10-24-2026 A Farewell Cookout and Bike Ride Through Indianapolis with Friends
Amidst our preparations for our winter travels we had time to go on a bike ride with friends Mark and Mike on another beautiful day. We arrived at Mark's house and were surprised when many more friends showed up for a "farewell" cookout lunch. Several friends had to leave after lunch, but three friends stayed and joined us on the 20-mile bike ride all over downtown Indy.
Ride Facts
Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026
Route: An Indianapolis loop from Mark’s house via the Monon Trail, downtown, the Cultural Trail and Fall Creek Trail.
Distance: A 20-mile ride as described in our review; the recorded GPS track measures approximately 20.87 miles.
Time: GPS recording from 1:48 pm to 6:44 pm EDT, including stops; this is not moving time.
Trail notes: Monon Trail, Indianapolis Cultural Trail and Fall Creek Trail, with downtown connections.
Food / company: A surprise farewell cookout lunch at Mark’s house with friends before the ride; three friends stayed to join us.
Stops: Factory Arts, The Garage Food Hall for restrooms and water, The Idle, and the Day of the Dead celebration at the Eiteljorg Museum, as described in our captions.
Day in Photos
On the Monon Trail headed downtown. On the left is a building that someone once tagged with graffiti as "Farts Shack" because there is always a sulphureous odor when you pass by it.
Monon Trail with downtown Indy in the distance.
Taking a break in the park across from the Factory Arts building, which houses many local artists' studios and several businesses.
We stopped at The Garage Food Hall downtown for bathroom facilities and water bottle refills.
On the Cultural Trail through downtown Indy.
On the Cultural Trail at Massachusetts Avenue, where you can be the "I" in this Indy photo opp.
Passing by the Lilly Research Laboratories, a major drug manufacturer - that arch represents a DNA strand.
On the Cultural Trail by "Danger Park", a favorite break spot.
The entrance to The Idle aka "Danger Park".
Riding between downtown buildings with our group.
Following our friends along a covered brick walkway downtown.
We stopped briefly at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art because there was a Day of the Dead celebration going on there.
Colorful outfits and feathered headdresses at the Day of the Dead celebration outside the Eiteljorg Museum.
The Capital Building (with dome) in the distance.
The majority of our biking group.
Monument Circle, in the distance, is the very center of Indianapolis.
Fall Creek where the Monon Trail passes over it.
The Monon Trail bridge over Fall Creek.
Joining up with the Fall Creek Trail back to Mark's house.
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