know, for sure. I know nothing about the logistics of such a thing, just trying to think of a nice way to get as many of us together who can make it. Hopefully we can make something work, if not then it was a nice idea :)

It does sound like the Horsey Hundred might have more amenities than the New Harmonie ride - at least I didn't see anything on their site that indicates breakfast - though they do mention that they serve food. Doesn't the Horsey Hundred organizers make lodging available on campus?

They don't have the dates yet for the Horsey Hundred but I think it is normally around Memorial Day weekend...

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The Horsey is always over Memorial Day weekend.

In years' past, you could buy a meal plan at the Horsey that included breakfast, and a good breakfast at that. Because Brian's parents live nearby, I haven't stayed on site the last couple of years, however, so perhaps that's changed. They used to offer a lunch during Saturday's ride, but that changed a couple of years ago. Now they have lunch/early dinner awaiting you at the end of the ride.

They do open up the dorms on campus for a small fee. I will warn you that they're not not particularly nice as the mattresses are from another era, but they are cheap and convenient. Last time I actually stayed in Georgetown, I stayed at one of the hotels and split the cost with a friend. They were reasonably priced and a short bike ride away from the start. We bought the meal plan, too and just ate breakfast there at the college.

I'm honestly not trying to push the Horsey; I'm just using it as an example of what, perhaps, to look for in choosing a ride. My guess is that there are any number of rides in Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio that might be similar. One of my beefs with Indiana is how few nice event rides there are. CIBA puts all of its eggs in the Hilly, while Bloomington does the RAIN ride. While there are a few others, it doesn't compare to some other states. For instance, Tennessee has more event rides during the spring and summer than you can shake a stick at.

We could shoot for the Hilly weekend (which also happened to be the Breakdown Weekend) or we could also do the weekend of the Midwest Women's Clinic or we could do the weekend of the Hope Ride or..... :D

As everyone else has said, depends on the weekend!

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Originally Posted by TrekJeni

We could shoot for the Hilly weekend (which also happened to be the Breakdown Weekend) or we could also do the weekend of the Midwest Women's Clinic or we could do the weekend of the Hope Ride or..... :D

As everyone else has said, depends on the weekend!

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This year the Hilly weekend and the Breakdown weekends are different, one week apart - unless I have looked at the dates wrong. That would be a good combination of interests.

Hope Ride would work as well, and there are hotels in Columbus which is closer than BCSP. They provide breakfast and a great lunch, and the hills aren't as challenging as the Hilly - in 2010 it was quite nice. So it looks like we have three contenders for now - though it is too early for us to make up our minds as

Horsey Hundred (Memorial Day weekend, Kentuky)
Hope Ride (September/Columbus, IN closest largish town)
Hilly Hundred (October, perhaps stay in Bloomington? Drive from BCSP?)

I really like the weekend of the Midwestern Women's Mtn Bike clinic - it isn't an actual "ride event" like the others, but it isn't all that expensive, camping is available, and they have things for the most beginners like me, up to the most advanced. The beginning training is only on Sunday, but they have things from Friday on, demos and so for with more advanced training on Sat as well. Plus there would be time to go exploring on your own if you wanted - and there are several quite challenging road hills in the park as well - one of which is called the "Witch" and for good reason!

I'm in Cleveland until mid-May at the earliest, so I'd be hard-pressed to make anything late April/early May.