Cold weather and drizzle could not deter over 85 intrepid riders from tackling HMBA's 1st Annual Brown County Breakdown Epic Ride on Sunday, October 23, starting and finishing at Brown County's beautiful new mountain bike trail system. Supported by 20+ volunteers, over 50 riders completed the 30 mile course, and 7 riders conquered the longer loops of over 50 miles.
With 137 registrants, many of whom stayed bundled up on the sidelines cheering on the other riders, the Epic generated plenty of enthusiasm from riders throughout the Midwest. The rider took on the new Brown County State Park singletrack for the first 9-10 miles of the ride, with two climbs over one mile in length. Participants were given a respite from climbing on wet park road and then hit 2 miles of slippery, rock-clad horse trail chock full of tacky, clay muck between the rocks. About 50 riders were rewarded at the 19 mile mark by being sent plummeting down into Forman Hollow at the "Cabin Sag" where they met with a bonfire, food and drink and a chance to warm up and swap trail stories with others before heading home or continuing further south into the Hoosier National Forest.
Those continuing south reported smoother sailing on Nebo Ridge Trail and Combs Road. The elite few completing the 50 mile loop were Paul Arlinghaus of Bike Line Racing, Mike Hufhand, Mike Sharp, Mike Lantz and Matt Allgeier. Congratulations! Jonathan Juillerat and Ron Lewis ride the Nebo/Combs loop, and despite warnings from the Maumee Bridge sag volunteer crew, also ventured and completed the 12 mile loop in Hickory Ridge before heading home via Combs Road. This gives Jonathan and Ron bragging rights for being the first riders ever to complete the 100 km course.
Inspections of the trails after the event demonstrated the high quality of the Brown County trail design and construction by HMBA volunteers. There was virtually no damage to the trails despite the rain and over 85 sets of tires. The ride raised over $1000 for HMBA which will go into its Indiana trail building efforts at Brown County and elsewhere. Congratulations to Andrew Louden of Indianapolis who won the drawing for a Kona Unit singlespeed frame.
Corporate sponsors of the ride were Kona Bicycles, Nebo Ridge Bicycles of Carmel/Zionsville, Bicycles Station of Columbus, Bloomington Cyclery, Indy Cycle Specialist, Bike Line Racing, the DINO Race Series, Kenda Tires, Serfas, KHS Bicycles, Upland Brewery, Tifosi Eyewear, Hammer Nutrition, Salsa Cycles and Mazda Signs of Carmel.
The Epic course is nothing short of challenging - truly epic in length, in it's technical difficulty, in its variety of trail and road, in its remote and scenic settings, and in its 6000 feet of elevation gain. A number of riders commented that they are now hooked on the idea of completing the 100 kilometer course next year. (Others thought watching the Colts game in a bar sounded better!) Preliminary plans - subject to approvals from land owners and land managers - are to hold the 2nd Annual Brown County Breakdown Epic Ride next year on Sunday, October 15. We will see you there!
Tim Casady, Jonathan Juillerat and Tania Hines
Co-Event Directors
October 27, 2005