Archive for Indiana

Photos from Indiana and Illinois

Posted by Andrew on July 13th, 2009 - 1 Comment...  

I had a great time riding in IN and IL - good weather, met some great people, and had a blast riding/camping with Jerry and Kris for a few nights. They were the only other long-distance bikers I met before skipping ahead to Minot, ND. I ran into a few people doing week-long trips, weekends, or just out for a day, but nobody else headed cross country. When I arrived in ND I met people 10 minutes after I left the train station, and I continue to see people every day. During my 60 miles from Malta, MT to Chester, MT today, I spotted 8 bikers going east (with the wind).

View IN photos on flickr…

View IL photos on flickr…

ArrayWow, it's flat out here
view on flickr»

ArrayWelcome to Illinois
view on flickr»

Almost 1500 Miles: Things I’ve Learned

Posted by Andrew on June 27th, 2009 - 3 Comments...  

  1. Bugs in the midwest appear to be tougher than east-coast bugs.  On a fairly regular basis, they manage to land on me and wander around while I’m riding.  Doing my part to get rid of a few - I must have inhaled about a dozen yesterday.
  2. Don’t clip one foot into the pedals and push yourself on a wet street.  Your foot will slip on a manhole cover, and you will be sorry.
  3. I am in John Deere country.  The signs, t-shirts, shorts, hats, flags, and bumperstickers tell me so every day.  I rode by a house with a Craftsman lawnmower (ride-on, of course), and a Case tractor outside - I would be willing to bet that he has no friends.
  4. Don’t steer off the road when waving to tractors, old people, little kids, or critters on the side of the road.  I waved to a family of beavers back in OH; I had been waving to tractors all day long, and it seemed like a logical thing to do.  One of them hissed at me - I hope someone makes a hat out of him.
  5. We grow an absolutely absurd amount of corn in this country.  The tallest I’ve seen is only only about 5 feet, so I can see that the fields go on forever.  First it was wheat, corn, and soybeans, then just corn and soybeans, now it’s almost all corn

Cruising on through Illinois today, and I’ll enter Iowa tomorrow.  As soon as I enter Iowa, I’ll turn north and head up to Minnesota.  I have some route changes in the works, which I’ll write more about tomorrow.  Does anyone have anything good to say about North Dakota?

Breakfast!

Posted by Andrew on June 27th, 2009 - 2 Comments...  

I’m really enjoying breakfast lately…  I stopped at “The Donut Shop” in Huron, OH for my 2nd breakfast and chatted with 6 older guys for a while.  Small shop, no tables, just one long looping counter with stools, half of which were occupied.  The questions started about 2 seconds after I sat down and came simultaneously from all directions.  I managed to hold conversations about saddles, bike frames, camping, and someone’s son-in-law from Cornell that rides a fancy Italian bike - and eat my large muffin at the same time.  While all of this was going on, I was promptly announced to anyone that walked in the door, “Hey Joe, this guy’s riding out to Oregon!” which, of course, kept the conversation moving along pretty well.  I left when the conversation switched to fenceposts - someone’s wife is very particular about the height of the fenceposts, apparently to within the half-inch.

Topped by breakfast a few days later in Monroeville, IN at the Pour House…  I met up with 2 other cross-country bikers, Jerry and Kris, also headed west, and we “camped” out at the pavillion in town.  Monroeville has a fantastic air-conditioned community builing with a shower, washer, dryer, and ample fridge space.  Great place to clean up, wash some clothes, and relax for an evening - thank you Monroeville!  On our way back from dinner, we asked everyone we passed for a breakfast recommendation.  The votes were split between the 3 restaurants in town (Kickin’ Chicken, Pour House, and White Dove), so we went back to the Pour House - dinner was good, so it was worth a try for breakfast. 

I arrived a few minutes late, just as Dan, the cook, brought out a plate of poached eggs for Jerry.  “I hope these are OK, I’ve never made poached eggs before, so I ran down the street to my Grandma’s house to ask her what to do.  She sent me back with her egg-poaching pan.”  Now that’s service!  Grandma stopped by a few minutes later to check on the eggs - I’ve got a picture of myself, Jerry, Kris, Dan, and Grandma, will post it next week sometime.  The pancakes were enormous (Dan made me an extra one because I looked hungry), and my side order of sausage turned out to be two quater-pound patties.  No real maple syrup around - the fake stuff has corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, and I think it had plain old sugar too.

Heat, headwinds, bike’s holding up well!

Posted by Andrew on June 25th, 2009 - No Comments;  

Wow, it’s hot outside - I can feel the heat radiating off of the road.  The breeze helps, but it would help more if it wasn’t blowing straight at me.  I really can’t complain though, it’s the first steady headwind I’ve had so far, and it’s not horrible.  Takes my 16-17 mph cruising speed down to 11-12, and I’m certainly eating and drinking more.  It’s still flat, and I often ride 10+ miles in a straight line, so it’s easy to settle into a constant rhythm.

Notes about the bike: So far, so good.  Still on my first set of tires, only 1 flat, and no odd creaks, rattles, or parts falling off.  I cleaned my chain really well in Schenectady, NY, and I just wipe it off with a paper towel once a day, and oil it every few days to keep it nice and quiet.  I swapped saddles just before I left - I’m riding a Selle SMP Glider, and I love it, although it is very hard.  Still getting used to it, but I’m glad I chose it overall.  I’d rather deal with  sore tailbones than any other problems.

I’ve got plenty to write, but libraries are few and far between right now!  Will write more soon!