At sunrise, Sunday, October 12, mountain bikers from all over the Midwest gathered at Brown County State Park near Nashville, Indiana, for the mass start of the 4th Annual Brown County Breakdown ride. Morning trail riding for the 300 plus participants was absolutely beautiful, with temperatures mild and trails in perfect condition. By afternoon, however, temperatures soared to near record highs of 84 degrees, trails turned dusty, and glassy-eyed riders slowed, cramped, and cursed their way back from the Hoosier National Forest trails through the State Park to the finish line motivated by the hog roast feast, finisher schwag bags, and refreshing showers awaiting them.
As in the past, this year’s Breakdown ride offered riders miles and miles of singletrack trail sweeping through the largest contiguous hardwood forest in Indiana. New this year was the 20 mile course of 100% singletrack. Over 200 of the riders chose the 38 or 60 mile routes, which took in the hidden cabin sag with Kara Barnard and her bluegrass band again performing on the cabin porch. About 60 riders were able to keep the wheels turning for the 75 mile/3-county route, and a record 20 riders completed the grueling 100 mile 4-county ride before the ride closed at sunset. Riders were challenged with the great new, technical “Walnut Trail” across from Hesitation Point within Brown County State Park. The ultra-distance riders also got to sample some scenic new routes in Hickory Ridge along with a few backbreaking climbs.
The swag this year was great. Doug Groff of Hagerstown won a Surly frameset from Indy Cycle Specialists, and Ryan Moss of Indianapolis won a Specialized S-Works frame donated by Gray Goat Sports of Indianapolis. Additional swag was donated by Kona Bicycles, Hammer Nutrition, Revolution Bike & Bean, and Salsa Cycles. Generous sponsorship was also provided by bike shops Nebo Ridge Bicycles of Carmel/Zionsville, Bicycle Garage of Indy, Bicycle Station of Columbus, Revolution Bike & Bean of Bloomington, and Joe’s Cycles of Fountain Square in Indy. Other sponsors included Jug’s Catering, Weed Patch Music of Nashville, the DINO MTB racing series, and Hammer Nutrition.
Special thanks to our 30 plus volunteers and our bluegrass musicians – some of whom hiked miles to surprise riders with trailside bluegrass music (or was it the blues?!). This year also brought out Giant, Trek, Scott, Saris, and Shamrock Cycles representatives to the first-ever Saturday afternoon product expo and demo sampled by many participants and their friends and families. And over 50 participants enjoyed the group camping and festivities on Saturday evening.
The Breakdown gets bigger and better each year – with lots of sweet trail built with loving care by hundreds of HMBA volunteers. This epic ride continues to be a testament to the growth, focus, hard work, and good cheer of the folks who make up the HMBA. And, as a bonus, this year’s event will net a record $10,000 for the HMBA trail building fund, which is funding trail-building projects throughout Indiana.
We hope the weather gods will again favor us for next year’s ride. Join us, please, for another great ride in the woods with a few hundred of your closest friends. Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2009, for next year’s 5th Annual Brown County Breakdown weekend.
Event Directors,
Tim Casady
Jonathan Juillerat
Tania Juillerat
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