TRIRI x 3 | 2004, 2006, 2009 – Keep Calm and Pedal On

TRIRI, (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana) as we knew it, was a week long bicycle/camping tour. Each year, it rotated around the state among four different regions, always capitalizing on the best state parks and recreational areas Indiana had to offer and getting there by riding the back roads in scenic, rural Indiana.

Riders were well taken care of with all you can eat meals for breakfast and dinner under huge DNR tents, well planned routes, cue sheets and duffel bag transport to the day’s destination. And if you absolutely couldn’t make it to the next stop, there was a SAG vehicle to tow you in. We liked it so much, we did it three times!

Tom and I were just getting to know each other and that’s been a while ago, y’all. Putting things into perspective, the first two TRIRIs we rode, the iPhone hadn’t been released yet and Facebook had just started. How in the world did we take pics and share with friends?

The memories made on these early TRIRI rides are some I cherish most. Not necessarily because it was the beginning of our bicycle touring, but because it was the beginning of building our lives together.

TRIRI 2004

bike bag — After the first day Tom tries to lighten my bike load

happycampers — First day of TRIRI complete!

tentsite — Two things we almost always took on bike tours: the brown tarp (used to cover bikes, lay out and organize gear, extra ground cloth) and the blue two gallon water carrier.

ice bucket — Along with the tarp they may not be the most needed but they were always the most versatile bicycle camping items.

triritomdebstand — Day 2 and heading to one of our fave places… Story. Indiana

triritomdebstory — Cycling in our running shoes. Hey it worked!

triritomnap — Layover Day at Spring Mill State Park. Everyone deserves a nap and a place to do laundry.

ice and wood — In the “old” days, we always had a campfire and a cold bevvie at the end of a long day of cycling. Tom always found the easiest way to get that done.

versailles last night — Our campsite the last night of TRIRI 2004 at Versailles State Park. We really didn’t want to leave.

TRIRI 2006

amish — TRIRI was in beautiful Amish country – which meant plenty of home baked pies for Tom

camp — There’s the brown tarp and blue two gallon water carrier again #necessities

Each day a DNR semi truck would haul our duffel bags to the day’s destination and set up big party tents for us to eat our catered meals under. You can’t tell from this photo but there is a huge storm blowing in.

stage — The ride directors, Joe and Barb, would coordinate a program each night, maybe a musician, a comedian or a naturalist. Of course it was optional – mostly they were really cool presentations you wouldn’t want to miss. And oh yea, they always had a Math problem of the day at breakfast.

Satek — The routes were planned around regional attractions. Sometimes we hit up attractions that weren’t on the map.

Back in the days when we took camp chairs.

A line for laundry, the brown tarp and the blue water carrier. Again. Oh and camp chairs! The list of necessities is growing.

TRIRI 2009

By the time TRIRI 2009 rolled around we’d been married almost two years, increased our family to seven kids (with our youngest four being in high school), and we were still riding bikes in running shoes, lugging around our brown tarp, blue two gallon water carrier and camp chairs. It was wicked hot this year, so hot some riders went home mid week. Not us.

The route included Patoka Lake, New Harmony, Lincoln State Park and included a couple of layover days with optional rides.

West Baden Springs, French Lick, Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Abe Lincoln’s boyhood home, and the Utopian city of New Harmony were some of the stops on TRIRI 2009.