The original plan was to leave my house March 7th and pedal 60 miles to Crooked Creek boat launch on the north side of Lake Monroe, paddle the 10 or so miles to the Deam Wilderness side, and pedal the remainder of the distance to the Horse Camp. I would camp the night of March 7th, meet up with my riding partner March 8th, and compete in the event.
Because of the recent rash of cold weather I had a fear that Lake Monroe would be frozen, a call to the forest DNR March 6th confirmed this. "The lake is impassable because of ice".
So I decided to keep my original route to Crooked Creek but instead of paddling I'd bike an unmaintained "road" along the east side of the lake and hopefully be able to cross a frozen Salt Creek where I originally wanted to paddle to. If the section of Salt Creek that I wanted to cross wasn't frozen then I'd have to ride all the way to Elkinsville and take Combs Road to Deam Wilderness, which would increase mileage, elevation climbs, and fatigue, something I didn't want to do before an already strenuous bicycle ride on the 8th.
March 7th
Here's my bike ready to head south to Hoosier National Forest, (HNF). A couple days before my trip I was diagnosed with Strep throat and a viral infection. It was recommended that I take it easy and at least not ride to the event, but I couldn't pass up the chance.
My first break south of Morgantown, about 30miles so far today. Here's a shot of the command center.
This has "Hoosier" written all over it. Just north of Yellowwood on Lick Creek Road.
Lanam Ridge Road.
Tecumseh Trail head in Yellowwood State Forest
Riding gravel in Yellowwood. Dubois Ridge Road.
I love antique structures that have been left to the elements. I'm surprised this bridge hasn't been demolished. Jackson Creek Road.
Word.
T.C. Steele Road.
There are 3 brutal instances from this ride that stick in my mind:
- The climb on T.C. Steele Road.
- The climb up Baker Hill.
- 2 hour hike a bike along the lake.
Finally! Frozen Lake Monroe. The "road" along the east side of the lake was full of ice, snow and mud. I ended up hiking my bike, sometimes off trail, for about two hours. Dragging my loaded bike through the forest was physically draining. At this point my water bladder was empty, and I only had two full water bottles left. I wasn't worried too much about my drinking water situation because the camp was about 15 miles away and supposed to have water. My goal was to get to the horse camp for water, food, and sleep.
Hike a bike.
Shot of the "road" along the lake.
Hiking my bike along the lake was exhausting. As a plus? Salt Creek wasn't frozen enough to walk across so I'd have to continue all the way to Elkinsville, head back south on the mighty Combs Road, then make my way to the horse camp. This is the route I was hoping to avoid, but sometimes Mother Nature makes decisions for you.
The conditions didn't clear up for hours. Low on water, bonking, and the fact I'd have to go through Elkinsville, my morale was getting low. The "road" forked ahead so I had a choice, I could head north which
would guaranteed me a creek crossing, but it would have taken me
further north around Elkinsville and through Story Indiana. Just way more miles than I wanted. So I decided to test my luck and try the shorter route to the south
in hopes of a bridge or some other crossing over Salt Creek.
After a couple more miles of hike a bike I saw it, maybe my luck was starting to change. Plus whats that on the other side of the bridge?, a groomed "road"! So now I head through Elkinsville to Combs Road, Maumee, Tower Ridge Road, and finally Hunters Creek Road to the Horse Camp. Should be easy right?
Here's a shot of my bike after a short rest on Combs Road.
As the Sun went down I ended up riding about 5 miles through the forest in the dark before I finally made it to the horse camp. My day started at 10am and I got to the camp at 8:30pm exhausted and dehydrated. My first objective was water. Asking around I found out that when they turned the water on earlier in the morning they burst some pipes, so the water was back off for repair. I was told "hopefully the water will be on by the morning". This is definitely not what I wanted to hear.
Exhausted and extremely thirsty I finished what little water I had, took my antibiotics, set up camp, and went to sleep. The coyotes were singing all night which helped me cope with my frozen feet, sore throat, leg cramping, and thirst. All night I was hoping that the water would be on in the morning and I'd be able to eat and hydrate myself before the ride.
The next morning was rough. Luckily the water was on so I decamped, filled my water bottles, and ate a couple tortillas with Nutella. My riding buddies showed up with additional water so I filled my water bladder and bottles, had some more nutrition, and prepared the best I could for the ride.
March 8th
Shot at the start line. With all of the check points announced, we're off.
It didn't take long for nice clean bikes to become filthy.
More hike a bike. Every once and a while we were able to ride on nice solid flowing ground and when we did I cherished it. But it seemed like the majority of the ride was on soft sticky mud. It made for some exhausted souls.
Combs Road part II. At least the bike isn't loaded this time around.
I guy came up to my and ask "did you ride here from Indy last night"? I replied "yeah". He then asked "how many miles"? I said "about 75-80". He shook his head in disbelief. Then he says "you are a man riding with boys." I though that was hilarious. I don't know about the man thing, I just have a skewed idea of what a fun bike ride consist of.
As if the mud wasn't tough enough, lets toss in some snow.
I think my bike felt as bad as I did at this point.
We're not lost, just having a discussion on which way to go.
Hickory Grove, our final check point. Time to get back to camp.
Man I was glad to see this bridge. Just a mile or so to go.
Done. About 50 grueling miles. Look at all those smiles, didn't see to many of those during the ride.
I knew while I was planning for this trip that it would be a difficult. Little did I know that after only 130 miles in two days it was probably the most difficult ride I've ever tried. I've ridden 130 miles in one day before without issue, so this should have been easy right? Wrong. The hills, the fact that I was sick, a frozen Lake Monroe that added many brutal miles, and the lack of water all added to my complete physical breakdown. I gave all that I had on this ride, I had absolutely nothing left. After the ride I slept 20 of the next 24 hours and missed work while trying to recoup. Through it all this was an adventure that I'm glad I had the opportunity to finish. Great job to all of the people that came out to play March 8th.
Couple of raw videos of the ride to the Horse Camp and the ride itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRt8eH6F2QA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_djH6gyGO2w
