Can Indy rock? Exploring Indianapolis, the Midwest's next bike mecca

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by morebanjo on October 2, 2012 at 4:06pm

I grew up in Indy and have lived in Chicago for about 8 years.  The Monon trail was always a great North-South artery for biking, allowing you to get from downtown all the way north to Carmel and anywhere in between, since the 90s.  It's definitely more bike-friendly now then it was when I moved, though, with the new protected lanes.  What I forget about, though, until I'm biking there when visiting friends, is how open the streets are, and how much less traffic congestion there is compared to Chicago.  This makes it soooo pleasant, quick, and safe to get most anywhere on two wheels.  You don't feel like you're doing battle quite so much as you do when you're biking in Chicago.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by blair on October 2, 2012 at 7:13pm

I lived in Indy for a few years after college.  Was always one of those places where people assume you must have gotten a DUI if you're on a bike.  BUT I recently visited and was super surprised by the changes in just the last 5 years.  Bike lanes...breweries... felt like a different city at times.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on October 2, 2012 at 9:41pm

Yeah, the relative lack of competition for space is probably part of the reason they were able to complete a seamless network of grade-separated bike lanes, the Cultural Trail.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on October 3, 2012 at 12:17am

I rode there from Chicago in the Summertime and was also pretty surprised about the protected bike lanes,  and how you can get pretty much from the north (near Lebanon, the town:) to the south of town via various other unprotected bike lanes. As you approach downtown, there was a very nice brand new protected bike lane that cut through a commercial area. It was actually an asphalted portion of a wide sidewalk. There was also another protected bike lane heading south, that had car-traffic-dividing metal posts with both opposing lanes on one side of car traffic (instead of two protected lanes on each side of car traffic). Reminded me a little bit of Madison, WI, which has amazing bike infrastructure.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on October 3, 2012 at 8:33am

There are photos of the bikeways you described in my write-up of my visit:

http://gridchicago.com/2012/can-indy-rock-exploring-the-midwests-ne...

I thought about biking there, but it's about 200 miles each way, so I didn't want to devote six days to riding there and back, and I couldn't think of an easy way to get a regular bike home. Officially Megabus doesn't take any kind of bikes, including boxed bikes, and I got a little grief about my un-bagged folding bike. Greyhound probably does take boxed bikes and that Amtrak line might, though it's notoriously slow. MMM, how did you get home from Indy?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on October 3, 2012 at 11:09am

Well, I cheated:) I have a motor assist one of my bikes, which I used for more than half of my trip.( As a disclaimer, It's a 4 stroke Subaru Robin that doesn't mix oil and gas, so it's much cleaner). It adds about 20lbs to my load, but I'm still able to pedal without much effort on flats. So out of the 200 miles each way, I pedalled about 50 one way, and 70 on the way back in about 12-14 hours each leg. I took the 41 to the 52, passing through Lafayette.

Next time, I'm gonna try camping half way, so I can claim the whole ride!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on October 3, 2012 at 2:37pm

That pic looks nice but I really wouldn't like to ride on brick pave for too long. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on October 3, 2012 at 2:47pm

The brick pavers are quite smooth. On 28mm-wide tires, I didn't notice any bumps at all.

• ▶ Reply