Brown County Breakdown

[Catrin]

It was an awesome weekend! I arrived around noon on Friday as I wanted to set up my campsite before my first volunteer shift and picked a camping spot that proved to be perfect. I will go to the same spot next year. Once my shift was done I couldn't decide whether to have a beer or go ride...so I did both! First the ride, of course. The trails were crazy packed, though compared to the rest of the weekend it was just the beginning. As it was supposed to be my rest day I only rode for about 90 minutes and then headed for my campsite for the promised beer.

Friday and Saturday evenings we had multiple bluegrass bands and free beer. What beer I drank was mainly my own as I am picky Friday night was FRIGID for tent camping, and I learned my "30 degree" sleeping bag...isn't. I hadn't taken any spare blankets and should have - I was so cold that my legs cramped bad for much of the night - especially when I got up to go to the bathroom. This happened 3-4 times on account of the New Holland Poet Oatmeal Stout that moved from my cooler to my stomach My feet didn't really thaw out until NOON on Saturday, but Saturday was a fine warm day and Saturday night was warmer than it ever got on Friday afternoon!

Saturday I had several shifts I volunteered for, but I made certain there was a nice break between them so I could go play. We had bike demos Saturday from Trek, Giant, Cannonadale, Niner, and several other vendors where there such as SRAM. I would have been interested in checking out a small FS Niner just to see what it felt like, but the vendor didn't have the FS version and I wasn't interested in riding a hard tail. Pretty sure my neck and back would hate me for that. I had a great time tooling around on my mountain bike and just having fun with it for some time, actually lost track of time I was on it.

Saturday evening I had "fire tending duty" for the two community fires next to the live music stage from 8-10 which was fun. I roamed around visiting friends, had a good time watching mountain bikers who had imbibed too much beer (many were convinced we would get stormed out today), and all around had a great evening. I've always been struck by how NICE everyone is at this event, also at the other mtb events that I've helped out in the past.

Everyone was dreading the weather, massive storms were predicted last night through today and every time someone checked the weather it was something different. There were huge winds last night but no rain. Everyone breathed a partial sigh of relief. Major winds started kicking up not too long after 500 riders set off this morning, a few sprinkles but the winds proved to be the rule for the day. A few riders had stuff falling down in front of them By the end of the day all made it back safely, and the trails now have more features than yesterday! If I were considering riding after I was finished, and I did, knowing the trails had a lot more litter from the winds made me change my mind. I crash easily enough on my own, thank you very much.

The routes today were from 25-100 miles, with live music at each SAG and there are musicians who play in the woods at key places. Some of them really get into it and dress up for the part Most of them are bluegrass musicians, and probably all of them. The further routes take riders well outside of the park to other areas so the riders get quite a tour of the area, it is very scenic and there are TONS of single-track available. Some of these trails are not always open, and indeed today a portion of the longer route took riders through a state forest where they have never been allowed to ride before (double-track in this case).

Next year I am going to register and ride as far as I can - right now I can ride about half of the trails in the 25 mile route - they range pretty wide in difficulty. This is also a major fundraiser for the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association and the proceeds go back into the our mountain bike trail system. Trails aren't cheap to build or maintain... We had people register and come from all over the country, and each year there are more participants. I thought it was pretty cool that I either knew, or at least recognized, many of the riders It is a great way to touch base with old friends and make new. I know have a few more riding buddies if we can get our schedules together

[indysteel]

Sounds like a blast, Catrin. I'm so glad the rain held off, although the winds were probably scary for the riders at times. I had visions of a try hitting someone on the way down. I'm glad no one--at least as far as we know--was hurt.

As for you sleeping bag, it doesn't surprise me that your 30 degree bag wasn't sufficient. For whatever reason, the temperature rating on most bags is a bit misleading. In researching them myself, I tend to add 10 degrees or so to the rating. Thus, a 30 degree bag will work to 40 degrees or so. We learned the hard way that we needed true winter bags for fall camping after a frigid night at Clifty Falls in our three season bags. So long as I'm not camping myself the weekend of next year's Breakdown, you're welcome to borrow my winter bag (it's rated down to 0 degrees) for the weekend.

[Catrin]

I had no idea that it would fail me in the low 40's - and I was shocked to NOT find frost on our windows the next morning. I am thankful it got no colder than it did We were in a large open area so it may have been colder than the average temp for the area that night. Thanks for the offer, I do intend to pick up a winter bag at some point, just when will depend on how early I go camping next year. I will certainly keep this in mind, especially if time gets away from me as it does tend to do at times. The terrible cramping was a huge surprise and I am still looking into that. I may simply have had too much beer (though I only had 2) and not enough water.

No trees or limbs hit anyone, though there were plenty of stories of things falling between riders...

[indysteel]

If you're in the market for a winter bag, keep a close eye on closeouts from places like Campmor, Backcountry and REI. I think we got our bags from Campmor two years ago on sale. Good winter bags aren't cheap unfortunately, but if you keep an eye out, you can sometimes find a great deal. In fact, Campmor has a women's bag similar to mine (Kelty Light Year 0 degree bag) on sale for $160 (that's down from $290).

[Catrin]

If you're in the market for a winter bag, keep a close eye on closeouts from places like Campmor, Backcountry and REI. I think we got our bags from Campmor two years ago on sale. Good winter bags aren't cheap unfortunately, but if you keep an eye out, you can sometimes find a great deal. In fact, Campmor has a women's bag similar to mine (Kelty Light Year 0 degree bag) on sale for $160 (that's down from $290).

Nice! Hopefully there will be another decent sale when I am ready to buy, thanks for the suggestion! I do like Kelty, I love my Kelty tent.

[limewave]

That sounds like a FUN weekend. Glad no one was injured in the gusty winds and resulting debris. I hope you are able to do the ride next year too! We really enjoyed the trails when we were down there.