The Brown County Breakdown Origin Story
How It Began
On a warm evening in early August 2005, the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association hosted a board meeting. It was at this meeting where Jonathan Juillerat, an HMBA board member at the time, proposed the idea of the Brown County Breakdown. It was an event that would raise money for trail building, showcase local and regional bluegrass musicians and their music as well as connect the new trails at Brown County State Park to the nearby Hoosier National Forest trails for the first time.
Only one year before, the organization had been granted access to Indiana State Park land giving them the opportunity to create user specific trails "for mountain bikers, buy mountain bikers". Jonathan and his employer, Tim of Nebo Ridge Bicycles, had discussed the idea of using Tim's cabin, which lay directly in between the two nature properties, to connect the trails and allow mountain bikers to ride a grueling 62-mile (100k) ride.
It was also at this initial meeting that Tania Hines, a new-to-mountain-biking cyclist would be in attendance. Tania would volunteer to take the lead on organizing the event for participants and volunteers while Tim acquired the necessary permits and Jonathan began planning and scouting the route.
This chance first encounter would not only lead Jonathan and Tania to a lifelong marriage and wonderful family together, but also put them on a trajectory of more than a decade of creating and running several of the Midwest's most popular mountain biking events including the first ever Brown County Breakdown which took place on Sunday, October 23, 2005.
From 2005 to 2009, the Brown County Breakdown was run by Jonathan, Tania and Tim along with a large group of very dedicated volunteers. Following the 2009 event, Jonathan and Tania would create their company, Sub-9 Productions, and become the official event promoters of the Brown County Breakdown.
Through their vision and dedication, the Brown County Breakdown would become one of the most recognized mountain bike events in the country, with Outside Magazine labeling the vent as one of the "BEST BIKE FESTIVALS of 2013". The Brown County Breakdown would go on to raise more than $130,000 for the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association's trail building efforts and continued to offer brand new trail every year on subsequent Brown County Breakdown events.
Why was it called the Brown County Breakdown?
Brown County, Indiana has a rich tradition and history of bluegrass music. Bean Blossom, which is located in Brown County, is still the site of the annual Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival. The string-music festival was originated in 1967 by Bill Monroe, the father of American bluegrass music. It has not become the oldest, continuously running annual bluegrass festival in the world. The "Brown County Breakdown" is the name of a famous bluegrass song that Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys used to play. It is named after the one and only Brown County, Indiana.
Jerry Garcia, the guitarist of the Grateful Dead and a great bluegrass musician in his own right, made a pilgrimage to come see Bill Monroe play at Bean Blossom in 1964. This was almost five years before the Grateful Dead would come into their own. Jerry's idolization of Bill Monroe and his desire to see bluegrass pickers in their own element called him east to the Hoosier state.
Jerry drove his '61 Corvair all the way from Northern California to Southern Indiana. His musician friends back home in California liked to say that he went east because he was "Plumbing the Depths of the Yee-Haw Factor".
