Best Leisure

Biking Advocates
Some 600 people can thank Bicycle Garage Indy for the free refurbished bike they received this year through Shifting Gears. Folks who use the new bike lanes on Michigan and New York streets should tip their helmets to the same community outreach efforts. Ditto the commuters who keep their fancy schmancy titanium bikes safe in one of downtown’s 42 INBikePort lockers, and the women who join the northside shop’s Nothing But Chicks group rides April through September. The shop’s initiatives to make biking easier for everyone earned a ring of the bell last year from Bicycle Retail and Industry News, which named BGI Retail Advocate of the Year in 2007. 4130 E. 82nd St., 842-4140; 997 E. County Line Road, Greenwood, 885-7194, bgindy.com.

Golf Shop
The most comprehensive private pro shop we found was at The Country Club of Indianapolis. Besides the requisite men’s equipment, you’ll find women’s shoes galore, lovely leather shoe bags, kids’ clubs and apparel, Dooney & Burke handbags, and Bushnell range finders. Need to be fitted for clubs? No problem. Looking for one of those swing-fixing tools? They have those, too. 2801 Country Club Rd., 291-9770, ccindianapolis.com.

Bike Trail You’ve Never Heard Of
Once you reach the end of the east side’s Fall Creek Trail, backtracking seems like the logical thing to do. But one of the city’s most scenic routes awaits if you brave the 6.9-mile ride on Fall Creek Road traveling east and (as long as you have the $10 state park annual bike pass) coast through the Boy Scout Road entrance to Fort Harrison State Park. Point your pedals toward Harrison Trace Trail, a paved 2.5-mile loop that skirts two lakes, with woodland wildflowers in the spring, rolling roads, and downhill thrills galore. Boy Scout Road and Fall Creek Road, 591-0904.

Fitness Classes
In March, the northwest side welcomed Brick House Fitness, a tiny studio in a strip mall at 56th Street and High School Road. The sheer number of classes is dizzying. The center opens at 5 a.m. five days a week and offers classes ranging from line dancing to step to yoga to mixed martial arts. (Our favorite is Buda Khi, a program created by local martial-arts guru L.J. Easley that feels like a mix of martial arts, kickboxing, and yoga.) No membership fee is required, and classes are just $5. 6225 W. 56th St., 222-4878, brickhousefitness.com.

Pro Shop
Prince. Wilson. Dunlop. Nike. Adidas. If you need something related to tennis, head first to the pro shop at the Indianapolis Racquet Club. The expansive retail center, with windows overlooking the indoor courts, holds everything you can think of and then some, from professionals who will restring your racquet while you wait to Sponge Bob vibration dampeners for young Roddicks and Williamses. 8249 Dean Rd., 849-2531.

Indoor Rock Climbing
With walls suitable for all skill levels and, for experienced solo climbers, the opportunity to go “bouldering”—free climbing, without a harness or rope—Castleton’s Climb Time Indy looks like a human ant farm. Holds are changed out regularly, which keeps frequent climbers on their toes (and fingertips). But what really sets this gym apart is its attentive and uber-friendly staff who make guests feel welcome, even the neophytes who show up without requisite gear, granola, or Hacky Sack. 8750 Corporation Dr., 596-3330, climbtimeindy.com.

Uncoventional Workout
Lindsey Truesdel wants every woman to get in touch with her inner vixen when she teaches her weekly Confident Woman of Indy pole-dancing classes. After an hour of flipping and spinning around the commercial-grade poles installed in her home studio, you can burn more than 400 calories, says Truesdel. Class size tops out at eight, and no visitors are allowed. 727-2716, cwofindy.com.

Vintage Bikes
Knife’s Edge Rat Rods & Vintage Bicycles, the newest (and quite possibly coolest) bicycle company in town, combs city streets and estate sales for classic bikes before cleaning off the rust, reupholstering cushions, and replacing missing parts. Once that’s all done, they can put you into the cruising seat for a steal. myspace.com/knifesedgeratrods.