2008-05-10 Carefree Century

Carefree Century
Web Album and photos by Larry Preble with special thanks to Vicky Dobbs and Steve Godbey for their contributions.

Ride report by Kirk Roggenkamp:

Saturday's weather was absolutely perfect for Spring riding as pre-dawn fog burned off at sunrise with bright sunshine and starting us with temps in the mid-fifties and never warming to more than the low seventies for the day.

29 riders showed up in Carefree, IN to explore the hills of the Hoosier National Forest and see a different perspective of the Ohio River. Many of the usual suspects were there, but we were also joined by a former Louisvillian, Ron, visiting from his current home in Florida, and Sam, down from Chicago to ride with the Mad Dogs again. Less than four miles into the route, we turned a sharp corner on Fredonia Rd. and were greeted with the first of many stunning river vistas of the Ohio far below glimmering in the early morning sun. We passed thru the small community of Fredonia, skirted Artist Point and Cape Sandy before descending into the often flooded town of Alton at mile 12, where the Little Blue joins the Ohio. Multiple shouts of "Bridge!" stopped the peloton for a dismount and walk across the soon-to-be-replaced Alton Bridge with its widely separated and partially missing wooden planks. Even with the caution, the bridge appeared to take at least one flat as its toll.

>From Alton, the group begin to spread out on the climb back up the ridgeline to Buzzard's Roost deep in the Hoosier Forrest. The isolated road that snakes its way though these thick, quiet, and deep woods always remind me of Dorothy's jaunt thru a similar forest in the Wizard of Oz (Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!) Everyone safety negotiated the sharp descent and dogleg turn on the Dexter-Magnet Rd to face the last steep climb before some welcome flats and fast cruising on Hwy 66 into Derby and Ramsey's Tavern for our first stop. After filling my water bottle at Ramsey's I know now why the beer and whiskey sales are so robust in that town. The taste of the water left a little to be desired. There are not many full-time residents in Derby as the majority of properties in the area are summer/weekend homes and rental log cabins for vacationers. The place comes to life during boating and hunting seasons.

A snapped chain on Gizmo's recumbent (in two places) slightly marred the next stretch of Hwy, but also led to some interesting conversation and education for some of us upright riders re "just how many links are in that thing anyway?" (two regular chains plus 20 lengths) He was quickly repaired and back on the road as we skirted Rome, IN on the river (which would have been a much better place for Caesar's to build their casino in my opinion), passed Mano Point to leave the Hoosier Forest and swing around Rocky Point, which was congested with fishermen and boaters waiting for their turn on the ramp. The Cannelton Locks loomed large on our left as we rode by nearly close to touch any barges or pleasure boats locking thru.

Lawson's Bar/Grill at mile 48 was our official lunch stop, but Renea Lawson and her sister were the only two in the place and were simply overwhelmed by our "early lunch rush". (Cannelton is on CDT and it was 10:30am local time when we started rolling in). Several riders opted to head up the hill to nearby Tell City for their choice of fast food places.

Several riders at lunch had begun to think that I was pulling their leg about the estimated elevation climb as we were still under 3000 ft. at that point. As the group headed out north, away from the river for the first time today for the second half of the course, I think the doubting came to an end pretty quickly. We rode nearly 17 miles northwest up Hwy 145 thru St. Marks and Bristow with several long screaming descents and laborious climbs out of each valley. Here were the best examples of Field Mustard that Marcie noted and Duc identified in an earlier post. Everybody gathered at Kitterman's Corner at the Possum Junction Store at mile 73 to leave as one large peloton again. However, severe cramps and a previously undiagnosed bronchial infection claimed one rider at that point despite a valiant effort to continue. He made arrangements for a lift back while I made good on my promise not to exceed a 13mph average for the day. The slight headwind and long climbs on that last stretch of Hwy 62 due east thru St. Croix and Sulpher made it a very easy promise to keep. Cathy and I may have been the only ones to stop at the Sulpher General Store for one last "pit stop", but we were rewarded with striking up a conversation with a man parked on the picnic table out front who turned out to be the "town blacksmith" in Corydon. Cathy's father managed a thoroughbred farm for many years and they were soon talking horses. He gave her a "hot tip" for a horse running this week at Churchill Downs. We'll see just how rewarding serendipity gets to be.

We "swept" back in the Pilot lot after Cathy added some miles to get her even 100 after the "last bump" on Indian Ridge Rd. I was satisfied with the 97 on my computer, thank you very much. Steve Godbey was the stage winner, pulled out of the envelop in the parking lot who identified herself as "the Wolfpack Lady". Steve, it's too bad your phone # wasn't on that slip of paper. Tim will inform us of the rest of the official results and current GC shortly I imagine. The feedback from fellow Mad Dogs seemed to be very positive about this route and I think it will be a "keeper" for the future. I liked the suggestions to reverse the route, knock out the worst climbs first, and enjoy the river in the afternoon. We'll look for an opportunity to do that perhaps when the forest foliage is in fall color.

The "after-party" at the Blue River Cafe was also a relaxing way to wind down after the ride. Good food, good beer, good music, good friends, as Murph always says, Life is good. Perfect ending to a great ride and a great day.