Day Thirty-seven

They call me baby driver and once upon a pair of wheels.

Welcome to Indy! Hey this must be where the Baltimore Colts play football. I know that because we’re in a downtown hotel and there’s a massive stadium next door with a giant photo of Peyton Manning. I know he plays for the Colts.

Lots of excitement today because we’re coming into a rest day with short mileage and there’s lots to do. We started with a 30 mile train mostly pulled by me and then Robb into the first SAG. Super humid and cloudy so it was cool and nice riding quiet roads. Nice silent running with Shawn, Lester, Sooner Rick, and Mike (who left us tonight…it was great riding with you Mike!).

A couple miles later we had our first stop of the day at the C.F. Roark Welding & Engineering Company in Brownsburg. Nice 80 person second generation facility mostly dedicated to doing aircraft, turbine, and military work but, way in the back, they have a couple guys building custom titanium bicycle frames. Personally I could have spent hours there and was more interested in the other work they did but the boutique bike shop was fun too.

Next stop was the Indianapolis Speedway just for a quick look. I’ve never seen anything like this place so I was amazed at the size. Being totally ignorant I just kind of expected to see something like Gillette Stadium but the speedway is obviously much bigger and I may go back there tomorrow if I get a chance for a tour and museum visit.

Final scheduled stop of the day was the Major Taylor Velodrome. We had the whole place to ourselves and most people took the opportunity to spin around the 28% banked sides. Major Taylor is a famous figure for those of from Central Massachusetts. If you don’t know anything about him check him out. Probably the first super famous athlete and he was so good he was banned from his sport because of his race.

The final approach to downtown Indianapolis was mostly on a bike path that brought us along a river and canal system with fountains that reminded me of the San Antonio riverwalk. We went by the NCAA headquarters that also has a museum and the Indiana State Museum. Both on the list for tomorrow if possible.

Finally we have lots of family visitors tonight including Robb’s wife, Madeleine. Also Amber Lynn, the woman who broke her elbow way back in San Francisco surprised us with a visit. Her elbow’s still in a sling but she’s determined to ride the final day with us into Portsmouth.

If there’s interesting news from our visit here in Indianapolis I’ll post tomorrow otherwise I’ll see you Wednesday evening in Richmond.

Today’s ratings: (the higher the better or easier)

Scenery: 7

Road conditions: 8

Grunt factor: 8