Covered Bridge Ride Sunday October 29th!
Organized by Jim Morse

Interest has been expressed to organize a ride into Parke County to see the covered bridges. There are 39 covered bridges to see in Parke County, some more accessible than others. Many can be ridden to by bike on paved roads. I did find two on one route that were on gravel roads.

Some are located in small, quaint towns that bring back visions of the "good old days". Small shops and businesses are located there for the SO to enjoy. Mansfield, Bridgeton, Billie Creek are such towns. There are numerous places to eat, both period type and conventional, restaurant and fast food.

Many bridges are stand alone structures that have been preserved for their historical significance and are walking structures only. A few are actually still open to vehicular traffic, especially motorcycles. The roads are nice rides, twisties but not too rigorous. There are many right angle turns as is common in the country.

I recently took a ride thru Parke County and went on a few of the routes shown on the map of bridges. A combination of the black route and red route was a lot of fun riding, as well as having interesting places to stop. The yellow route was good until I hit the gravel roads! Sunday, October 29 10:30 a.m meet at Bellmore, IN where US 36 and US 59 intersect. Group leaves at approx. 11:00 a.m. for Billie Creek Village. A historic village and 3 covered bridges are found here.

The next stop is the Historic Tourist Center in Rockville, starting point for the scenic routes. Maps and info are available here. There are fast food restaurants and gas stations readily available in Rockville. All routes are approximately 25-30 miles to ride. I enjoyed the "RED" route. It has eight bridges along its route and Bridgeton Mill is a nice little town to see.

If other riders wanted to see other routes, they are marked with colored arrows along the routes on telephone/utility poles. It has been suggested that the group eat at the Turkey Run Inn and Restaurant. This would also be a possibility, a short ride and the food is good.

If you are interested in visiting Parke County, please contact me. Jim Morse aka Moosfa VRCC # 506 jmorse@tctc.com 765-364-0133

Note: If the weather is non cooperative, i.e. RAIN with little chance of clearing, the ride will be canceled. Due to the lateness in the season, there would be no rain date. Dress warm!

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