Photos

Spotted on my bike ride this afternoon

/ Roadtirementvintage / 50 Comments

Today while very humid, was really a decent day for a bike ride. Part of my diet regime is also a renewal of exercise. Bike rides in the neighborhood fit that bill nicely. No fancy multi-geared hand brake bike here. Nope, I have a simple coaster brake bike. Works for me and best of all I know how to ride it.

There is always something to see while pedaling around the area. Today’s ride definitely served up some neat observations. Here goes! I’ll share some photos of the flora, fauna and other stuff I saw.

A citizen added a touch of patriotism to this sign at a boat access ramp

Originally a WWII concrete practice bomb, they once lined the road with chains stretched between them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concrete practice bombs had two of the iron loops enabling them to be loaded in the bomb bays of the planes. They were used during WWII at Camp Atterbury at Edinburg Indiana, and repurposed for the road side chain marking. The wooden sign is next to a boat access ramp leading to Big Blue River.

A big ol’ groundhog was eating apples from nearby tree

City maintained, note the volunteer maple saplings in the center

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I mentioned, bike riding is a big part of my new diet and exercise ‘program’. I have been riding at least twice a day with a goal of at least 3 miles each ride. I know compared to real serious riders, that’s not much, but for me it is an accomplishment, and I’m trying to increase my distances each day.  So today I have pedaled 5.25 miles, consumed one shake and one salad. Don’t know about tonight’s supper yet. Probably another shake. Blood pressure is still down.

The beard sail

One funny thing happened to me today during the ride. It was the first time I was pedaling at, for me, a rapid rate and wham! here came a strong headwind. It made my beard feel like a sail, and actually created quite the resistance.  Felt really strange.

Hot day at the track

/ Roadtirementvintage / 19 Comments

Last Wednesday we went out to the Indiana Grand Racing and Casino  to see what was going on with the day of the 27th running of the Indiana Derby. The Indiana Derby is touted as the premier thoroughbred race in the state. There was a full race card with 12 races and several high stakes races with purses totally nearing 1 million dollars.

The parade of entries

Ready to run…

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at the parking lots and garage, it was obvious that there were tons of people at the facility. We parked in the garage, having to go to the top (5th) level to find a parking spot.

We went into the casino for a bit first. Complimentary drinks and the AC were a draw for sure! Not having a tremendous amount of luck at the slots, we headed to the track. The first floor was packed, with folks at the large bar and at the many tables looking at the screens with tracks from all over. Many were placing wagers with tellers or at pari-mutuel kiosks.

We sat out side for a while, at least there was shade from the building. We stayed for four races, and then decided it was too hot even in the shade. It wasn’t the best time we have had at the Indiana Grand, and headed home to the AC!

New home for an old bridge

/ Roadtirementvintage / 22 Comments

By 1870 Shelby County Indiana had 154 miles of new gravel roads. It was time for the county to start building bridges at principle crossings of rivers. By 1880 there were 10 “substantial and elegant” iron bridges  with additional bridges planned each year thereafter.

The bridge’s new home, seeing bicycles and pedestrian traffic only

The Clover Ford Bridge over Buck Creek was constructed in 1889 by the King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The cost of the bridge, Shelby County Bridge No. 13, was $3,384.50. The bridge served many years but was closed due to structural issues in 2011.

Beautiful and sound reconstruction

History board

 

 

 

 

 

Deemed historically important, it was refurbished in 2018 and moved to the Blue River Memorial Park in 2019. It is now part of the Blue River Trail that traverses Shelbyville. USI Consultants was the company that oversaw the relocation of the restored bridge, as well as designing the new Shelby County Bridge No. 219 which replaced the old Shelby County Bridge No. 13 over Buck Creek.

A neat feature at a park

/ Roadtirementvintage / 20 Comments

This afternoon Sher and our son and I went on a ‘hunt’ for a Geocache at a nearby park. We had looked it up last night on a map, and there it was! So off we went.

Explanation of how the swale works

This Geocache was not one of those hidden boxes or log books. This one was a feature at the park. We went in search of a Water Quality Bio-Swale. Yes, a feature that is designed to collect pollutants from rain fall runoff.

That’s the swale in the background

It actually looked like an ordinary swale for rain runoff. This one had a more complex design than you normally expect. There was a thick layer of sandy soil in the low part of the swale which filtered any pollutants. A layer of gravel at the bottom surrounded a  perforated drain pipe in which the storm water runs off to a nearby river.

The story of Indiana’s state tree

The swale banks were planted with trees native to Indiana. One of the park volunteers was mapping the location and species of each tree while we were on site. He informed us that there will be individual ID signs on each tree and a brochure with detailed info coming soon.

Mmm…..hand crafted chocolates

/ Roadtirementvintage / 34 Comments

Sometimes the window of a business will make your head turn. That happened to us when we passed the Greenfield Chocolates storefront in downtown Greenfield, Indiana.

Cases filled with delicacies

The business is owned and operated by Jayne Hoadley, an award winning Chocolatier, and a designated Indiana Artisan.  The shop creates hand crafted artisan chocolates, toffees, caramels and confections from the finest and freshest ingredients with no preservatives.

Shelf after shelf of deliciousness

“I’ll take one of each..”

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as you walk into the store you are treated with visions of delicacies everywhere you look! Prepackaged treats are displayed on shelves and racks. The cases are jam packed with beautifully decorated morsels of all types.

Where the magic creations occur

Everything is made on site in the historic building at 15 West Main Street. (It is right next to the statue of the bison we posted earlier.) Go ahead and stop in this delightful shop. You won’t walk out empty handed: we sure did not!

A nice visit to the Shale Creek Brewing

/ Roadtirementvintage / 28 Comments

Sher and I went on a mission today to see what was up in nearby Franklin, Indiana. We had looked up a couple of brew houses and decided to try out Shale Creek Brewing. It is located in one of Franklin’s oldest building, and offers brews and great food.

Main entrance, downtown Franklin

Main bar

Once we were seated, it was time to decide what brews to get in the flight…

What an inviting list

Catelynn helped us with our flight choices

Here came the flight, really about the best reason to go to a brewery!


The food we picked was very tasty with large portions. The lettuce wedges had lots of toppings, and the breaded fried hamburger was smothered is all kinds of great stuff.

Excellent salad fare

Yes, smothered fried breaded burger

This is the life!

All in all, what a fun time we had. The food was great, the brews were fun to sample and we have found a place we’ll enjoy coming back to. We also bought a growler of Red Headed Squealer, aka Irish Red. Here’s the Shale Creek Brewing website to check out.