Brown County - Nostalgia - Dirt Rag

Opening up the new Dirt Rag this week was more exciting than usual, for me.  Little did I know there would be an article showcasing my favorite trail system; a place that is near and dear to my heart.  If you live in Indiana, especially anywhere south of Indianapolis, and know anything about mountain biking (including that $59.99 Wal-Mart special you bought for your kid), you have heard about Brown County State Park.  It is truly an Epic trail system, and brings back so many good memories.  I didn’t exactly need the soul-crushing, heart-stabbing, nostalgia-inducing pictures that Dirt Rag included, but still I can’t stop looking.

Brown County was my first true love.  Oh how we danced in each other’s arms on countless sunny days, ran through the rain together, and frolicked in the sheer joy of being alive.  Actually, I’m not going to take credit for any of the frolicking; I’ll put that on you, B.C.  It introduced me to the real (good) fruit of mountain biking.  Then I wallowed in that sweet fruit juice, me and it fermenting maturing together, at which point I found myself heavily intoxicated, stumbling down the road of adventure.  In my quest for new adventures in the mountain biking realm, I find myself constantly comparing trail systems to Brown County.  I haven’t found one that stacks up yet.  Sure, I’ve had as many, if not more “epic” rides in my short time in Colorado, not to mention Moab and Sedona, than I would get at Brown County, but it’s still not the same.  

The article does a good job at showcasing why Brown County is so good.  The fact that you can ride every trail in the park in either direction, and get an equally awesome, and totally different experience, is one thing it mentions.  The fact that you can ride over 30 miles, and be on incredible flowing singletrack the entire time, in the beautiful dense woods of southern Indiana, is another.  The quality of the trails is also of note.  There are no garbage trails; connectors; fire road.  These are all professionally purpose-built mountain biking trails.  Every level of technical expertise is represented.  I also loved the articles opening statement, 

“When you think of epic trails, Indiana doesn’t immediately spring to mind.  So when the International Mountain Bicycling Association decided to bestow epic status on Brown County State Park in southern Indiana last year, a lot of people out west were left scratching their heads.  But folks who ride these trails on a regular basis had their own question, namely, “What took so long?””

My sentiment exactly.  Now living in Colorado, I struggle to open people’s eyes and minds to the quality of riding and trail-building in the Midwest. Talking with a bike shop friend the other day, he said “You don’t need mountains for good mountain biking.”  True that.

If you ever have the chance, the Brown County Breakdown is one of the most incredible days of epic mountain biking, bluegrass music, beer and good people that one can have.  Check it out.