The RCCS had a bit of hiatus. We made up for it yesterday.
We had wanted another mixed-terrain, gravel road, rambling trip through Hoosier National Forest. I planned the route, printed cue sheets, and prepared my GPS.
Tim and I were joined by Jeff. Jeff was new to our RCCS rides, but a skilled cyclist, and brought the proper bike for the gravel roads, but probably not the best bike for the route we ended up taking. None of were prepared.
Either we missed a turn somewhere, or the map was wrong. Either way, we weren’t exactly sure where we were at. The GPS was not as useful as I thought it would be. We did find some great gravel roads. Traffic was extremely light, and the weather was wonderful.
Once we were back on course (we think we were anyway), we made a left turn that both our cue sheet and the GPS confirmed as the correct route. The narrow gravel road was rougher than most, but didn’t give away what was lying ahead.
The road dead-ended into a marked trail. Looking at the GPS, it appeared that we could continue following it to the next part of the route.
The path got rougher, muddier, and eventually were crossing small creeks. We were mountain biking on bikes meant for pavement.
Remember my last post where I said I’m hard on my bike? It’s going to take a while to get all the mud out.
We spent hours doing a seven-mile loop in the woods. The trail just looped back around. By the time we got back to our parked cars, we had put in a total of 40 miles. It was a great ride and it kept with the RCCS spirit of an “adventurous” ride.
Adventuresome, indeed! Or is that adventurous? I get the two confused, I must admit.
In any case, it sounds like you had a good time. You also learned an important lesson regarding GPS route planning: there is no substitute for actually checking the route in person.
Tom, you must understand that being lost and “up a creek” (ha,ha,ha,ha) is part of adventuresome.
I admit checking routes is perhaps more sensible, but who wants to be sensible? Mutual Funds are sensible. Depends undergarments are sensible. White rice is sensible…
That kind of looks like a road that connects Magnolia road with Curby road in Crawford county?
Not too sure about the iron bridge.
I am pretty sure I know where the coon hunters club is, or at least where it use to be…
My inlaws live in Curby.
Hey, I enjoyed this report too. The photos are great … the last one made me groan out loud. Haha.