Paul Asay

On Friday the 21 st I set out on an adventure with Doug Miller, Matt Miller and JR Wilson to make the hike from the Charles C. Deam Wilderness area near Lake Monroe for Patton’s Cave.   We set this trip up a week in advance having no idea that this would be the coldest day of the year at -4 degrees when we left Terre Haute.   We made a stop for big breakfast in Spencer that was satisfying, and then drove on to Bloomington.   After parking in the Hoosier Forest we headed down the snow covered trail making fresh tracks in the snow down the trail.   It looked on the map to be roughly 4 miles, but the cave itself if off the regular trail so no idea exactly how far it was.   Just following the trail was a bit of a trick with roughly 5 inches of fresh snow.   Yeah, it was cold, but after about a mile I was fairly comfortable.   Going was slow but we were all suffering with cabin fever so it was good just to get out and take winter head on.   Made it up and down some hills, passed a cr

Dusted off the mountain bike and took it for a ride in the snow yesterday in Fowler Park.  Talked to my friend Nick at church on Sunday, and the ride was set about 3 minutes after walking in the door.  The turbo trainer has been seeing way too much action the last couple of months with no outside riding.  Even if the trails and roads were covered in snow and ice, it was great to get out. We normally ride all the trails in the park, but limited by the snow we kept to the small trail and the road around the park.  On lap two I it bit it when my back tire slide out in a slow corner.  Not to be outdone, Nick did likewise on the road in a patch of glare ice.  We both had a laugh and road on. Need to make more of a habit of this.  The bike handling skills on the trails at Fowler with the added comradery make it a gas.