Indianapolis

[shellkay1212]

Okay, so I'm considering a move to Indy. I have a road bike, mtn bike, putz around pretty bike, and my work horse. Road riding is what I primarily do.

Say the job is downtown. Commentary on the following:

Would you live downtown so you could commute and then have to drive to go road riding a few days a week

or

Live away from downtown where you could ride from home after work and drive to work (I have no idea where this would be...???)

or

what?!?

Any insight would be most helpful!! Thanks!

[Catrin]

Okay, so I'm considering a move to Indy. I have a road bike, mtn bike, putz around pretty bike, and my work horse. Road riding is what I primarily do.

Say the job is downtown. Commentary on the following:

Would you live downtown so you could commute and then have to drive to go road riding a few days a week

or

Live away from downtown where you could ride from home after work and drive to work (I have no idea where this would be...???)

or

what?!?

Any insight would be most helpful!! Thanks!

There are women here who do all of the above Personally I live on the far westside of the county and drive the 20 miles to work so I can ride to my beloved country roads from home. I do not, however, care for urban riding. If I did I might be in a different situation. I prefer riding on country roads and mountain biking.

There are several other TE women who live here or in the area as well and I am sure they will chime in as they see this thread

[shellkay1212]

Thanks for the info!! I'm not exactly sure what 'the west side' includes.

I don't mind some urban stuff but it is MUCH more important to me to be able to easily road ride and mtb ride than to commute to work. I realize I cannot have it all and if I have to give up one...commuting would be it.

Do you have some info on where you ride on the west side? I don't know anyone that rides down there. Most people that I talk to do not realize that the Monon is not what I am looking for. Sometimes, yes. And where do you mountain bike? I am WAY TOO EXCITED to hear about this!!

Thank you!

[Catrin]

When I have a chance I will PM you a couple of links to some of my road riding maps on MapMyRide. I live close to Eagle Creek Park, you can search for that on Google to give you an idea of the area I start out from.

There are mountain bike trails in Indianapolis, but personally I choose to drive to southern Indiana and ride at Brown County State Park. There are close to 30 miles of great single-track there, though as a beginner I can only ride two of the many trails. Go to www.hmba.org to find out about the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association to find out about HMBA and the trails that are volunteer built/maintained. You will find a forum on the boards in the 'Trail Conditions" section called B.C.S.P. to read about Brown County State Park.

[indysteel]

I'm on vacation at the moment and pressed for time. I can try to expand some of thoughts when I return to town. I used to live downtown and now live 25 miles south of the city in Franklin. When I lived downtown, I did a lot of club rides that I either drove or rode to. Most of my cycling friends lived in or near Broad Ripple--about 7 miles due north of downtown. From there, we mostly rode northwest or northeast. It wasn't hard to go in either direction. Living downtown also gave me easy access to southsode rides. So, while I did have to travel to most rides, it rarely took long.

From where I live now, I can ride from my door. Problem is that I'm cut off from a lot of other things. I rarely go to club rides anymore. The only plus is that I'm within 45 minutes of Brown County's mtb trails. I started mtbing this summer so when I lived downtown, that wasn't an issue.

In my opinion, you can road ride from most places in Indy with a bit of effort. For me, what side of town to live on would depend on a handful of other considerations, cost of living and congestion among them. Access to good trails adds another element into the mix. While there are other trails, I'd sure want fairly easy access to Brown County. I know i'd personally move back downtown in a heartbeat. With no commute, I just had so much more time, and the interstate and major arteries made it so easy to get everywhere.