Scarysharkface Wanders

Took Friday off and did some riding. No itinerary per se, just sort of followed the front wheel..

Sunrise departure..



Popped onto I-70 to swipe a map from a nearby rest area..



McDonald's for breakfast/coffee in Ellettsville. I think the people in the drive through probably thought I was intellectually-challenged when I snapped the obligatory self-portrait in the visor...



More to follow...

John

Got one, but it's not working right now for some reason, so I'll check my gallery configuration...

John

Made a turn at 10th and the bypass in Bloomington, and soon found some fresh twisty asphalt!



Followed 45 to Trevlac, then made a left onto South Shoreline I think and found a neat lake..



With boats everywhere.. Nice boats, too. My friend, Jerry, from work pointed this place out on a map yesterday, and said I'd find cool stuff in these parts..



On the other side of the road is a neat-o Indiana Railroad trestle..



Beauty shot..



Just getting started...

John

Nearby is the Yellowwood State Forest, another gem Jerry pointed out on the map for me yesterday..





Really nice road...



Starting to get some nice curves to it..







Beautiful country. I'm always surprised when I find this stuff so close to home. Just wish there was more of it, and that there were trails I could ride through some of it...



Two versions of the same shot. Not sure which one is better, so I'll post both...



Or this..





More to come later...

John

Nice!

Circled around the lake and took the trail to the dam, but was thwarted by construction.. Pulled off into a draw to snap a couple of pics...



And was rewarded by not getting run over by a cement truck! :eek1



Nice area...



Hopped out onto 46 for a fillup, candy bar and pop for later. Turned South on 135 and rode to Story..



Kept with the Southward motion and about planted the bike in the ditch when I passed this...



Fairly non-descript, generic Indiana residential.. But I had to do a quick U-turn and get a closer (though not better) shot...



Cessna Caravan with the cowling off.. In this hilly country.. The strip was appropriately very short and at the top of the ridge. What an absolutely cool station wagon to have at one's disposal...

Passed a yard sale and decided to pull off and consume my lunch by the roadside...



I never get to eat this stuff when I'm at work or home..



Looking back from whence I came.. Nice curvy road..



Nice curves up ahead..



"uncivilized"



This was near where I stopped. I debated removing the orange ribbon so I could see clearly what it said, but opted to leave it as-is..



Wandered down into the creekbed for a quick pee.. I was expecting mud, but the bed is a sheet of limestone. Shouldn't have been a surprise, considering this area is known for producing lots of quality limestone..



Landscape...



And this is what it looks like when I turn around..



Not finished yet. Not by a long shot...

John

So I stop at a small-town gas/food/hardware store and have a boneless/skinless chicken breast for lunch number two. The bones were large and obvious, and the skin was good so we'll not complain. It was quite tasty and not too greasy..

While I'm eating it, a couple of Harleys pull up out front, the riders and pillion get off their bikes, point at the KLR and laugh. Get back on the bikes and ride away..

Indiana has the longest covered bridge in the world, according to the map.. Of course, one caveat might be that this one isn't safe enough to still be in service.. Anyhow, it's ~20 SW of Seymour, Indiana, on 235 I think...



Those two Harleys were there also, and I offered to take a picture of the four of them together. They declined...

I refrained from roosting them as I departed...

Still not finished...

John

a tree lined dirt road and a klr - what more could any sane man ask for????

So I meander around a bit (though not TOO much) and find myself in Scottsburg. I remember that I didn't remember to lube the chain before I left, and didn't bring any of the half-dozen half-full cans of chain lube or wax with me. There's an Autozone sign about a block south of 56 on 31, so I make the right turn on red and pay a visit. There's a fairly new Victory parked at the far end of the lot..

I walk in wearing my Olympia space suit and immediately get assistance. The nice young man who helped me look unsuccessfully for chain lube directed me to a bike shop about half a mile South, across from the fairgrounds, and "do you love that dual-sport?" starts a couple of minutes conversation about the freedom of not being tethered to pavement. I wonder how long it will be before he hates that Victory..

Rode down to the local American bike shop and picked up some lube. Folks were nice at C&T Cycles (If I remember correctly), and bid me a good journey. Kind of like the "you won't be passing through here again..." that I used to get from cops when I had my purple mohawk back in the mid '80s and played in an alternative/punk band in Nashville. But I digress..

30-ish miles to Madison, and away I go...

Madison, Indiana.. I've read that Neil Peart likes the nearby roads, and being somewhat of a Rush fan (not a huge one, but a fan nonetheless) I have that floating around my head while I check out the waterfront..





Ride up to Vaughn Street to grab lunch.. One of the guys at the table out front had a bunch of questions about the KLR.. Nice little chat, but he thought I was insane when I answered his question that the bike would do 75-80 mph all day when called...



Lunch number three? It was pretty good...



More to come...

John

Of course, probably no Southern Indiana ride report is truly complete without some Kentucky...





So I looked at the map and decided to end the day between Vernon and North Vernon, at the Muscatatuck County Park. I didn't know where it was, and stopped at the Vernon city park first..



Though next to the river (or A river), it didn't seem nearly to be the Muscatatuck park that my climbing/bouldering buddies rave about endlessly..

There's a river, but surely this isn't it. I call my bouldering mentor, Colin, and he assures me it's just up the road and VERY NICE...



So I walk back to the bike, and roost just a bit in the sand as I leave...





There is more...

John

I should mention that 7 North out of Madison is an awesome road that runs up the side of a canyon along limestone cliffs, with lots of quick twisty turns..

Back to where we are... I found Muscatatuck park, picked a spot and stuffed my $10 in an envelope..



Camped near a bunch of mountain bikers...





Right behind my tent, about 25 feet into the woods, is a pretty nice mountain bike trail..





And firewood!



So a head off to the Vinegar Mill, to check out where the bouldering happens..



I don't walk all the way down, but what I can see from up top looks good..



Looking the other way...



Back at camp, I turn in early only to wake up around 9:30 pm, tweak the fire and play with the camera in the dark...









Not done yet...

John

Waiting for more!

:ddog

Oh, wait.. I guess it's ME that needs to get posting again.

Woke up to this..



John

It was chilly when I woke up a little after 7:30 am.. Campground was getting busy though, and after downing a couple of Pop Tarts and a quick trip to the head, I offered my remaining firewood to the group of mountain bikers camped next door..



Turns out they were from Murray State in Kentucky, and were here to race mountain bikes today..

I stuck around long enough to snap a few pics of racers behind my campsite..









So I got my site packed up...



I rode to the vinegar mill and hiked down to the rock climbing area..



Pretty nice stuff..





I brought my climbing shoes, but actually went to the top once in the motorcycle boots..





More to come...

John

After a quick breakfast at McDonald's in Seymour, I decided to follow the rails to Tunnelton and find the Big Tunnel..





So I'm cruising along between the CSX tracks and the Muscatatuck river, and pass this..





Looks to be quite the hangout, now that the new bridge is in place just downstream...







Not done yet...

John

The new bridge..





The old bridge..



This area sees a lot of flooding. It's easy to forget just what water can do, even really slow moving flood water..



It's like it just folded up the asphalt and pushed it off the road..



I back-tracked to stay near the rails..



I could hear these guys a mile away. Their stereos were loud, and I thought there was a tractor approaching. Really. Too funny...

They stopped to make sure I was okay, and were really decent guys..



More to come...

John

The last time I was in Fort Ritner (this past spring), this was under water..







I found those missing signs under this bridge..









Lots of nice river-bottom gravel...







More yet to post...

John