TRIRI

TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and the
other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This June's
route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and "recumbent
friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I hope to see a
lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state parks and
recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route this year goes
though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture taken standing beside
a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).
--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

Larry Varney <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and the
> other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This
> June's route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and
> "recumbent friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I
> hope to see a lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state
> parks and recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route
> this year goes though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture taken
> standing beside a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).

The cardboard one is more fun. Just a joke. Pokagon State Park can be quite noisy, so bring your ear
plugs. I live north of Fort Wayne, which is about 40 miles south of Pokagon, and 20(30?) miles north
of Huntington. There are some sizeable hills in both areas, but between can be quite flat. Fort
Wayne is on top of a glacial moraine: thus between FW and Huntington is a huge slope, and about
halfway to Angola(near Auburn) is where the glacier began leaving smaller deposits as well as
lakes.Auburn is where the enormous Kruse Classic Auto Auction is held every year. The
Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum is there as well. Steuben County, (Pokagon & Angola areas) is said to
have "101 lakes". I am told the number is actually greater than that, but many are private and/or
don't appear on maps. My favorite areas, topographically speaking, are south-east of Angola. Ride
thru at the right time of day and year, and you might think you were in Ireland. Down near Hamilton,
the Earth's energy is near the surface, and it "feels different". Near Lagro (south west of
Huntington)is an enormouse rock that juts out of the relatively flat surroundings, allows one a nice
view of the floodplain of the (I think it is)the Wabash River. In downtown Wabash(or is it
Huntington?) there is a bookstore that has some of the rarest and most collectible books in the USA.

rorschandt

 

that looks like a nice ride Larry. How many bents usually? how's the food? do you know anything
about the 'partial week" ride option? lastly, how quickly does it fill up?

Larry Varney wrote:
> TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and the
> other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This
> June's route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and
> "recumbent friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I
> hope to see a lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state
> parks and recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route
> this year goes though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture taken
> standing beside a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).

 

The number of recumbents have been increasing at all tours over the last couple of years, and the
flatter rides attract even more. This one will probably have at least two dozen or more. The
"partial week" plan is $40/day, which includes breakfast, dinner and camping for that day. It's all
in the registration info on the website. As for how quickly it fills up - it all depends. The ride
sort of "rotates" around the state, and some areas are more popular than others. Plus, it's affected
by nearby rides and just where they're going that year. So, the best thing is to look at the route
and decide, soon, whether or not you want to do it. Don't do like me, and literally make it just
under the wire as I did at Bike Florida this year - last postmarked apps accepted were December 31,
and that's when mine was mailed. Whew! The food, btw, is good. I've never walked away hungry or
disappointed by any of the meals.

bentbiker wrote:
> that looks like a nice ride Larry. How many bents usually? how's the food? do you know anything
> about the 'partial week" ride option? lastly, how quickly does it fill up?
>
> Larry Varney wrote:
>
>> TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and
>> the other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This
>> June's route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and
>> "recumbent friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I
>> hope to see a lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state
>> parks and recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route
>> this year goes though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture
>> taken standing beside a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).
>
>

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

I attempted this ride last June with my then 7 y/o son. Me on my TT 3.3 towing him on a Burley
Picollo. Unfortunately we chose the year it was in southern Indiana (the hilly part) and it was 90+
everyday and 80 at night (camping). Did 3 days and then came home. We could take the miles, but not
the hills. I needed another ring Ride was nice and well supported, food was good. Pretty hard
core riding bunch. Entertainment on stage (different state park each night) after supper, but after
that it was pretty much lights out by 8:30 or so! Kind of a change for a night owl like me. Some of
that was to get a very early start to beat the heat of course. Ridership was way down last year and
there was talk that it might have been the last year for the ride. Costs keep going up and if
ridership goes down, well................... I'd love to do it again, as a single rider, but can't
get away from work in June. Maybe Sept ...........

 

One of the best rides I've ever been on was the TRIRI ride in northern Indiana 3 or 4 years ago. On
the first day, we stopped in South Bend and visited Notre Dame, arriving at the grotto just as the
rain began. One of our party lit a candle in the grotto, and prayed for the rain to stop and the sun
to come out. Big mistake. From there, we rode up to the stadium and were standing there in the rain
looking towards "touchdown Jesus" on the library building, when the rain suddenly stopped and the
sun came out full. From that moment on, the sun was like a blowtorch all week long. I believe the
low temperature for the week was 92 and on the longest day, 83 miles, it was 95 with a 15 mph
headwind all the way! I must say, the ride promoters were prepared, with pickup trucks full of
ice-water jugs running up and down the route all day long. The food was excellent, and there was
plenty to go around.

There were several recumbents on that trip, although I was riding a DF at that time. One more thing
to be aware of: "flat" in Indiana, when describing road topography, is not the same as "flat" out
west. "Flat" simply meant that you could see most of the rolling hills between you and the horizon.
They were the type of rolling hills that you could power over if in the right frame of mind.

FS in NC

"Larry Varney" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and the
> other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This
> June's route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and
> "recumbent friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I
> hope to see a lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state
> parks and recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route
> this year goes though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture taken
> standing beside a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).
> --
> Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

I'm pretty sure I was on that same TRIRI - I remember the rain in South Bend. I remember looking
around for the "Touchdown Jesus" statue - I didn't know that it was mural! And yes, it was hot. I
remember walking on the sand of Indiana Dunes along Lake Michigan, and I kept thinking, my feet are
frying! It was fun going through the Amish country, and that's one thing I'm looking forward to on
this year's route.

Floyd Sense wrote:
> One of the best rides I've ever been on was the TRIRI ride in northern Indiana 3 or 4 years ago.
> On the first day, we stopped in South Bend and visited Notre Dame, arriving at the grotto just as
> the rain began. One of our party lit a candle in the grotto, and prayed for the rain to stop and
> the sun to come out. Big mistake. From there, we rode up to the stadium and were standing there in
> the rain looking towards "touchdown Jesus" on the library building, when the rain suddenly stopped
> and the sun came out full. From that moment on, the sun was like a blowtorch all week long. I
> believe the low temperature for the week was 92 and on the longest day, 83 miles, it was 95 with a
> 15 mph headwind all the way! I must say, the ride promoters were prepared, with pickup trucks full
> of ice-water jugs running up and down the route all day long. The food was excellent, and there
> was plenty to go around.
>
> There were several recumbents on that trip, although I was riding a DF at that time. One more
> thing to be aware of: "flat" in Indiana, when describing road topography, is not the same as
> "flat" out west. "Flat" simply meant that you could see most of the rolling hills between you and
> the horizon. They were the type of rolling hills that you could power over if in the right frame
> of mind.
>
> FS in NC
>
>
> "Larry Varney" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
>>TRIRI (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana, http://www.triri.org) has two versions, one in June, and the
>>other in September. I have been on several in the past - it's one of my favorite tours. This
>>June's route is in northeastern Indiana, which I have seen referred to as "tandem friendly" and
>>"recumbent friendly". I suppose by that we're suppose to infer that it's mostly flat. Anyway, I
>>hope to see a lot of you there. It's a loop ride, small crowd, catered meals, camping in state
>>parks and recreation areas - all the things that I like. And if I remember correctly, the route
>>this year goes though Huntington, Indiana, hometown of Dan Quayle. You can have your picture taken
>>standing beside a cardboard cutout of the ex-Vice President! (Don't laugh - I did it!).
>>--
>>Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney
>>
>>
>>
>
>

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

Hey Larry,

I've heard that fenders or mug guards are a good thing to have when riding in "Amish Country". ;-)

Maybe I'll just wait for the southern route.

George

 

[email protected] (George) wrote in news:3d8d4cbd.0304231832.1b8d3b78 @posting.google.com:

> Hey Larry,
>
> I've heard that fenders or mug guards are a good thing to have when riding in "Amish Country". ;-)
>
> Maybe I'll just wait for the southern route.
>
> George
>

cmon, at -20mph you've got a LOT of time to miss them.

 

I remember the first time I rode with TRIRI in the Amish areas - and there are some in the southern
part of the state as well, but far more in the north - and we were admonished that if we had water
bottles located on the underside of our bikes, to put something - a balloon, twisted piece of
plastic, whatever - over them, if the roads were wet. The southern part of Indiana is much hillier
and very scenic, but the northern areas are pretty as well. If you haven't ridden there, you're
missing out on some good riding.

George wrote:
> Hey Larry,
>
> I've heard that fenders or mug guards are a good thing to have when riding in "Amish Country". ;-)
>
> Maybe I'll just wait for the southern route.
>
> George
>

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

And speaking of 20 mph - I remember the first time I encountered an Amish buggy on the road in front
of me, and I thought, I want to catch up to it and get a better look. But those things, in the right
hands, can be fast - I never did catch that one! But there were so many more, that it almost because
boring, waving at the drivers and their passengers. I got to talk to a couple of younger Amish in
one town, and they were very interested in my Sat R Day.

MLB wrote:
> [email protected] (George) wrote in news:3d8d4cbd.0304231832.1b8d3b78 @posting.google.com:
>
>
>>Hey Larry,
>>
>>I've heard that fenders or mug guards are a good thing to have when riding in "Amish Country". ;-)
>>
>>Maybe I'll just wait for the southern route.
>>
>>George
>>
>>
>
> cmon, at -20mph you've got a LOT of time to miss them.
>

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney

 

>>>
>>>
>>
>> cmon, at -20mph you've got a LOT of time to miss them.
>>
>
>

Drunk Ami's drag racing buggies result in sometimes fatal crashes on a fairly consistant basis in
our area! An amish child was killed in one such accident just a month ago. The horses are almost
always killed even when no humans are injured. (not a joke)

 

If you ride too close behind one of the buggies, you'll find that the road apples appear quite
quickly. The last thing you want to do, without fenders, is to run over a still-steaming road apple.

"MLB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (George) wrote in news:3d8d4cbd.0304231832.1b8d3b78 @posting.google.com:
>
> > Hey Larry,
> >
> > I've heard that fenders or mug guards are a good thing to have when riding in "Amish
> > Country". ;-)
> >
> > Maybe I'll just wait for the southern route.
> >
> > George
> >
>
> cmon, at -20mph you've got a LOT of time to miss them.

 

Larry Varney <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> And speaking of 20 mph - I remember the first time I encountered an Amish buggy on the road in
> front of me, and I thought, I want to catch up to it and get a better look. But those things,
> in the right hands, can be fast - I never did catch that one! But there were so many more, that
> it almost because boring, waving at the drivers and their passengers. I got to talk to a couple
> of younger Amish in one town, and they were very interested in my Sat R Day.
>

My brother lives near Goshen, Indiana. There is a large population of Amish in the area, and several
have begun building recumbent bikes. The uninitiated non-Amish local populace often refer to
recumbents as "Amish bikes" because they are seen being ridden by Amish people more often than
non-Amish. My brother has described my bikes to co-workers, and they have often said, "Oh, like an
Amish bike."

rorschandt

 

Larry Varney <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> And speaking of 20 mph - I remember the first time I encountered an Amish buggy on the road in
> front of me, and I thought, I want to catch up to it and get a better look. But those things, in
> the right hands, can be fast - I never did catch that one! But there were so many more, that it
> almost because boring, waving at the drivers and their passengers. I got to talk to a couple of
> younger Amish in one town, and they were very interested in my Sat R Day.

Be careful around those buggies! Seriously!!! My wife and I were on a ride through Amish country in
Illinois a few years ago and were passing and being passed by buggies all day. I was on my Vision
pulling a Kool Stop trailer with my small son in it. My wife was on a Rocket. We really liked the
ride. The country was flat, we stopped at a popular Amish tourist attraction and maybe only two cars
passed us the whole day. We were planning to ride there every year that we could from then on.

Then on the last stretch of the ride, a long, straight road with a solid line of bikes as far as I
could see, there came a buggy toward us from the other direction. I noticed the horse started
getting kinda edgy when it got closer to us. Then it started jumping from one side of the road to
the other and getting closer and closer to us. It all happened so fast that I didn't even have time
to react. I thought the horse was going to jump onto us. It was lifting the buggy with two guys in
it right off the ground like it wasn't even there. Finally the horse leaped into the ditch on the
other side of the road and then stopped dead and ejected the two guys out of the front like
projectiles. By then I was shaking so bad I could hardly pedal. I nearly left some apples of my own!
I thought maybe it was the flag on the trailer or the flourescent green trailer itself that spooked
the horse but there were others with flags and trailers so I wasn't sure.

Over the years since the incident, I have spoken with several people who had similar experiences
with horses. I guess it spooks them to see a person's legs out in front instead of underneath. Same
goes for dogs, although some dogs I've passed just fell over laughing

The majority of the buggies we'd seen that day were being driven by what seemed to be really young
girls with babies and small children in them. I was glad the buggy that almost got us was being
driven by two adult men. Even though the whole incident may have just been an isolated fluke, I'm
very cautious around horses now. I guess this doesn't have much to do with TRIRI, which is an
outstanding event in my opinion, but I just wanted to give warning of this as I sure wasn't
expecting it.

 

Yes, it pays to be cautious around animals. Even the most "tame" can sometimes decide to go nuts. I
live in a rural area (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=3609&y=21594&z=16&w=1)
and I had an encounter the other day which caused me to almost leave a few road apples of my own!
I'm riding along a twisty, slightly uphill rural road, when I notice a large truck heading my way in
the opposite lane, but he appeared to be almost stopped. At that same moment, I noticed, in *my*
lane, heading in my direction, a rather large bull. I'm on my Tour Easy, and I quickly stopped, and
sort of duck-walked the bike into the other lane, backwards. At that I notice two things: there's a
group of cows behind a fence off to my left, heading in the direction I had just come. And, the bull
has decided to get in my new lane, too. I thought, hmmm, maybe there's a connection, and maybe he
might think my TE and I are potential rivals and/or threats. So, off I back-walk to the original
lane. The bull walks on, gets right next to me, and stops, giving me a look. I don't know what he's
thinking, but I know what *I* was thinking! Incidentally, off the side of the road away from the
cows is about a 25-feet drop to a creek. The bull, looking rather large in all respects, being only
about 5 feet away, decided I was no threat, I guess, and walked on. The guy in the following truck
said that it was a good thing that I wasn't wearing red.

Gary wrote:
> Larry Varney <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<3EA7CC0E.20[email protected]>...
>
>>And speaking of 20 mph - I remember the first time I encountered an Amish buggy on the road in
>>front of me, and I thought, I want to catch up to it and get a better look. But those things, in
>>the right hands, can be fast - I never did catch that one! But there were so many more, that it
>>almost because boring, waving at the drivers and their passengers. I got to talk to a couple of
>>younger Amish in one town, and they were very interested in my Sat R Day.
>>
>
> Be careful around those buggies! Seriously!!! My wife and I were on a ride through Amish country
> in Illinois a few years ago and were passing and being passed by buggies all day. I was on my
> Vision pulling a Kool Stop trailer with my small son in it. My wife was on a Rocket. We really
> liked the ride. The country was flat, we stopped at a popular Amish tourist attraction and maybe
> only two cars passed us the whole day. We were planning to ride there every year that we could
> from then on.
>
> Then on the last stretch of the ride, a long, straight road with a solid line of bikes as far as I
> could see, there came a buggy toward us from the other direction. I noticed the horse started
> getting kinda edgy when it got closer to us. Then it started jumping from one side of the road to
> the other and getting closer and closer to us. It all happened so fast that I didn't even have
> time to react. I thought the horse was going to jump onto us. It was lifting the buggy with two
> guys in it right off the ground like it wasn't even there. Finally the horse leaped into the ditch
> on the other side of the road and then stopped dead and ejected the two guys out of the front like
> projectiles. By then I was shaking so bad I could hardly pedal. I nearly left some apples of my
> own! I thought maybe it was the flag on the trailer or the flourescent green trailer itself that
> spooked the horse but there were others with flags and trailers so I wasn't sure.
>
> Over the years since the incident, I have spoken with several people who had similar experiences
> with horses. I guess it spooks them to see a person's legs out in front instead of underneath.
> Same goes for dogs, although some dogs I've passed just fell over laughing
>
> The majority of the buggies we'd seen that day were being driven by what seemed to be really young
> girls with babies and small children in them. I was glad the buggy that almost got us was being
> driven by two adult men. Even though the whole incident may have just been an isolated fluke, I'm
> very cautious around horses now. I guess this doesn't have much to do with TRIRI, which is an
> outstanding event in my opinion, but I just wanted to give warning of this as I sure wasn't
> expecting it.
>

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY http://home.fuse.net/larryvarney