Ambassador - Columbus Day

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Bloomington, IN, US

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Route Overview

Bloomington Indiana

Century Rides of Southern Indiana (100mi)

103 mi.

4,533 ft.

This east-west route takes you through Nashville, around Brown County State Park. The lunch destination is Columbus, and returns to Bloomington via Gatesville, Bean Blossom, and Lake Lemon.

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Route Details

We start at Bryan Park Swimming Pool where there is plenty of parking in the mornings.  We skirt around the eastern business district and then turn right on Mt Gilead Rd with a couple of climbs to Unionville.  Into the Yellowwood Forest we go on curvy IN-45.

Make sure you catch the right turn off of IN-45 while you actually keep straight while IN-45 curves left.  Some climbs get you up high and you will then have an exhilarating downhill at Owl Creek.  Whoops, another ridge to climb on Helmsburg Rd before we enter Nashville.

Nashville is a weekend destination for all the metro tourists and has a lot of shops, theater, restaurants, and Brown County State Park.  It also has some of the best mountain biking east of the Mississippi.

We skirt around the park and T into @photo[Stonehead](1127211).  What an odd statue in front of this vacation home, but this was a mileage marker for Columbus, 17 miles, to the east and Fairfax to the west.

Bellesville Pike takes us east in a valley to Columbus where we hop onto the Peoples Trail, a grand path system of this progressive town. This is the world headquarters of Cummins Engines and this city employs world famous architects to design many of their buildings.  If you have time ride its @photo[Architecture Tour](862881) and absorb the thought provoking @photo[Peace Memorial ](862882) beside the Courthouse.

There are plenty of restaurants downtown, but I recommend the @poi[Savory Swine](1412764).  There's also Zaharakos, an old fashioned ice cream parlor and museum.

Yes, we must leave this vibrant town and head westward back home while rolling through rural Indiana on some country roads.  Careful, you may miss Gatesville, our next stop at the @poi[general store](1412763).  The warning sign says, "Entering and Leaving Gatesville".  Don't sit too long as the very steep @slice[Gatesville Hill](d,118564.31,120275.24) awaits you in a half a mile.

So, it gets hillier as we get closer to Bloomington, but there's still @photo[Helmsburg](1127208)    , Lake Lemon and the Porthole Inn  if you desire a cold one.  Oh yeah, stop at the @poi[Butler Winery](1412768) if you'd like to check our great wines.  We come home going through a couple of our parks and the west side of Indiana University and the lively Kirkwood Ave.

Ambassador - Columbus Day

Route Overview

Route Details

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