After getting up, catching up on news, mail, and social media, and having a good breakfast (complimentary Hampton Inn), we drove about 60 miles east to Blountsville, Indiana, to cycle the Rail Trail Hall of Fame Cardinal Greenway. Driving along the countryside, I casually mentioned that if we see a round barn, I wanted to stop and make a photograph. We obviously didn’t see one along the rural road.

The Cardinal Greenway is the longest rail-trail in Indiana and spans 62 miles from Marion through Muncie to Richmond in East Central Indiana, with a road section from Gaston to Jonesboro that is approximately an additional 15 miles. The greenway was designated a National Recreational Trail in June 2003, and in 2018 was named to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s “Rail Trail Hall of Fame.” It had been a goal of mine to ride the Greenway since having seen it named to the Rail Trail HOF. The ride today was from Blountsville to Muncie.

Kay dropped me off at the Blountsville trailhead.

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From there I pedaled south, before Kay texted that I was going the wrong direction! After turning around, the old TREK FX6 headed north. Agriculture land, primarily for row crops, could be found adjacent to the trail for most of the lower portion.

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And, even a round barn came into view; is that weird or what! We would see it again on the drive out.

The asphalt trail was easy to ride, but for me, at least, did not have any distinguishing features— tunnels, waterfalls, unusual adjacent scenery, viaducts, etc.—that would warrant it being named a Hall of Fame trail. Of course, I did not ride the portion through Muncie.

Kay met me in Muncie, I changed out of cycling clothes, stowed the bicycle, and drove towards Franklin, Ohio. At one of our rest stops, a pollinator garden had been planted and bees, butterflies, and birds were numerous.

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We arrived at our hotel in Franklin where we overnighted after some 370 miles.