Bicycle touring and history 
The Spokesrider
Category
LaGrange County IN
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06.08.08David Rogers Park
LaGrange County IN (0)The David Rogers Park is near the south end of HawPatch road, at the head of a branch of the Elkhart River. I nominate it for the world's most tranquil, refreshing rural park. Maybe it's different when a lot of people are here, but I've hardly ever found other people here. One time it was the site of girl scouts campout, or something of that sort, but that still didn't make me think differently of it. I wish it had more of a connection to the Black Hawk story, but unfortunately, David Rogers, though one of ...
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06.06.08Nasby Dam
LaGrange County IN (2)This road, from the beginning of last Sunday's ride, is now added to my list of favorites. It's not quite in the same league as the Hawpatch Road, but it's a pleasant 5-mile stretch where the motorized traffic has been very sparse every time I've ridden there. Map of the road This map shows the approximate location of the Nasby Dam, I hope. (When editing google maps I can't see the rivers, but when they display they tend to show up.) The route is mostly through the Pigeon River State Fish and Wildlife Area. I learned about the Nasby Dam back on ...
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06.05.08More Hawpatch Road
Amish country, LaGrange County IN, Schools (0)Most of the buildings along Hawpatch Road are neat and Amish white. But there are a couple of derelict buildings. One is a church. The other is this old school. At least I presume it was a school. There is also a newer-looking Amish school down the road. This derelict looks like it never was an Amish building. According to "An Amish Patchwork : Indiana's Old Orders in the Modern World," by Meyers and Nolt (2005), the Amish settlement in LaGrange county dates to 1841, 9 years after the Black Hawk war. But I presume ...
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06.04.08Hawpatch Road
Amish country, LaGrange County IN (0)Over at Amish America, Erik was commenting on how the part of the LaGrange-Elkhart settlement that lies east of Emma (in LaGrange county) is one of his favorites to visit. Well, there's a road through it that rates high on my list of favorite roads to ride. It's the Hawpatch Road -- part of a road I presume once led all the way from LaGrange to Topeka. Topeka is a place that was called Hawpatch before railroad workers decided it should be called Topeka. The part I especially like is less than four miles long. It ...
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06.01.08Day of rest
Amish country, LaGrange County IN (0)I had a nice overnight bike ride this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I rode 65 miles to Mongo, Indiana. Today I did a leisurely 39 miles to Ligonier. Yearly mileage to date: 837.7. I took several gravel roads today, which is one of the things that made it leisurely. I'm glad I took the one on which this photo was taken, a few miles from Topeka. If I ever rode it before, it was a long time ago. perhaps in 1997. It was one of two places where I saw a ...
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