Muncie

MUNCIE, INDIANA

I wanted a good Midwestern ride to break up the monotony of the long drive home from Colorado. Muncie was a perfect place.

The 4K for Cancer Team Portland was coming through. I knew they would be on the Cardinal Greenway rail trail. I headed towards Richmond, Indiana, thinking I'd ride 10 or maybe 20 miles before intersecting them.

I rode 43. I arrived in Richmond and was near the end of the trail. I began to worry that they had entered the trail farther up and had passed me without seeing. But finally, around the corner, here came six riders of the 4K. And they were almost like "hey, good to see you." Almost no surprise.

But it's all good. I turned around and we headed back to Muncie. I only saw eight of the 4K riders (six riding and two in the water van) because the other groups were hanging back with the father of a scholarship winner. And I had a seven hour drive ahead.

The rail trail was beautiful. Almost no riders were on it. It is paved with good asphalt and much of it is shaded.

"The Cardinal Greenway takes its name from the last passenger train to regularly travel the route (Chicago-Cincinnati-Washington): the Cardinal. The train service in turn derived its name from the state bird of all five states which it traversed." 

I'm guessing those states were Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia -- all of which do have the Cardinal as the state bird.

It was a beautiful morning to ride and easy to keep going and going and going. Just like in Kansas, the Garmin froze and once it came back online I lost the ride info I had just done. Oh well.

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First section which lost Garmin data

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Second section recorded by Garmin