After a very successful weekend in Portland, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is heading out to Indianapolis for its 5th annual event next year.
Apparently show owner Don Walker likes to keep his show on the road to give more people a chance to fall in love with those beautiful hand-built bicycles. Can't argue with that.
Also, the UrbanVelo blog says that Indianapolis (home to Monon Trail, above) is within a day's drive of 100 million people out there in the Heartland. Nearby cities include Chicago and St. Louis, as well as Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Detroit.
Bike touring
If you're still not convinced that Indianapolis is a good choice, consider the fact that Indiana plays host to four week-long cross-state bike tours: two TRIRIs (Touring Ride in Rural Indiana in June and September), Cover Indiana, as well as the new RAINSTORM 2008 (Ride Across Indiana – Same Thing Only More).
Also, the city is home to the Central Indiana Bicycle Association. CIBA got its start in 1965 and has grown to more than 2,300 members. Some of its members have riden in RAAM and Paris-Brest-Paris, and many volunteer for local bicycling advocacy issues.
Indianapolis will be the future terminus of the B&O rail-trail, which will stretch across the state into Springfield, Illinois. Meanwhile, the state awarded $15 million toward bike and hike trail projects in 2007 and has purchased some 150 miles of abandoned railway line to be converted into rail-trails.
The city itself is working on a bicycle master plan that include 326 miles of bike lanes; 165 miles are installed so far. All of the city's buses are equipped with bike racks for commuters, according to a report card prepared by Biking Indianapolis.
The show's owner should know all this, though. Don Walker Cycles is located in Speedway, a suburb of Indianapolis.
Little 500
Just 55 miles down the road from Indianapolis is Bloomington, home the fictional Dave Stoller of the movie “Breaking Away.” With the Little 500 coming up every spring at the University of Indiana, maybe the bike builders will be inspired to design some track bikes next year.
Next year's dates for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show are Feb. 28 through March 1.
For more coverage from the show, check out: BikePortland, Cyclelicious, and UrbanVelo. Also, I'll keep the NAHBS blog feed posted at right for a few more days.
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