March 20, 2015 by Bruce Wynkoop
I’ve ridden the TRIRI (Touring Ride In Rural Indiana)–September Escapade twice in the past two years. I usually don’t ride a ride more than once (TRAM and BAM being notable exceptions), as I want to see different parts of the country, but in this case I rode the same ride two different ways. In 2012 my buddy, Steve, and I rode it and chose the camping option, even though rooms in state park lodges were offered for an additional $300 a week apiece. What we have found over the years and many week-long rides is that most of the “action,” meaning meals, entertainment, bonfires, impromptu get-togethers, take place in, and most riders choose to stay in, the campgrounds.
From time-to-time I have gotten a room for Lee & me one of the nights of a ride and found it to be a real pain to get our overnight stuff to the motel, then get back to the campground for dinner and entertainment or town celebration, then back to the motel. After a long day’s ride, the last thing I want to do after taking a shower is to get back on the bike and ride two or three miles back to the campground (not to mention riding back to the motel after the festivities). But Steve and I hadn’t planned on two things when we signed up for the September Escapade. As the ride is held in mid- to late-September, it starts to get dark pretty early in the evening, and on this ride the dinners and entertainment take place at the lodges. This means that riders in the campground have to walk or ride to the lodge (usually about a mile) in semi-darkness and back to the campground in full darkness. We still had a good time in the campground, including one after- dinner bonfire around which several riders gathered and socialized, but we were, except for dinner, separated from most of the other riders. The dinners, served in the lodges’ dining rooms, were very good and included in the ride entry fee. Because of his job with the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, Steve has stayed in many state park lodges in many states over the years and he said he has never seen nicer state park lodges than the ones in Indiana.
The route was in southern Indiana, south of Indianapolis, in the Crothersville, Madison, Scotsburg area and was close to Kentucky and, therefore, was fairly hilly. One of the overnights was at Clifty Falls State Park, which has a great view of the Ohio River and Kentucky on the other side of the river, for two nights. The organizers of the ride plan two “rest days” into the ride where the riders stay two nights in one spot, choosing to ride as far as they want, hike, or just lounge on the second day of the stop. This adds a couple of days to the ride, but it is really nice to not have to pack up and move every day, and it gives riders a chance to do something other than bike if they wish. As stated above, the route was pretty hilly and wended its way through very nice countryside, staying pretty much on low-traffic roads. Although, I do remember a Sunday afternoon riding on a narrow road with a lot of Sunday afternoon traffic for an hour or so, making the ride less pleasant. For the most part, though, traffic was light.
A very nice tradition in this area of the country is the painting of “barn quilts” on barns. I don’t know how many other parts of the country have this tradition but I have only seen it in southern Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. One day, riding past a very nice, neat farmstead, I saw a barn quilt and stopped to take a photo. As I was getting ready to ride away a lady came around the corner of the barn and struck up a conversation.
I complimented the barn quilt and she told me her adult daughter had painted it. The lady teared up and told me that just a week after the quilt had been hung on the barn her daughter had died while working in the fields when a tractor had overturned, pinning her underneath. We talked for some time (how do you walk away from someone when you hear that) and I left after expressing my sincere sympathies. Steve and I enjoyed the ride but as we drove the 10-hour drive home we agreed that if we were to ever do it again we would opt for the lodge option. As luck would have it, a chance to ride the TRIRI–September Escapade again came in 2014 when my ladyfriend, Lee, said she’d like to ride a week-long ride again, as she hadn’t yet ridden one for the year. Because of my experience in 2012, I suggested TRIRI–September Escapade, and suggested the state park lodges option over the camping. The ride got off to a rocky start. In 2012 the registration had been held in a nice motel, which was also where the organizers had arranged for the riders to stay the night before the ride. In 2014, however, the registration and overnight accommodations were in a dark, rural area and the accommodations were old, dingy, musty, and badly maintained. We had to walk our luggage around to the back of the structure in the dark as most of the rooms’ door lights were burned out. It made me a bit nervous about the rest of the week’s lodging. The overnights for the rest of the week, however, were the state park lodges and were very nice. I hope the organizers have changed the place of the start of the ride.
The route this year (2014) was east of Indianapolis and, while there were some awfully big hills, all-in-all the course wasn’t as hilly as in 2012. We had a scare on the first day. About 5 miles from the end of a 65-mile day Lee, who was riding behind me at the time, went off the pavement of the road and onto the soft dirt shoulder. The shoulder was about 2 inches lower than the pavement and between that and the soft dirt surface, when Lee tried to get back onto the pavement she was knocked over, falling heavily onto her left side. I heard the fall and her gasp as she hit the ground, looked in my mirror, and saw her sprawled on the road. It was a scary moment for both of us. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries and, while she had very large bruises on her left leg and hip, Lee was fine. She told me later that she was kind of hoping that she would hurt so much that she would have an excuse not to ride the next day but when she got up the next morning she was fine. She wasn’t even sore, she said, though the large, deep bruises would make one think she was in great pain, and she continued the ride with no ill effects. She’s a trooper!
The riding was very good again with nice scenery and mostly low-traffic roads. But the highlight this time was the lodges. It is a lot nicer to end the daily ride knowing you have your own room waiting; a room with a bathroom, shower, and bed. Sure beats setting up a tent, using porta-potties, standing in line to take a shower, and sleeping on the ground. All the state park lodges were very nice, and at least one even had an indoor pool and a hot tub. On one of the “off days” we rode a leisurely 30-mile ride, had lunch on the road at a charming small-town cafe with several other riders, and got back shortly after it started to rain. We spent the rest of the day lounging in the lodge, including a little time in the hot tub, and in our room. It made for a very comfortable, relaxing day. The week passed pleasantly, with warm (50′s–60′s) days and cool (40′s–50′s) nights and no further mishaps. The mornings were pretty cool, so make sure to bring warm clothing–especially if you plan to camp. Along with the barn quilts, this part of the country is known for covered bridges, and we saw several nice examples and got to ride through one. Actually, we didn’t ride through it, as there was a sign on it suggesting riders walk their bikes through. I scoffed at the suggestion initially but then thought there might be a reason for it, so we obeyed sign. As we walked through I could see why they suggest walking–the floor of the bridge was made of wooden planks placed side-by-side and screwed to a wood base. In numerous places the planks, which already had spaces between them, had worn away on their sides making the spaces large enough for a bicycle tire to slide into and get caught, thus spilling the rider. Along with that, the bridges, which only have small windows, are fairly dark inside, especially if the rider is wearing sunglasses and enters from bright daylight. A cyclist did pass us as we were walking through and made it without a problem, but I think if he had hit the wrong spot he could have taken a nasty spill.
TRIRI–September Escapade is a very nice, well-organized, interesting ride and well worth the entry fee, whether you opt to camp or stay in the lodges.
