April 8-9 I did a single night run with all my gear on a ride sponsored by the Central Indiana Bicycle Club (www.cibaride.org). They have a few people who do camping rides about once a month from April through October. I'd done a one-night trip with this club last summer, but none of the same people were on this ride. We arrived one-by-one at the parking lot of a little school in little Ladoga, Indiana Saturday morning, and it soon became apparent that I was going to be the youngest participant and the only girl. I'd ridden hills the two previous days and was kind of sore, so I hoped I wouldn't hold them up much. I also hoped the temperatures wouldn't go below freezing like predicted...

Our ride to lunch at a little cafe in Waveland was uneventful but a bit chilly. We warmed up over tenderloins, burgers, and chicken sandwiches and hit the road for Turkey Run State Park, our overnight destination. The afternoon sun and the promise of fireside libations helped speed us toward our destination. With a short day of 27 miles under our belts, we set up camp in the group camp area near some boy scouts. Most of the guys went and showered while one chilly biker and I debated. I decided I wasn't stinky enough to warrant frozen hair, but the other guy gave into peer pressure and headed to the shower house.

Turkey Run (http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/properties/park_turkeyrun.html) is a beautiful Wisconsin-dells miniature in west-central Indiana. From the website, "It has been decades since the excursion trains from Chicago delivered adventuresome travellers for a holiday at the Turkey Run Inn...but the allure of this beautiful facility continues as strong as ever." The Inn is a beautiful facility, but I didn't visit this time. The guys pedalled over for a buffet dinner while I stayed in camp to try out another of my freezer bag cooking recipes. They joked around about expecting a roaring fire by the time they got back, but I told them not to expect too much! After dinner and clean up, I thought about doing the homework I'd brought along, but fire-building sounded like more fun (and would be much warmer!), so the guys had at least a sputtering fire when they returned.

One of the guys came to my rescue--Gadget Guy had this miniature crank bellows and got the fire roaring in no time and ready for warming our fingers and toes. Stories, tips, and gear comparisons followed as we delayed leaving the warm fire for cold sleeping bags.

I had an uncomfortable night. I think I stayed warm enough most of the night, but I used all the warm clothes to do so, leaving me without many options for a pillow and it was too cold outside of my sleeping bag to find options in the bags I left outside on my bike. That and 5 of the 6 older guys were performing the Snoring Symphony part of the night. I could only find one earplug, so it took me a while to fall asleep.

The next morning, I must have made 8 or 10 cups of tea with my JetBoil as people slowly crawled out of bed looking to warm up, the cold feeling confirmed by the frost on bags we'd left outdoors. The ride leader was telling us how he'd been so warm during the night...there's always one! Some people seemed to take their time getting ready, so I kept making tea just to have something warm to hold on to. On the way to the campground entrance, I saw I had a flat. I told the guys they could go on ahead (I didn't need 6 other people changing my tire!) but they all stayed and had that tire off the rim in no time. We didn't see any punctures or anything, and I probably would have just aired the thing up to see if it was a freak flat, but I ended up with a new tube in and many helpful hands to thank...

A couple of us ended up dragging back a bit in the morning as we attempted to regulate temperature and contend with cold muscles. With the late start, my flat, and such, we were late for breakfast at the Waveland cafe by about 15 minutes. Some of the guys tried to sweet talk the waitress into getting them to serve us something breakfast-like, but at 10:45 a.m. she was busy pushing the chicken and potatoes on the buffet. Hey, I offered the guys oatmeal in camp!

The day warmed and cleared nicely after our early lunch and we were back to our cars at Ladoga in the early afternoon. They wished me well on my upcoming trip and gave me some last minute advice before heading out. Thanks guys!