Nor rain, nor mud, nor broken chain...

In a town where the "coolest sporting event" (at least if you ask world-renowned cyclist Lance Armstrong) has just come to its annual close, the excitement around biking should start to fade. No more spandex-clad bikers on every street corner, no more crowds cheering on dozens of amateur teams and no more race controversy, right? Wrong.\nBeyond Bloomington's unforgiving asphalt, there's a world of grassy fields, rugged hills and rock-strewn creek beds -- and as the last remaining traces of winter melt away with daily 80-degree heat, mountain bikers are taking to the trails again. \nWhile South-Central Indiana might not seem like the hotbed for anything -- culture, fashion or anything else you can think of -- it's not a bad place to mountain bike.\nLast week, two mountain bikers from Michigan were taking the weekend to tour southern Indiana's mountain bike trails. "We came down here for the hills," one of them explains when asked why they'd come to Southern Indiana to bike. "Michigan's got nothing like this."\nThere are plenty of trails around Bloomington to explore, and more are springing up. The State of Indiana recently began sponsoring the State Park Service and Department of Natural Resources in creating new mountain bike parks. Although mountain biking will probably never rival the Little 500 in popularity or get Lance Armstrong's "coolest sporting event" tag, most mountain bikers would tell you that they'd never trade in their mountain bike for a street bike.\nBike Parks\nThe closest place to start a mountain bike adventure is Wapehani Mountain Bike Park, less than two miles southwest of Bloomington on Weimer Road. The only park in Indiana maintained solely as a mountain bike park, every nook of its 35 acres is packed with trails, which form a spider-web/make-your-own-loop system. Cycling enthusiast and the author of "Mountain Bike Indiana," Layne Cameron, thinks parks like Wapehani are beneficial to the sport and to the community.\n"These parks are the kind that are starting to open up near cities (and) are what really help the sport of mountain biking stay popular," he says. "They're also close to the community and provide a quick getaway."\nThe Bloomington Parks and Recreation Service, which maintains the trail, estimates that anywhere from 20 to 100 people use the trails on an average Saturday. The park is free to the public and is open from dawn to dusk. \nIn addition to Wapehani, the Parks and Recreation Service also maintains the Clear Creek Rail Trail, an easy 6.2-mile roundtrip along a former railroad line. Hikers and joggers also frequent this trail, which runs south from Tapp Road. The trail is also open dawn to dusk year-round.\nThe rail trail is only one of many springing up across the state, as more abandoned railroad lines are converted to trails for public use.\n"The state has finally jumped in (on opening trails)," Cameron says. "They're embracing it. They've realized mountain bikers aren't just a bunch of guys hopped up on Mountain Dew looking to shred every trail they can."\nClean-cut Cameron, who sometimes writes for Boy Scouts of America's Boy's Life, is evidence of the fact. And although he says he is "pleased" with Bloomington's two closest public trails, neither is his favorite in the region: instead, he names the Hickory Ridge Recreation Area inside the Hoosier National Forest as the place to go.\nRegional Trail Systems\nA 30-minute car ride southeast of Bloomington will land you in the Hickory Ridge area, which contains one of the state's largest connected mountain biking trail systems: more than 46 miles of trails are spread out in the forest. Of course, the one thing that can ruin a biking trip in a state forest is a shotgun blast from a hunter. \n"If you run into hunters, the place is so big you can just go ride somewhere else," Cameron reassures. "But still be careful."\nThe Hoosier National Forest also contains about five other trail systems, some closer to Bloomington than Hickory Ridge and some farther. The Nebo Ridge Trail is just outside of famous Story, Ind., on State Highway 135. The 17-mile roundtrip trail is a winding up-and-down ride that will leave you exhausted. The only downfall is that the forest service charges a flat fee of $3 for the day.\nIf you're willing to pay for your mountain biking, you can also check out the private mountain biking haven at Gnaw Bone Camp, two miles south of Nashville on State Highway 135. Owner Alliz Lorenz uses the property as a summer camp for children during summer months but opens the gates to mountain bikers in the fall and spring. The camp sprawls more than 1,600 acres and contains more than 25 miles of trail. Lorenz says she and her husband will personally greet you, give you a map and tell you where to ride.\n"Just understand that this isn't a public park," she says. "If it's really wet, we're not going to open the trails, because we don't want to ruin them… people show up and see the closed sign and get angry, but it's a private camp."\nSafety\nAs far as safety is concerned, Cameron says the best thing to have is common sense. \n"Don't ride above your ability level. If you see a hill that looks hard and your instincts tell you not to do it… then just walk your bike down."\nOf course, walking your bike is never part of the fun.