JULY 12 RACING IN INDIANAPOLIS

What a great day! This was one biking day that we all will remember for a long time. It was not only the ride, but all the places we visited that made for such an enjoyable adventure.

The weather was summer sunshine. The trip was a short one--only 64 miles from Crawfordsville to Indianapolis. AND we were riding into a REST DAY. This put us all in the right frame of mind...and the events of the day took over from there.

The first 30 miles to the SAG stop we stayed together in a group of 10. We rode through towns like Pittsboro, home to Jeff Gordon of NASCAR fame, and Brownsburg where we visited the Roark Bike Factory. Roark all titanium hand-made bikes are among the best and fastest in the world. Since the Roark Factory also makes some parts for the B2 bomber, their appropriate slogan is: "What we make flies". We had a tour of the small factory where we watched and learned how they make these racers to individual specifications.

Jerry, Mason and Tom at the Roark bike factory

We then moved on to Eagle Creek Park just outside Indianapolis. Cruising down the shaded roads of this large park, we turned and rode to the marina for ice cream and a rest stop. Joe and Doug rented a sunfish and sailed for an hour on the lake. When they didn't capsize in the first 15 minutes--as we had expected--we left for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Home of the Indy 500. As we approached the speedway, I thought there was a jetport nearby--the sounds of the cars on the track were deafening. Luckily, it was a practice day for the Brickwalk 400 NASCAR race. We rode in our bikes and sat in the stands and watched these cars zoom by at 180 mph. Ear plugs were selling fast at $2 a pair.

Joe and Doug sailing

Major Taylor was the first famous black cyclist, who at that time was not able to race for the US, but did race successfully for Austrailia. He is honored today by his namesake track in Indy: The Major Taylor Velodrome. AbB received permission for us to ride the open-air 1/8 mile banked oval track. Great fun, trying to move up the wall at higher speeds and then sprint down to a finish. We all took turns on the oval--some more daring than others.

At the Velodrome

There were 6 or 7 serious cyclists working out with their coach at the time. We spoke to the coach, Aaron Hartwell, a US Olympic sprint cyclist in the '92, '96, and 2000 Olympic Games where he received bronze and silver medals in the "kilo" or 1000 meter sprint. He introduced us to his wife, Mae Britt who was training on a Roark bike in a stationary apparatus and to several of the boys from the Canadian National Cycling Team. She had placed 3rd in the Women's World Championships and the boys were world class sprinters, all powerful looking athletes. We had an interesting discussion with Hartwell about the sport of sprint cycling. He impressed me as being at the top of his game.

The former Olympians

It was then into center city Indianapolis riding on bike paths along the White River. We passed IU Medical School where Dr. Dave trained, the RCA dome, the headquarters of the NCAA, and on to Monument Square, the Capital Building, and the War Memorial. What an impressive city. We rode along the canal which has been developed much like San Antonio and right to our downtown hotel. Bicycles and big city traffic are not always a good combination, but we all made it safely.

Lost in Indy

We had a lot of guests and family visiting our bikers at route rap tonight, including Lynn and Paul Bowles, my friends from Naples who came to visit. We had a wonderful dinner and evening together at Indy's famous St. Elmo's Steakhouse.

Tomorrow, I'll visit some of the sights we biked past today--and hopefully get some rest.

         - Bill

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