The BGI Buzz

While watching the progress on the new BGI North, we have had a lot questions about the large white Sycamore tree in the basin below BGI, and overlooking the trails between 82nd Street and the White River. Big Bertha, as the tree as been dubbed by BGI owner Randy Clark, is well over 100 years old and is over 100 feet tall.

With help from Cannondale Bicycles, Bertha got her first "haircut" this week in over a hundred years. The thinning of the branches should help her better support the remaining branches. The tree service also connected her trunks with a cable so each major trunk can help support the other.

Sycamores have long been a part Indiana history and lore. While not the state tree (as believed by some), the Sycamore was on the original Indiana Territory seal in 1801, which became the state seal in 1816. Bertha could be around a long time, since a Sycamore near Worthington, IN lived an estimated 500 years before being toppled by a storm in 1924.

Bicycle Garage Indy now has three locations to serve you; the brand new Bicycle Garage Indy North (Indianapolis, Dean Road at 82nd St., the shops at Rivers Edge),  South (Greenwood, just west of I-65 on County Line Rd), and BGI Downtown, in the Indy Bike Hub YMCA at City Market.