A
Grand Touring ride is a group social ride. Ride Leaders ride with the group
and provide directions and support to the riders. Routes are not marked.
Maps and/or Cue Sheets will be provided. Grand Touring rides are often at
remote locations an hour or more distant from Central Indiana and often focus
on festivals, museums, restaurants and other similar tourist attractions.
Grand Touring riders support local businesses
for food and facilities. Typically ten to twenty riders will attend a Grand
Touring ride. Riding is at a moderate pace and riders try to stay together.
Nobody is left by themselves unless that is what the rider wants.
Grand Touring Ride Philosophy: To emphasize the enjoyment of bicycling as a group and social activity and as a method to explore and discover Indiana and other destinations.
Grand Touring is about the pure joy of riding. It’s about the journey. It’s about the experience. One might say Grand Touring gives your cycling spirit a chance to soar. You can leave that computer home and forget about the measurements.
If the weather is not suitable for riding, Grand Touring ride leaders may cancel the ride since riders usually drive long distances to attend rides. Please contact the ride leader before leaving home if the weather looks questionable. Note: Pre-registration is not required. All riders are welcome. Other types of CIBA rides can be found at www.cibaride.org.
Grand Touring Ride Leader Guidelines
Grand Touring Maps & Cue Sheets
Map and cue sheets are intended for individual personal use. If you would like to use the map and cue sheets for an organized event, please contact the ride leader.
2025 Grand Touring Ride Calendar
Note: Grand Touring Ride Leaders - This is the current information that I have for Grand Touring Rides. If a correction needs to be made or I need to add your ride, please contact me at rsdesign@ieee.org with your updates and I will be happy to add them to the Grand Touring Ride Calendar.
September
Metamora Ramble - The Sequel
Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025
Start Time: 10:00 am
Ride Leaders: Randy and Connie Schmucker, 317-257-5607, 317-777-9630, rsdesign@ieee.org
Route Lengths: 30 and 51 miles - hilly terrain
Start Location: Metamora, IN: Visitor parking, (Public Restrooms on top
of the hill)
entry sign to parking lot reads
“ Whitewater Canal State Historic Site Indiana State Museum System Visitor
Parking”.
Directions to Start: From I-465, take I-74 east. Turn left on south S.R. 229. Turn right on east S.R. 52. In Metamora turn right on Duck Creek Rd at gas station and follow 2 blocks to parking lot.
Ride Description: Return to Metamora in scenic southeastern Indiana for another tour of the Whiteriver Valley in late summer. Wander the valleys and ridges and admire the spires of Oldenburg. Metamora is one of the villages on the historic Whitewater canal and the Duck Creek Aqueduct can still be seen as well as portions of the canal. After the ride savor some ice cream or quaff some coffee at the Smelly Gourmet. Metamora's website: metamoraindiana.com. Contact Ride Leaders if the weather is questionable before making the trip.
Ride to Rabbit Hash
Date: Saturday, September 27, 2025
Starting Time: 10:30 am
Ride Leaders: Randy and Connie Schmucker, 317-257-5607, 317-777-9630, rsdesign@ieee.org
Route Lengths: 45 miles - hilly terrain
Start Location: Boone County Arboretum - Burlington, KY
Directions: I-74 East to I-275 South to KY 237 (Exit 8) South for 9 miles
to the Boone County Arboretum. Turn right onto Camp Ernst Road at the rotary. On Camp Ernst
Road follow the Boone County Arboretum signs to the park. After turning into the main entrance turn right at first road. It's almost an immediate turn. We will be in the parking lot just south of the turn, past the butterfly garden and next to multiple baseball diamonds. Approximately 2 hour drive
from Indianapolis. Burlington, KY is a little southwest of Cincinnati,
OH.
Map to Boone County Arboretum: bcarboretum.org/location.
Ride Description: Scenic river views! Never heard of Rabbit Hash? Rabbit Hash is right across the river from Rising Sun! That doesn't help either? Then you've got to ride this ride! The Ride to Rabbit Hash rolls, climbs (an occasional power gear (the small chain ring!) hill) and provides scenic vistas of the Ohio River. Naturally, we'll visit Rabbit Hash and it's 1830 General Store. Also, this ride takes in the scenic area where Giant Mammoths and other "really" big creatures used to roam and the bison still roam. Contact Ride Leaders if the weather is questionable before making the trip.
October
Columbus Fall Color Tour
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Start Time: 10:00 am
Ride Leaders: Randy and Connie Schmucker, 317-257-5607, 317-777-9630, rsdesign@ieee.org
Route Lengths: 46 and 54 miles - hilly terrain
Start Location: Columbus, IN: Jay C Food parking lot - SR 46 & Goeller
Rd
Directions to start: I-65 South. Exit west on SR 46, go 0.5 miles, turn right
at light, Goeller Rd, into parking lot.
Ride Description: Ride Bicycle Magazine's "Best Ride In Indiana". Enjoy the fall color in the hills of western Bartholomew County and eastern Brown County. This ride will meander through Grandview Lake, Pikes Peak, Hoosier National Forest and other Indiana back road delights. There will be a few more hills than the spring version for the now well-conditioned legs. Contact Ride Leaders if the weather is questionable before making the trip.
Phil's Fantastically Festive Fall Foliage Frolic
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025
Start Time: 10:00 am
Ride Leaders: Phil Koch - 317-319-3911 pskoch@gmail.com
Route Lengths: 40 miles - hilly terrain
Directions to the start location: From the north and south, I-69 to SR 144 West. From the east and west, SR 144 toward Waverly. Take the roundabout exit to Waverly Park Blvd. Old Town Waverly Park is on the right in two miles. Enter on Whetzel St. proceed ahead/on the left to parking lot near the White River Greenway trail.
Start Location: Old Town Waverly Park 8425 Main St, Martinsville, IN 46151, maps.app.goo.gl/y89fKXpcrqEt5xnj6
Ride Description: The fall colors are at their peak this weekend in south-central Indiana. Come ride some friendly hills (no killers on this route!) and enjoy the scenery, camaraderie, and a bite to eat in friendly Morgantown, Indiana. This is a Grand Touring-style ride with no SAG support , but with a stop for lunch at the Green Hill Diner in Morgantown. If selecting a different location to eat, please plan to rendezvous with the group. Please RSVP so that we can plan ahead with the restaurant. Individuals pay for their own tab. After the ride, enjoy Old Town Waverly Park and consider staying for the Haunting of Waverly, starting at 5pm. More information here: morgancountyparks.org/event/haunting-of-waverly-2