Ride report: Eastern Indiana Cardinal Greenway

[Josh C]

I live near downtown Indianapolis and a few weeks back I dropped my kid off at Taylor University for sports camp. I figured if I’ve got an hour plus drive to do, I might as well see what riding is to be done in that neck of the woods. So that day I ended up riding 50 something miles of the cardinal Greenway; Indiana’s longest rail trail. Well, I really enjoyed it. It was shaded quite nicely by loads of vegetation. So much so that even on an 85° day, and having to start at two in the afternoon, much of the trail still had condensation on it, even as I finished late in the day. Furthermore, there was very little traffic and all sorts of wildlife on this ride, a nice change of pace from my usual rides, which originate from near downtown Indianapolis.

[Josh C]

So, I went back and wrote the southern portion today. I drove out to Richmond, IN, about an hour or so from Indianapolis on the Ohio/Indiana line, and headed north a little past, Losantville, IN for a total of about 60 miles. It was a pleasant ride with at least 3/4 being in the shade of trees along the old Cardinal. I just thought I’d share.

[Josh C]

[Josh C]

Both of these rides were accomplished on my Atlantis, a 2008 Toyo 61 CM for those that want details. And yes, that’s a sign telling you not to drive your horse and buggy on the trail.

[Josh C]

[Josh C]

My first attempt at this. The site is a bit old tech. It kept telling me that my post was too long, so I broke it up. May have been the pic size. Sorry for the typo's. I think I got the point across at least. 

[Steve]

Josh, I grew up around South Bend, Indiana but moved to North Carolina in my early thirties. My wife though still has family in the Marion area and I've had that opportunity while visiting there to ride a bit on the trail to its northern. terminus near Sweetser. We'll be back up there for her HS class reunion in a few weeks and are taking a couple bikes with us to ride a bit of the Cardinal. Best I can tell, the route between Jonesboro and Muncie runs on backroads. Curious to know if you've done that stretch and what your impression was.

Thanks for posting!  Great pics. BTW, I had a similar problem when posting pics on this site. Reducing their digital size seems to have resolved it

Steve

[Josh C]

Steve,

Thus far I’ve only done the Gaston to Richmond section. It does have a 15 mile chunk of road toward the north end. It’s on my list. Thanks for the tip as well. 

[George Schick]

I grew up in Richmond and am well aware that the Cardinal Greenway Trail is a rails-to-trails conversion of the old C&O Railroad that used to haul long coal trains from the mines in SE Kentucky and West Virginia up to the steel mills along the Southwestern Lake Michigan shore.  I attended college at Ball State University in Muncie during the early 70's and often saw those freights along U.S. 35 as I drove that way many times.  But things have changed significantly over the past 4 to 5 decades.  C&O abandoned that stretch of rail once the steel mill industry moved largely off-shore and the high sulfur coal from those mines was replaced by coal from Western mines that was closer to the surface and had lower sulfur content.  Hence, the abandoned railway is now the Cardinal Greenway.  I haven't lived there in over 50 years and have never ridden the new trail.  As I understand it, though, there are certain sections where some land owners have claimed rights from the railroad right-of-way and have caused trail users to detour onto sections of county roads for brief stretches.  This is particularly true once one gets North of Muncie. One of these days I may have to drive down there and ride that trail just for the nostalgia.

[Steve]

George, I went to school at BSU in the '70s as well.   Wound up in Muncie for nearly the entire decade.  Had some good times riding the backroads in that area. Some of it was on an old canti-framed Schwinn I paid $20 for and built up as a "Little 500" racer; drop bars, coaster brake, and a rattle can orange paint job.

 I remember those long trains pulling coal cars - and getting caught at the crossings as they rumbled by. I had no idea though that they were part of the whole steel industry centered around Gary. Thanks for sharing a bit of the history of the Cardinal. It made me realize that rail trails all have a backstory rooted in a changing economy. Interesting!. 

[Brian Turner]

My buddy Huston and I rode the Cardinal Greenway back in the pre-Pandemic days. We rode from Richmond to Losantville, and then took rural roads over to Summit Lake State Park, where we camped for the night. It was a very well manicured trail, but I don't recall there being much shade back then. Maybe it has grown up a bit more since then. It was mostly corn on one side, soybeans on the other the whole way. I'd like to go back and explore more of the upper section of it.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/48ab3d93-453c-4290-a44b-7064a0bd8407n%40googlegroups.com.

[Al]

I'm spending a long weekend in Indy and am planning to take my bike down (I live in Grand Rapids, MI). I'll definitely check check this out as I'll be going right through that area. Anyone recommend a good starting point near I-69?

[George Schick]

That's a difficult request because I-69 runs pretty much North-to-South in the area where it gets even a little bit close to the Cardinal Greenway Trail.  The closest access point that I can see would be at Gaston and there are no exits off the interstate anywhere near there until you get to state road 28. And I don't know where you'd park around there in order to ride a bike plus you' have to ride East on SR 28 for a ways before getting to the trailhead and I, myself, would not want to do that on that highway (narrow, no shoulders).  You'd be better off just going just a little further South and taking to SR 332 into Muncie where you could get on the Greenway Trail there.  Maybe there's parking places along the train in Muncie.

[Josh C]

I agree with George. 

[Josh C]

Brokebike, 

I found it to be quite shaded. Gaston to Losantville was very shaded. Some open areas near Losantville, but again down toward Richmond was quite shaded. It makes for a nice ride in the heat. 

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 10:00:10 AM UTC-4 brok...@gmail.com wrote:

[Josh C]

Al, 

What part of the state are you staying in, Indianapolis? 

[Alex DeNooyer]

Thanks George, I appreciate the detailed explanation. I’ll plan on going through Muncie.

Josh, I’m staying in Indianapolis.

On Jul 19, 2023, at 7:39 PM, Josh C <getjosh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Al, 

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/5NTIKEEX4nM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/947fce04-3a20-46f5-b507-63f920a60053n%40googlegroups.com.

[Josh C]

Al, 

I do think you could get to the Gaston section of the trial, from I-69, in about 10-15 minutes. That's the way I got there for the first ride. Gaston to Losantville is pretty nice. The Monon trail in Indianapolis is a nice ride. More populated and less rural, obviously, but it's a nice trail that runs about 26 miles from downtown Indy up to Sheridan. When you get back to the southern end you can pop into the Garage food hall for some food and drink. 

[Alex DeNooyer]

That sounds awesome, I’ll add that to my list. I appreciate it Josh! I was just planning to bike around in the city but having some dedicated bike trails to cruise on will be great.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/eedea337-516b-44d7-abe6-bda8e473f643n%40googlegroups.com.

[Rick Harries]

Thanks for the report, Josh. I was on the Cardinal Greenway two years ago on a trip from Chicago to DC with my MIT Homer.  I enjoyed Richmond’s lively downtown, including a great independent bakery. Lots of off road trails on that trip made for really nice time. 

Rick Harries

Easton, Maryland

[Josh C]

Thanks Rick. 

I just happened to see this today from Bike Indy. I guess they are feeling the CG love too.

From bike Indy:

Have you ever wanted to explore one of Indiana's longest trails? The Cardinal Greenway extends from Muncie to Richmond. The Cardinal Trail Century Ride is Saturday July 29, 2023. You don't have to ride a century, there are various routes that will allow you to explore the distance you desire.

https://cardinalgreenways.org/cardinalcenturyride/

[Josh C]

[George Schick]

Josh - thanks for sending that photo of the Greenway trailhead.  Clearly, it's under the North D Street bridge that connects East Richmond with the Northwest side (AKA "the 20th Century bridge) along the "canyons" of the Whitewater River. Brings back a lot of memories.  Makes me even more interested of traveling down there to ride the trail.

George