Spring Swing

Spring is in full swing! It was a glorious day today and I got to ride with my best friend! He coincidentally got me interested in biking for weight loss and he rides a road bike- FAST. Due to the construction on the Monon, we decided to try the Fall Creek Trail which had been flooded for about 2 weeks prior. But since we've had some dry days, Fall Creek was the perfect trail for today.

If you've never ridden the Fall Creek, its really nice for a couple of reasons: the pavement is a bit rougher than other trails which provides good resistance, the curves in the path and the scenery make it much more interesting and you can ride virtually non-stop. These factors make this trail ideal for getting a workout. I also personally love this trail because I can leave from my house and its a 16 mile roundtrip ride- an added bonus :)

I'd previously only ridden this trail to where it ends at the Skiles Park parking lot . I'd knew there were other mountain bike trails within the Skiles Park, but I'd never checked it out. Today was the day and my friend pushed me all the way to the top... Just beyond the the Skiles Park parking lot is a rough paved trail that goes for about 3/4ths of a mile and dead ends at 65th Street. The trail leads up a hill with a moderate incline which leveled out more towards the top. Once you get to the top, its a nice flat ride on the hilltop to the end of the trail. Going through the park was a great little push for me and also extended my ride to 17.5 miles :) And we made roundtrip in 1 hour 17 minutes! A new time and speed (13.6 mph) record for me! What a day!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiles_Test_Nature_Park
http://cees.cs.iupui.edu/Service_Learning/All_Projects/Skiles_Test.htm