Making the most of my 24-hour $8.00 bike pass

Picking up a bike on Maryland Avenue, Indianapolis

I docked the bike at Massachussets Avenue and Alabama...

Once the conference had ended I found myself out on the street in the baking heat wondering what to do. There was no point going all the way back to the hotel so I moseyed around town thinking about where to get some lunch. I remembered I still had a few hours to run on my bike share 24-hour pass so I found the bike port on Maryland and went through the fairly simple procedure of getting a bike off the rack. It beep-beeped until I pulled it from its housing and after stuffing my laptop case in the rear pannier I headed off in the general direction of Massachussets Avenue using a mixture of the sidewalks, roads and the Cultural Trail.

Down by the White River

My bike on the banks of the White River

I was under the impression that Massachussets Avenue would be some kind of vibrant road full of lively cafés and restaurants, but it wasn't; there were pizza restaurant/pubs and Mexican restaurant/bars plus a Starbucks and no vibe at all. But I'd cycled all this way and you're only allowed to use the bikes for 30-minute stints so I parked up and headed for Bazbeaux Pizza (www.bazbeaux.com) where I ordered a 10in Garden pizza thinking there was going to be some kind of healthy slant to it. How wrong! Although what did I expect? I was in a pizzeria. It was fairly pleasant, especially as it was accompanied by Triton Dead Eye Stout (5.5%) and some garlic bread with cheese.

I picked up another bike here at the White River State Park docking station

Back at Massachussets Avenue and Alabama – I walked back from here

The whole experience was relaxing. The music was laid back and included The Pretenders and the Boo Radleys plus others. The restaurant had a laid back vibe too and the staff were friendly. I could have sat there all afternoon, but that would have been wrong. But I needed to chill a little, even if I was a little concerned that, with the Garden pizza, I'd broken the pattern of healthy eating that had so far characterised this trip. In fact, it was my food choice that prompted me to make maximum use of my 24-hour pass on the bike share scheme so, after a quick cup of tea in the Starbucks across the road and with a couple hours still to go on my 24-hour bike pass, I took out another bike and headed back into the city centre on the the Cultural Trail, passing some of the haunts I'd visited yesterday and heading down to the banks of the White River, a two-forked river that runs through central and southern Indiana and is a staggering 362 miles long.

Indiana old and new

It was another hot day, easily in the mid-seventies, if not hotter, and there was only so far I could go without crossing the river and I knew that pretty soon my time would be up and I'd incur costs by continuing to ride the bike. So I turned around and picked up the Cultural Trail again, heading this time back into the centre of the city. I changed the bike at White River State Park and then rode on and around the trail and eventually ended up back at Massachussets Avenue and the same stop I'd visited prior to finding Bazbeaux Pizza. This time, with my time well and truly up, I docked the bike and then headed back into town on foot, in search of Washington Street and a taxi back to my hotel.

A great way to get around the city and burn off some calories

I jumped into a cab near the Hyatt and here I am writing this post at 1853hrs and wondering whether it's worth heading back into town just to eat. That pizza was quite enough in many respects and I could always cross the parking lot and check out the Bob Evan's restaurant. We'll see.

It was good to get back on the bike again; this time I rode for a good couple of hours, probably just under, but at least for 90 minutes (or thereabouts).