life goes on?

Brian’s description over breakfast of his panicked late night discovery of the rubber snake in his tent made me realize that I wear my heart smack dab in the middle of my sleeve. I was unable to contain my glee, and he guessed straight away that it was me. While I may have a future in law, I certainly don’t have a hope for poker.

Today’s ride was another short one as we covered the 61 miles from New Waterford, Ohio to Washington, Pennsylvania. Again, I rode with Caitlin for most of the day (we're becoming quite the riding buddies!) and we stopped ,after the first check point, for a second cup of coffee (it seems like I can’t make it without one these days!).

We crossed from Ohio into Pennsylvania today, and the changes were noticeable. The road quality improved (hello wide shoulders! :o)), but the flat lands were no more as big, rolling hills took their place; our steepest grade today was 15%, and it’s only supposed to get hillier as the week goes on. Fortunately, Rich has provided me, just in the nick of time, with the intellectual ammo I need to justify going down hills fast. As it turns out, going slowly down hills by having on the brakes the entire time can be very dangerous because it can cause the rims to overheat which can cause the tire to blow out. And the faster your wheels are going, the more inertia you have, and the more difficult you are to tip over -- kind of like a gyroscope. As such, I went 39 miles per hour today – yeehaw! Also fortunately, Rich has provided me with some good motivational music for riding up hills (I think he was fearing I'd become more insistent with my requests that he sing me a motivational song, and that he should nip that in the bud by giving me some songs from his computer to put on my iPod).

Many of the towns in this area have International names. We rode through East Palestine, Calcutta and Glasgow, and we saw signs pointing to Lisbon and Paris.

We didn’t want to make the same mistake as the previous day (ending up at a campground in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do all afternoon), so we stopped at a little dive bar several miles out from camp. We sat at the counter sipping cokes (kindly paid for by one of the bar patrons [I am on fire!]) and asked the bar tender what we should do / see in the area. She flatly informed us “there’s nothing to do around here”.

A list of banned patrons hung on the wall, and I commented that there were a lot of women on the list. I asked about what they’d done to make it on the list, and the bar tender started telling stories. Lynn slapped a girl, Deborah threw an ash tray at a man’s head, and the list of similarly appalling behaviour went on. The bar tender shook her head and said that a lot of people around there were trouble.
We didn’t spend too long at the bar and gave up on finding anything eventful to do nearby, so we headed to our stopping point for the day at the Whispering Pines Family Campground. Very happily, they did have a swimming pool, so we spent the afternoon swimming and laying in the sun.

For dinner, a delicious meal of chicken, vegetables, salad and cookies was catered at campground.

Also, another excerpt from Daria’s blog (what would I do without her?) about the nuclear power plant we passed by today…
After we crossed the Pennsylvania border, we headed east along the Ohio River and crossed over the river near the town of Midland. We rode past the two power plants that were generating the steam that I saw from Ohio. Both plants are located on the river and are operated by FirstEnergy Corp. The nuclear power plant is the Beaver Valley Power Station, which has two water reactors. The coal fired plant is the Bruce Mansfield Plant, which is FirstEnergy’s largest coal-fired power plant. They have three 800 megawatt units that burn 21,000-22,000 tons of coal per day when all three units are in operation.


Today we left behind the state of Ohio and the month of July. I am pleased about neither, as they both indicate our trip is drawing to an end. It's been such an amazing experience that I can't really imagine life where I don't wake up and ride a bicycle with my buddies each day. In fact, I can't really imagine my life at all as I'm not sure if my UK visa application will be approved and if I will be employed. I'm starting to panic about the whole business, as the end of our bicycle trip is a mere 6 days away, and I don't actually have the foggiest idea what I'm doing next in life! Perhaps it's time to start thinking about a plan B?? OR perhaps when we hit the east coast, I'll just turn right, head south, and carry on. The southern states, Mexico, Central America, and then South America should keep me occupied for a while... right? :o)

my future in law

To say that it was foggy when we left Burton would be the understatement of the year. It was so foggy, in fact, that several riders decided to wait it out rather than try and tackle the overzealous humidity.



A few notes from Daria on today...
We headed out of Burton and rode into Middlefield, one of the largest Amish communities in the world. It was a quiet Saturday morning and there wasn’t much car or buggy traffic. It was an easy day of riding today, only about 60 miles, not too hilly and no wind issues. The fog kept the temperature quite pleasant.

I rode the morning’s misty ride with Caitlin, and about 20 miles in, we stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast sandwich and coffee. A lady eating there saw our jerseys that have the route map on it and asked us about our trip. Once we told her what we were doing, she handed us each $5 – without provocation! Seriously… law school, here I come.

Interestingly, I have seen a lot of signs advertising on the road side that maple syrup is for sale – it’s news to me that maple syrup is produced in Ohio.

Today’s ride was pretty easy at only 60 miles, and we arrived at the campground quite early. In hind sight, we should probably have stopped at the really cute town of Columbiana that we passed through about 12 miles back.

When we got to the campground, things looked a bit shady. There was a charred building and a woman sitting in a lawn chair outside of a trailer with a beer in hand. She was the campground manager and informed us that the campground office had burned down a few weeks ago. Also, the water was out and would be for several hours. It was really hot out, and despite the area being pretty remote, Caitlin and I decided to go exploring. It was early in the afternoon, and we didn’t have anything better to do.

We went begging for shelter at a local church, and they said they’d call us back. Then we went a mile back up the road to an Amish sandwich shop, got snacks, and just hung out inside enjoying the air conditioning. We went back to the campground and more riders had arrived by then and were just lazing around waiting for the water to be turned back on.

We had pizza and salad for dinner. I had passed by a small green rubber (don’t worry, I ensured this before picking it up) snake on the road today, and couldn’t resist stopping for it. Brian had previously disclosed his extreme fear of snakes, so naturally, his was the tent in which I chose to hide the snake. He wouldn’t leave his tent, so I had to enlist James’ help to distract him. James requested a “cone of silence” (his words, not mine :o)) conversation with Brian and got him away from the tent long enough for me to hide it. We weren’t able to see his reaction immediately because I hid it in such a way that he wouldn’t see it right away – hopefully it would be more like the middle of the night when he noticed it. :o)

Oh, on a random note... seriously, this is the most exciting thing to have happened in this town since 1985? They should really get out and do a bit more in Mineral Ridge!

break in burton

I woke up pretty early to make sure that I was downtown in time for my fingerprint appointment. As the guy took my fingerprints and asked me about my summer and I told them of my travels so far, the secretary overheard us and handed me $5 as I left. Seriously… I don’t even have to try anymore. People are just throwing money at me… I don’t know what changed!!

After my fingerprints, I went back to Brian’s house and slept for several more hours. I woke up to an amazing home-cooked breakfast and we spent much of the day just hanging out and relaxing… it was perfect. Brian’s family took several of the other bikers downtown to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I ran errands to get my visa application ready to send off – I’d gotten a lot of stuff done, but there are still a few things I need to get in order before I can send in the application.

I drove back to Burton and left the rental car at the agreed location. Geena and I ate dinner at a diner in town that was decorated with records and license plates hanging all over the wall. It had a juke box and served burgers and the like. I then stayed at the Goodwin Bed & Breakfast with Caitlin and Geena, and it was amazing to again sleep in a bed! I have been completely spoiled on this rest day! :o)

I didn’t get to see much of Burton as I was at Brian’s family’s for much of the time, but a just a snippet about it taken from Daria’s blog:
Burton is a delightful small town with a population of 1,450. A sizable percentage of the population is Amish. The center of town features a town square patterned after the village greens of New England.

city riding

I have not been impressed by Ohio’s roads. Haven’t they ever heard of shoulders? Haven’t they ever heard of repairing potholes? Shirley Franklin, a mayoral candidate in Atlanta, ran on the platform that she’d go out and personally fix a pot hole if it was reported and left unrepaired – and she won! She’s no longer the mayor in Atlanta, but I think that she may have a bright political future ahead of her in Ohio if she takes a similar approach.

It rained throughout the morning as I rode along with Kasey, Brandon, and Geena eastward along the southern bank of Lake Erie.



There was one bridge that was slippery in particular and had a tricky expansion joint at an angle that managed to catch Brian’s and Kat’s front wheels, and they both took a tumble on the bridge.

Our first rest stop of the day was near a cute farmer’s market / grocers / bakery and several of the bicyclers pooled their money together to buy boxes of pastries that, when paired with a cup of (free!) coffee the market provided, made for an excellent second breakfast.

Throughout the trip, I’ve kind of been hoping that someone would be waiting along the roadside with signs and pom poms cheering for us. Marathoners get these things, and I’ve been quite jealous. I mean, I don’t want it all day, every day, but I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to have just once throughout this trip. Unbeknownst to me, today would be that day! Brian’s family lives in a suburb of Cleveland, so as we rode into Cleveland today, they came out and waited in lawn chairs alongside the road for us with noisemakers, pom poms, posters. As we biked by, they yelled and cheered like we were great heroes and gave us Gatorade and energy bars. It was glorious and everything I imagined it would be. :o)

Thankfully we went into Cleveland in high spirits because the ride through Cleveland was certainly deflating. It was the first major city we’d cycled through on the trip, and it was less than fun. It seems the Cleveland drivers aren’t that keen on bicyclers because – though no driver has honked / yelled at me on the trip thus far, four separate drivers yelled at me in Cleveland. Somehow, I think that our route through Cleveland did not showcase its finest side. Also, I think that I focused all of my energy on avoiding potholes, not getting run over, and trying to avoid getting hit by the many cars, that I had no brain power left to sort out my directions, so I was perpetually lost in Cleveland.

Many of the riders have demonstrated their excellent powers of persuasion throughout the trip. People will be hand them donations for the American Lung Association right and left. They’ll go out for coffee and come back having not spent a dime. Jessica even managed to flag down the Schwann ice cream truck (that delivers to grocery stores) and convinced the driver to give her ice cream off the truck! I, however, have been a ridiculous failure at talking anyone into anything. I'll smile, tell someone what we’re up to, imply that charity would be appreciated, (and occasionally even throw in a bat of the eyelashes when appropriate), and hope for the best – and then sigh as they roll their eyes and charge me the full amount.

I had more or less given up on ever successfully persuading anyone to do anything, but today I just had to give it a try. The last barrier that stood between me and submitting my UK work visa application is getting my fingerprints taken. Though you’d imagine this could be done at any police station, the UK Border Agency is quite picky and only has a limited number of (very busy) pre-approved centres for this task. The only location within three states that had an open appointment tomorrow (our rest day) was in Buffalo, New York. It was over three hours away by car, which meant that I’d have to rent a car and spend seven hours on my very treasured rest day driving about –- a less than exciting prospect. However, there was an authorized fingerprinting centre right in Cleveland, near where we were staying on our rest day. Unfortunately, they were completely booked. Our route took us right by the building, and it just seemed silly to not stop by and ask if they could squeeze me in.

I worked on my speech all morning. I consulted the best beggars of the group and asked for advice. By the time I cycled by the Federal Building in downtown Cleveland, I felt I was as ready as I was going to be for my biggest begging test yet. I did have the tiny problem that I’d failed to bring a decent lock, and didn’t feel great about leaving my bike locked with my dinky little lock in downtown Cleveland. So I walked into the building with my bike hoping that I’d be able to keep it with me or lean it in the hall while I asked about getting fingerprinted, and saw at once that it was one of those high security types of places with guards, a bag scanner, and metal detectors. I knew straight away that I wouldn’t be going anywhere with my bicycle, but before I could even turn around to take it back outside, a guard was already barking at me that bicycles couldn’t be inside the building. I cringed at the thought of leaving my beloved bicycle (who has been my faithful and constant companion these many hours throughout the summer) unattended with only a wee little lock to protect him from the cold, cruel world of Cleveland (can you tell I didn’t really like it there? :o)); however, I knew that it was a risk I must take. So I locked my bicycle up to some bike racks just outside the building and turned back in.

I must have looked distressed, fearful, and grumpy (and I was all three) because the security guard asked me if I was OK. I told him I was and made my way to the fingerprinting centre. I took Geena’s advice (Geena is one of the more skilled beggars), smiled, made eye contact with the lady at reception, and presented my request. She made some calls and said that they could fit me in if I came just before 8 am tomorrow. I gasped and looked around me. Surely she wasn’t talking to me. Surely I had not just successfully persuaded someone to do something… especially not something like this. The government-y types and all of their rules and rigamarole – I didn’t actually expect them to budge! But it seems to have indeed occurred, and I practically skipped out of the place. On my way out of the building, I thanked the security guard for asking about me and told him my day had just gotten a lot better, and said sorry that I’d been grumpy.

I was hoping that this elation would be enough to propel me through the remainder of my ride through Cleveland, but the second half of my journey through Cleveland was the same as my first half -- miserable! I ran into Eric (despite being a very fast rider, he somehow seems to always manage to end up at the rear of the pack -- I asked him about it, and at least part of the explanation is that he sometimes pulls over on the side of the road for naps (?!)) and we rode the rest of the way together, but talking with someone seemed to be too much for my already addled mind. Any time I talked, I missed a turn / made us lost again. We tried one approach where one of us would talk while the other would be in charge of directions. Seems like it would work, right? It didn’t. In particular, there was one really big hill that we went down, and we realized only when we’d reached the bottom that we had missed a turn at the top of the hill. Before we both started crying at the thought of going all the way back up, I consulted the map on my phone and realized we could get back on course without having to trek back up the massive hill. Phew, major crisis averted. I think we were both so tired, burnt out, and ready for a rest day at that point, laying down on the side of the road and hoping for rescue would have been more preferable than going back up that hill.

At long, long last we made it outside of Cleveland and now all that stood between us and our rest day in Burton, Ohio was 20 miles. The rest of Ohio had been flat, so I assumed that it would be a flat 20 miles. That was a mistake. It was up and down and up and down and up and down again through the rolling hills of eastern Ohio that heralded our approach to the Appalachian mountain range. We weren’t moving along as quickly as we’d hoped, and I started to realize that it didn’t look like I was going to make it to Burton before the rental car store closed. And if I didn’t get the rental car that night, I wouldn’t be able to make it to my (miraculously achieved) 8 am fingerprinting appointment in Cleveland. I called the guy from Enterprise from my bike, and begged – for the second time that day – for him to wait for me. He said “It sounds really windy…” and it opened up the door for me to explain that I was calling from my bike (I may have mentioned that I was biking across America for charity) and was pedalling my hardest to get to him as quickly as possible. It seems that was just the right card to play, because not only did he say he’d stay open a bit late, he said that he would come and pick me up from our campsite!! Man, I am really on a roll with this begging business – I believe I may have a great future in law ahead of me. :o)

Josh from Enterprise was waiting at the campground in Burton when I arrived, and on the journey back to Enterprise, we managed to swap life stories. He was your classic middle American fellow -- young, had taken over the family business, married his high school sweetheart, and they were expecting their first child. He also very kindly gave me his own personal GPS (which normally you have to pay for), and told me to just leave it at the campground when we left to save me having to return it and he’d come and get it later. Greatest customer service experience ever! If you’re ever in Chardon, Ohio and find yourself in need of a rental car, I’d highly recommend the Enterprise there. And ask for Josh.

One of the riders, Brian, invited all of the younger bicyclers to stay over at his family's house nearby. I went back to the campground in my shiny blue Ford Focus to pick up my bags and Eric, who was going to ride over to Brian’s with me.

Prior to receiving Brian’s invitation to stay over, Caitlin and Geena had booked a room in a bed & breakfast nearby (it was our first rest day in a campground, and no one was so keen on the idea of spending a whole day sitting around in the sun). However, they were now trying to get out of the bed & breakfast so they could come over to Brian’s instead. I drove over to the B&B where Caitlin was standing outside looking quite distressed. Geena went inside to try and talk the lady at the B&B into letting them out of that night’s reservation while still keeping the next night’s reservation – a tricky matter indeed. Caitlin looked really upset, and I wasn’t sure what to do – I am a failure at situations where someone is upset and I’m supposed to be comforting. After debating for a moment what to do, I decided to go and talk to her and see if she’s okay. As I walked up, she grabbed me and threw her head on my shoulder. I hugged her back and racked my mind for something appropriately comforting to say. She started to shake and I was quite distressed that the situation was going from bad to worse -- I didn’t know what to do when she was sad, and I certainly didn’t know what to do now that she was crying! But then I heard a snicker and realized that the shaking was due to laughing, not crying. She said “Be still and pretend to comfort me – Geena’s inside telling the lady that I’m having a family emergency that requires us to stay somewhere else tonight, so I have to look really sad.” Thank goodness that I wasn’t facing the inside of the house where the b&b owner couldn’t see me because I just started cracking up and would have completely given away their ruse. I stood there hugging and pretending to comfort Caitlin until Geena came out, with mission accomplished, and we all got in the car and drove away laughing hysterically.

An hour later, we’d arrived in Columbus Heights, Ohio at Brian’s childhood home. His family was so hospitable and amazing! They grilled out and made us an amazing dinner, bought us drinks, let us take showers (with real towels!!) there, blew up air mattresses for us to sleep on, and let us do laundry there. And we got to be in a real house, play with real dogs, and they made a fire in the fire pit in the backyard and we sat around and roasted marshmallows. It was GLORIOUS!

We’d made it through our longest stretch without a break -- 7 days – and the amazing night at the Strahine’s made it all worthwhile.

(roller) coasting

Today's ride was 90 miles to from Napoleon, Ohio to Sandusky, Ohio. Perhaps not surprisingly, we rode through more farmland.


When I got into Bowling Green at mile 25, I rode by a place called Grounds for Thought, a combo coffee shop and bookstore. I knew our first rest stop was just down the road, but there were several bikes parked outside, and I decided to stop there as well for a second cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Normally, we stop for breaks and snacks in small groups, but somehow we all managed to end up at Grounds for Thought and had a nice little rest there.

I rode for most of the day with Kathleen and Caitlin and had all sorts of good conversations. We stopped at a gas station for a drink, and a man in the parking lot asked about all the bicyclers he'd seen coming by and what we were all up to. After we told him, he went back to his truck and brought back a bag of kettle corn. Apparently, he was Papa of Nana & Papa's Kettle Corn. We waited until we got to Sandusky to get into it, but once we opened it, it was gone in no time flat -- it was absolutely amazing! If you're ever passing through Ohio, I'd definitely recommend seeking it out.

Later in the afternoon, I saw the sign below and thought "Well, you had me at 'ice cream'... but smiling's nice too." :o)


We went along pretty speedily through the afternoon as we had our sights set on Cedar Point, the massive amusement and roller coaster park located in Sandusky. I grew up going to Six Flags in Georgia, but Cedar Point puts Six Flags to shame. We were staying at the KOA Bayshore campground in Sandusky and shortly upon arriving discovered that we could rent these little (air conditioned!) cabins at the campground for only $16 -- and they sleep four! At $4 each, this was a no-brainer, so Kathleen, Geena, Caitlin, and I shared a cabin for the evening.

We then hopped on a shuttle to Cedar Point, and were able to get discounted "starlight" tickets which are available after 5 pm. We started with the Millennium Force, one of their biggest roller coasters, and waited in line for eons. But it was amazing and definitely worth it. I think Kathleen may not have agreed with me. I looked over during it, and her face was literally green (previously, I thought this only happened in cartoons, but that turns out not to be the case!).

After dinner, we found a Chick-fil-A, and I ate it for the first time since arriving back in America. Every bite was as glorious as I remembered. Even Brian, who's usually a vegetarian, understood that Chick-fil-A was worth splurging for. We didn't stay too long at Cedar Point -- though definitely long enough to partake in a funnel cake -- and headed back to our lovely air conditioned cabin for an amazingly restful night's sleep.

the flattest section of the big ride after the first 35 miles of small rollers

That's how today's ride was described on our cue sheet. Today's ride was just 70 miles in total, so if 35 of them are rolling hills, well call me crazy, but calling today the flattest day seems a bit of a misnomer.

The Park Association provided us with a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and coffee. And the cue sheet was right -- the first 35 miles of today's ride were up and down and up and down. It wasn't so bad though, and we made it to lunch by 10:30. The last 35 miles went by quickly as I sped through them with Jim and Eric, playing guessing games all the while.

During today's ride, we left Indiana and entered Ohio, but the scenery -- soy bean and corn farms -- stayed about the same. We arrived in our destination for the day -- Napoleon, Ohio -- by noon and weren't particularly sure what to do with ourselves. We spent a bit of time at the library using the computers, and I filled out some of the forms I need for my UK work visa application.

We hung out at the camp ground most of the afternoon, and I happily managed to set up my tent under a shelter, so if I didn't have to bother with the miserable rain fly. Now this is my kind of camping. :o)

An older local man, Carl, came over to chat and informed us that we were currently located in the flattest county in Ohio, and he seemed to be quite proud of the fact. (Everyone's got to have some claim to fame, right?) Carl was born in Napoleon, Ohio and has lived here for all of his life.

Dinner was catered at camp, and was a southern classic -– fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, rolls, scalloped potatoes, green beans, lemonade, and strawberry short cake. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. :o)

I took advantage of the short riding day to get some extra sleep and go to bed early. While today wasn't difficult, we're in the midst of a seven-day stretch without a rest day, which is enough to make a body tired!

zigging and zagging

We had a buffet style breakfast at the Valparaiso University Cafeteria, and it requires all of my willpower not to dive in to the pans of food and eat a whole lot. If I were to give in to this temptation, I'd have a seriously difficult time bicycling, so I try to keep breakfasts pretty small so I won't be too full to bike. On days with hot breakfasts like this, it's very difficult though!

Due to the way we had to build up the outside of my right cycling shoe so that my legs would be the same length, it's rather difficult to actually walk in that shoes. So I usually carry my flip flops with me to walk in and put on my cycling shoes only when I'm getting on the bike. So, as per usual, I went to breakfast in my flip flops and carried my socks and cycling shoes to breakfast with me. After breakfast when I went to put on my cycling shoes, I realized that I had somehow lost a sock on the way to breakfast. I cycled back along the path between the dorm and cafeteria in search of it, but to no avail. So I cycled the day looking like a complete goofball with just a single sock on.

Today was our second longest day at 109 miles, but it actually wasn't all that bad. Somewhere along the line here, things have gone from really difficult -- I would wake up each day pondering if I'd live to see the end of it -- to really amazing -- I now wake up each day looking forward to another adventure, day of cycling, and hanging out with my new found friends. It's been an amazing trip, and it's starting to dawn on me that it's not too long before it all ends. Perhaps if I don't think about that, it won't actually end? Denial is at least worth a try, right?

Today I rode with Kenny and Kathleen for most of the day, and we had a lot of fun. In the morning, we rode along through the sunny Indiana country side singing songs and telling our favorite jokes. I think my favorite was one that Kenny told...
Q: What's a pig's favorite karate move?
A: Pork chop
... which obviously isn't that funny on its own, but it was the way Kenny told it --like it was the most funny thing in the world, and the karate chop hand motion he managed to pull off while on his bike, and how hard he laughed about it -- that made it hilarious. It was one of those jokes where you weren't sure if you were laughing at the joke, or at the one telling the joke, but you just knew that you were laughing.

We also observed a new feature on our cue sheet today -- an upcoming "zig zag". Really it was just a few bends in the road, but we spotted it at mile 69.9 on the cue sheet, and eagerly anticipated it throughout the day. When we got there, we threw our hands in the air (ok, those of us who were capable of riding without hands -- I decline to state whether present company is capable) and screamed as we rode along the zig zag, like we were riding the world's fastest roller coaster. Much to our delight, there was also a zig zag at mile 77.4, and we repeated the same procedure.

We road through more farm land today (again, mostly soy beans and corn from what I can tell), and it made for a beautiful ride. We also passed through several other Amish and Mennonite communities, and we decided that on the scale of exciting things in our lives, getting the Amish riding by in carriages to wave is more exciting than getting a train to honk. The buggies move along fairly slowly, about 10 miles an hour, and we're able to pass by them, which is always a nice ego boost. :o) Interestingly, the buggies do have license plates.


Today we passed a road called Smilax, which naturally struck me as a combination of the words "smile" and "relax". I've decided smilaxing is my new life philosophy. :o) <-- That only encompasses the half of it, I'll have to think on what a relaxing smiley face would look like!

A few hours after lunch, we stopped at the Charlie’s Sweet Corn food stand by the side of the road and had a snack of blueberries there. We met an interesting character who worked there, a little old man, who started telling us about how America had, in fact, lost the war with England in the American revolution. The way he tells it, England was fighting to get rid of America, but we didn't want to take it. America lost, so the Americans over here had to keep it. I suppose that is one interpretation of those events... I got the feeling this fellow had an interesting interpretation of a lot of things.

About 12 miles out from our final destination for the day, we spotted the Humpty Dumpty Ice Cream Parlour in Wolcottville, Indiana. There simply was no resisting. Brian, Kat, Daria, and I sat around for a good amount of time, sampling quite a few of their of their many ice cream flavors. The sign they had on the wall raises a good point...


As we rode into Kendallville, I stopped at a drug store because I had an idea. I've been feeling quite masculine lately -- I spit, I eat bugs, I wee in the woods, I sweat all day, and I generally smell like a rotten fish. This summer, I am, for all intents and purposes, a boy. So, in a fit of feminine rebellion, I decided to buy red fingernail polish. I can't do much about all of the manly behavior, but I figured the least I could do is continue to do all those things while having red fingernails. When we got into camp, I painted my fingernails and toenails red, and I think I must have been on to something, because six other girls on the trip came up and asked if they could borrow it to paint their nails too. By the end of the night, there were six of us running around with painted nails. I'm feeling much better about myself now. :o)

We crossed into our final time zone, the Eastern time zone, today which means that we lost an hour. We camped at the Bixler Lake Park in Kendallville, and the Park Association provided a dinner of BBQ pork sandwiches with all the fixins'. It hasn't been too hot at nights lately, which has made for comfortable camping and restful nights.

Also, a few more excerpts from Daria's blog (she did so much great research and documentation that I'm snagging a bit [with permission of course :o)]) about today's ride...

Apparently, Indiana has an interesting history regarding its time zones. Although the Standard Time Act placed Indiana in the Central time zone in 1918, there have been disputes about what was considered the “official time” within the state since then. Currently, the state is split into two time zones, with the both the far northeastern corner (where we started our day) and the southeastern corner in the Central time zone. The rest of the state is in the Eastern time zone.

The Interstate Commerce Commission divided Indiana between the Eastern and Central time zones in 1961, but the time zone line has not been consistently observed. The state’s counties varied in observing different time zones in the 1960s and 1970s. In January 2006, the US Department of Transportation announced a rule that changed the clock for eight of 17 Indiana counties seeking to move to the Central Standard Time. Five of those counties returned to the Eastern time zone in November 2007. At that point, 80 of Indiana's 92 counties were in the Eastern time zone, while the other 12 were in the Central time zone. However, a bill was approved by the Indiana House committee in January 2008 for a referendum to allow residents of any county located near the Eastern-Central boundary to vote the time they wanted to observe. It is likely that the Indiana time zone issues will continue in the future. Many argue that the entire state should move to the Central time zone. I would vote for that today as riding 110 miles and losing an hour makes for a very long day.


I rode by a field of Longhorn cattle, not something I expected to see in Indiana. Apparently, they have been there for quite a while, over 150 years, so they are clearly there to stay. It was the home of Plainview Longhorns, a family-owned and operated forage producer and cattle breeder with an unmatched reputation for providing the highest quality, dry hay products and breeding cattle to the best bulls in the industry. They are a high-profile name in the agriculture community for their commitment to the production of organic hay products, and in the cattle industry for top-quality beef. They have also been featured in the Smithsonian Magazine as a Century Farm.

the golden arches

Again, we packed up our camping gear in the rain today, and the rain stuck with us throughout most of the day. After a brief respite from the rain, the winds picked up, lightning flashed around us, and the air took on an eerie feel. The winds were blowing so hard that it was difficult to ride -- they were pushing us around like we were little toys. I was riding with Kim and Charlie, and we made a plan to stop at the next house or barn (though these were few and far between) and ask for shelter. Before we could find somewhere, the bottom fell out of the sky and the rain started coming down in sheets. It was difficult to see the road ahead of us and it felt like the wind was going to pick us up and carry us away. We knew we had to get off the road, but couldn't see anywhere to go. Just as we crested the next hill, we could see gleaming gold in the distance. It was the arches of McDonald's that rose out of nowhere as a shining beacon of hope in the distance. Never have I been so excited to see those Golden Arches! We quickly covered the ground between us and McDonald's, nearly slipping on a bridge expansion joint on a rain-covered bridge, but making it safely to shelter in one piece.

It seems we were not the only ones who had that idea. About ten other riders were already in McDonald's, and the other riders trickled in after us over the next minutes. In a team effort, we managed to transform the tidy restaurant into a swampland as drops of water trickled off of our soaked clothing. The rain didn't let up, so we made ourselves right at home, much to the chagrin of the McDonald's staff, and settled in to a second breakfast and kept the lattes coming over the next hours. Someone produced a set of cards, and once we got into a good game of gin rummy, we were more or less glued to our seats. I think we were at McDonald's for at least two hours.

At last the rain did slow (though didn't stop), and we managed to pry ourselves away from our leisurely breakfast and card game. Sarah and I rode together until lunch. Most days we have sandwich-y stuff for lunch -- my recent favorite has been nutella and almond butter on a graham cracker. However, sometimes we have dinner left overs that are put out as well, and any variety is a treat, so doing things like eating a potato out of your hand like an apple starts to become not only a reasonable, but an excellent idea. Today my lunch consisted of a potato, corn on the cob, and string cheese. Now I know that may not sound like much to be excited about to you, but after your body has been working so hard, all food seems glorious. Throughout the trip, I was really pleased with all the food -- it's hard to tell if that's because I was so tired and ravenous that roasted frog liver would seem amazing, or if the food was actually amazing. Either way, I was always quite happy with it.

I know we were staying at the dorms of Valparaiso University that evening and was excited about the time indoors, so I sped through the afternoon alone to get there and maximize the luxury time indoors. Somewhere along the way today, we crossed into our 9^th state -- Indiana. Our time in Illinois was short, and we had rain every day, so I ended up with very few pictures from the Land of Lincoln. We travelled only through the Northeast corner of the state and saw mostly flat farmland with corn and soy beans.

And speaking of, the vast amount of soy beans we've seen growing across America makes me think they must be in everything! I expected to see lots of corn, but I wasn't expecting all the soy beans. It got me curious as to what they could all be used for, so I looked it up (thanks wikipedia), and it turns out they are used in most everything -- well, in most processed (animal and) people food products. In addition to tofu and soy milk, soy beans used as a cheap source of protein in animal food and pre-packaged meals. The U.S. is the world's largest producer of soy beans, and judging by the amount we've seen this summer, I believe it!

A bit more information on soy beans taken from Daria's blog:
We rode through more beautiful farm country and saw more corn and more soybeans. I expected to see a lot of corn fields on the BIG RIDE, but was not expecting to see so many soybean fields. Surprisingly, there are over 350,000 farms in the US producing soybeans, accounting for over half of the world’s soybean production. Soybeans are grown on almost 73 million acres of cropland. Roughly the same acreage is dedicated to corn.

I arrived at Valparaiso University to find that there was some sort of youth conference going on there as well, so I had to wade through this massive sea of boisterous teenagers to get anywhere. I guess I don't come into contact with too many teenagers these days, and I spent a little time just observing the hustle and bustle. It was an interesting reminder of the bizarre time in life known as the teenage years where you wear the most ridiculous things just because everyone else does, you wear braces, your body grows in odd, bursting spasms, you feel like an adult but generally behave and are treated like a kid, you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, you have to go to dances and pretend like you know how to dance, and cliques reign. I'm so glad those years are over. :o) In the evening, I got to do laundry, spend a bit of time cleaning my bicycle, and even catch the last bit of the Tour on the television.

fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.

When I "woke up" (though how can one wake up if they have never slept?) the next morning, it was still raining. And I had 106 miles between me and our destination for the day, Coal City, Illinois. I wanted nothing more than to be in a warm bed surrounded with blankets, eating soup, and napping all day long. It was at this point that I started scheming. How could I make this happen? The only way I saw was to get a hotel room for the day (though acquiring blankets and soup would take some additional work, this would at least provide a warm bed), but that meant I'd have to catch a cab 106 miles to meet up with the group for the next day's ride. This would cost a small fortune. Not seeing any other options, I managed to drag myself out of the puddle (yes, the one inside my tent) that I'd been lying in and shoved all of my wet belongings into my wet bags. I didn't even know what to do with my broken glasses.

Sometimes I'm a little bit fussy, but this morning I was really fussy. We were all huddled under this little overhang like sardines in a can to keep out of the rain while eating breakfast when Noel started to sing. Now I will probably look back on this trip and remember Noel's early morning serenades with fondness. However, I don't have the ability to look on it with anything but contempt in the moment, so I decided that sitting in the rain was preferable to being in a can with a singing sardine, so I went and sat out in the rain. I didn't talk to anyone all morning, because I know that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. And my talking would probably have been more like growling, so sitting by myself in the grass in the rain was probably a good place for me to be.

As we got our cue sheets and rode out into the wet world, I knocked on Rich's window and told him to go ahead and start preparing a pep talk -- it was going to be a pep-talk-required kind of day. I sulked through the first ten miles, but by the check point at mile 20, I seem to have snapped out of it. I rode with Geena and Caitlin for a bit, who always make me laugh, and talking with them and just telling someone about my ridiculous night made it better. When we got to the checkpoint in a gas station parking lot, Lynn told us that a bridge ahead was out, so we were going to have to take a detour around it. Rich was out working out the detour, so all the riders were hanging out in the gas station in the meantime. The time in the gas station was a glorious break from the wet, rainy morning (well at least for us -- I can't speak on behalf of the workers there who had twenty-some-odd soaking bikers descend upon their nice, (formerly) clean little store). It also proved to be an excellent time for a second (and OK, third) cup of coffee. I read a newspaper, caught up on world news (it was depressing as usual), joked with the other riders, and generally got into better spirits. Hooray, I was winning the battle against the tent already by not letting it ruin my day!

It did continue to rain for the rest of the day, but I rode with Kate Montana, and we turned the day into a game. We pretended like we were in the Tour de France (except that ours was the Tour de Squish since that was the noise our soaking shoes made with each turn of the pedals), and we got a certain amount of points for each rider that we passed. Points were awarded based on how far away the rider was (we'd set our sights on someone in the distance and race to catch them) and on how speed of a rider they were. We made our way through the day quite speedily in this manner.

We arrived at camp and headed straight for the lake in the campground, as the gear truck hadn't arrived yet, and promptly jumped in wearing all of our clothes. We had sandwiches in the campground for dinner along with locally grown corn on the cob (so sweet and delicious!) and boiled potatoes.

The rain had let up in the afternoon, so when we got to camp, I laid out all of my belongings, still soaked from the night before, to dry in the sun or I hung them up on a tree to hang dry. I spent an inordinate amount of time setting up my tent. I may roast alive going to bed (it was SO hot out and even more so with the rain fly on), but I'd be ready for anything Mother Nature could hurl at me that night!

And it's a good thing too because it did storm throughout the night yet again. Thankfully my rain fly was on (properly :o)), and I fared much better than the previous night. I didn't even crush or destroy any of my belongings -- things are looking up for me! :o)

camping failure

We woke up to rain. The pouring kind. Throughout breakfast at the university cafeteria, I kept eyeing the windows to see if it had stopped (one can hope, no?). It didn't stop. And it didn't look like it was going to anytime soon. So, off we went in the rainy mess of Madison morning rush hour.

It was raining so hard that it was difficult to see road signs, and we started out the day by making a wrong turn, but got back on track before going too far astray. I rode with different people throughout the day – mainly Kim, Kate, Daria, Brian, and Jim -- and it turns out that riding with people makes the day so much nicer. Silly books on tape... what was I thinking?

Late in the morning, the rain let up and we spent most of the day on county roads winding through the Wisconsin countryside. Surprisingly (I don't know why this is surprising really... I suppose I'd just never heard much about Wisconsin), it turns out that Wisconsin is an absolutely beautiful state, and I really enjoyed riding through it.


To give credit where credit is due... I took the above from Charlie's photos.


We did have to ride on a gravel road for a few miles today, but we took it slowly and made it through without any trouble. It seems that Jim was not so lucky. When we approached the end of the gravel bit, he was on the side of the road changing a flat tire. Unfortunately, it was not just the one -- both of his tires had managed to go flat at the same time! Several of us stopped to lend a hand and wait for him. A few minutes after we'd been sitting around there, a loud sound, not unlike a gunshot, rang through the air. Around the same, I felt a bit of a jolt, and looked down to see that the side of my rear tire had blown completely out. Thankfully, Charlton, the crew leader, was nearby with the gear truck and had a spare wheel that we put on to keep me going.

Lunch was later in the day today, which I prefer. That way, at lunch you can be assured that most of the day is behind you and you're on the home stretch. Unfortunately, a bit after lunch, I had my second flat of the day. Thankfully, I've had so many now that I've become a lot better at changing them quickly. A Big Ride alumni, Jim Andresen, who lives nearby set up the afternoon checkpoint for us and brought all sorts of amazing goodies, including watermelon and Dairy Queen blizzards! These were truly appreciated on a day as hot as today.

I had a nice ride throughout the afternoon with Kate and Daria, and we put the Beatles on my speakers -- riding through the amazing Wisconsin countryside with the Beatles songs blowing in the breeze is not a half bad way to spend an afternoon!

We're staying at a campground again tonight, and on the way into camp, we saw a little girl skid on some gravel while biking and fly over the handlebars. We helped clean her off and waited for her parents to arrive, and she'll be fine, but it was a good reminder to be careful when cycling.

We ate dinner as a group at a nearby pizza joint, Rock Bottom , and I had a nice post-dinner walk and talk with Kathleen.

Throughout this trip, you've seen how much difficulty I've had learning how to properly assemble my tent. However, I do think we've now moved past that stage and are actually getting on quite well these days. Unfortunately, there's now someone else I'm having some trouble with -- the rain fly. I know it's a sensible thing, but it just makes it so hot inside the tent -- like a little sauna. And who can sleep in a sauna? Not I, so I went to bed with the rain fly off (I did not see a single cloud in the sky and figured this would be fine) so that the breeze could blow through the screen of my tent.

It turns out, this was a mistake. I woke up sometime between midnight and 1 AM, approximately 5 seconds before it started to pour. I was disoriented, half blind (I couldn't find my glasses), and could not recall how to work my rain fly. It started to rain. I had a choice to make -- I could either work out how to put the rain fly on properly (and let everything inside my tent get drenched in the meantime), or I could just throw the rain fly on and hope for the best. I chose the latter. It did not work out well for me. I managed to put the rain fly on both upside down and backwards -- a truly special thing indeed. I also managed to get completely drenched in the process, and by the time I crawled inside the rain fly and squirmed around the tiny gap between the tent and rain fly to get to the tent door, I realized that everything inside the tent was wet as well. It seems that rain flies do not work as well upside down, and throughout the night, the rain dripped steadily into my tent. Unfortunately, it was too late to rectify the error as it was raining so hard that taking the rain fly off, even for a moment, to flip it around the right way, was not an option.

One might think I'd been ridiculous enough for one night, but, in fact, I was just beginning. I noted that the rain was coming in more around the edges of the tent, so I tried to push together and pile up everything in the middle of the tent. In the process, I managed to crush my (prescription) eye glasses (which I had still never managed to find throughout this whole mess). I then realized I'd left my bicycle shoes and (non-water-resistant) speakers outside hanging on my bicycle. If the night were a contest to see how many things one could destroy in a single night, I feel certain I would have won. If you'd let a tasmanian devil loose in my tent, I'm convinced he could not have done more damage than I did that night.

I lied there soaking in a puddle throughout the rest of the night staring at the ceiling of my tent and seething. My tent may have won the battle, but I would win the war. And yes, it is now a war.

madison

We were in the gloriously air conditioned dorms at the University of Wisconsin Madison for today's rest day. And it was just one of those days where everything went right.

I walked outside in the morning with a list of things to buy -- spare tire tubes, chamois butter, hair conditioner, snacks for dinner (I somehow always manage to end up at the end of rest days with no food in the dorm but too tired to go back out for dinner), and coffee -- and managed to find shops for all of them within a two block radius of the dorm. While running errands, I ran into Kathleen who said she had an extra bottle of conditioner I could have. I then ran into James who said that he had an extra bottle of chamois butter I could have. The bicycle tubes were on sale, and the coffee was good. It was an excellent start to the day. :o)

While I gave my bicycle a little bath, I decided that I should spent most of the day helping the day to earn its title as a rest day. Lizzie, one of my roommates in England, used to live in Madison and gave me the inside scoop on all sorts of things to do there. I explored the town and ate an amazing salad at The Old Fashioned restaurant followed by coffee on the porch at Barrique's coffee and wine bar. I then wandered over to the University Union patio and spent some time looking out at Lake Mendota and soaking up sun.



I found Madison to be a fun city with a great vibe, bustling with activity and filled with all sorts of quirky shops and interesting people. In thinking through career options, I'm leaning away from an academic career, but the thought of living in a cool college town like Madison is making me reconsider. Additionally, there are many bicycle lanes and the town is nearly over run with bicyclers (in a good way :o)). However, I did encounter this lovely city in the summer time, and I imagine it might be a slightly different place in the winter (in January, the average low is 5°F -- I would certainly die).

cheese curds

Today’s 100 mile ride into Madison was supposed to be a difficult one, so we headed out of camp a bit earlier than usual, eating breakfast at camp at 5:30 AM, so that we could get in some miles before the sun awoke to scorch us. It was again a very hot today, but not quite as humid yesterday. Despite the steep and rolling hills that kept us quite busy, it was a really nice ride today. It turns out that Wisconsin is an amazingly beautiful state. The green grass, corn fields, and abundance of dairy farms make for lovely scenery. Also, the fact that we were riding into a rest day did not hurt. :o)



The lunch stop was by an interesting little farmer’s market, and I decided that it was the time in my life to try cheese curds. As far as I can tell, cheese curds are like a squeaky, delicious cousin of cheese. The Wikipedia article provided a bit more background:

Cheese curds are little known in locations without cheese factories, because they should ideally be eaten within hours of manufacture. Their flavor is mild, with about the same firmness as cheese, but with a springy or rubbery texture. Fresh curds squeak against the teeth when bitten into, a defining characteristic, due to air trapped inside their porous bodies. They are sometimes referred to as "squeaky cheese".They are sometimes somewhat salty.

They were really tasty, and I’m glad that I tried them in Wisconsin. I rode with Kenny and Kate Montana throughout the afternoon and had the pleasure of having my 11millionth flat rear tire. We passed by some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s works today. He was an architect who made these boxy looking little houses and was the most prominent and influential American architect (well according to another rider, Kenny, anyhow – and Kenny is an architect, so I’m going to go with that :o))

We stopped at a fun coffee / bike shop outside of Madison called Uphill Grind, had some iced coffee and got out of the sun for a bit. As we headed into Madison, we hit a bit of a snafu. One of the roads on our route was closed for construction. Thankfully I had my clever little phone with a map and GPS that helped us out and guided us into town. It added a few miles to the day, but overall we were lucky – some others ended up getting lost and going well out of their way. Madison is a really bike friendly town, and bicycle lanes can be found all over the place. We worked out way through town to the university dorms where we'll be spending the night.

Unfortunately, two people took spills today that required a hospital visit. Between transporting people to the hospital and helping the other riders work out how to get into town despite the closed road, it made for a busy day for the crew!

puttin' on the dog

Today was only 66 miles, but it was a really tough 66 miles. We woke up from our lives of luxury in the dorms and had breakfast at school cafeteria. It was a really humid, foggy day, and by the time we cycled to the cafeteria, two miles away, we were already drenched – though with what it’s hard to say, seeing how it’s well established that women do not, in fact, sweat... we glow :o) We set off after breakfast and it was so foggy that it was hard to see. Condensation collected on our arm hairs and eyelashes, dripping into our eyes occasionally.

At mile 11, we encountered the hill that we’d been warned about. It wasn’t supposed to be on the route, but because a bridge ahead had gone out, we had to go up the hill from Hades. The grade was 11% (11 feet up for each 100 feet forward), and it kept going and going. It was so steep that we had to zig zag up it because it was too difficult to go straight up it. :o/

However, it was worth the climbs as a very kind family, the Myers, set up a special checkpoint for us at their home today. Daria did such a good job describing this that I took this excerpt from her blog.

The rest stop hosted by the Myers family was delightful. It has been a BIG RIDE tradition for over 10 years. Like many great things, it started out small. One of their family members happened to talk to a few riders in 1998. At the time, their grandfather was battling lung cancer, so the cause resonated with them. The family realized that the riders would be back the following year and decided that they should do something for them.

It started with lemonade, but it has grown into a wonderful garden party, complete with all sorts of homemade treats, fresh fruit, iced tea and fruit punch. The setting is ideal, a beautiful garden in full bloom. The family has a guest book complete with photos and bios of riders from previous years, an amazing record of BIG RIDE history.

They interviewed us and took pictures of us. Anyone who was willing to be interviewed was given a handmade bracelet. I was interviewed by Megan. She is 27 years old and works as a personal caregiver. One of the questions that she asked me was which day has been my favorite on the BIG RIDE. I told her that all of the days have been amazing and that I really couldn’t pick one day as my favorite. But there have been moments which have been more special than others.

Without question, the stop at the Myers home will be one of my most special memories of the ride. The Myers family is truly exceptional. I am certain that their kindness and generosity has meant a lot to the riders who have stopped there over the years. The family has documented their story at www.bigridefans.blogspot.com.





Though we’d been warned about the big hill in the morning, I received no such warning about all the hills in the afternoon. It was hilly all afternoon, but there was one particularly long, steep, and brutal hill that again required zig-zagging again as it was too steep to ride directly up. I rode with Kasey for most of the afternoon and she told me a lot about South Korea. She spent the last year teaching English there with her boyfriend, Brandon, who’s also on the ride.

Today’s ride included several big landmarks, including crossing into the state of Wisconsin and crossing the Mississippi River... not to mention the world's largest six pack (bizarre!).






The afternoon's ride took us through the Wisconsin countryside and several Amish and Mennonite communities. I was uncertain of the difference between the two groups, and was able to find some good information about it on this website (excerpt below). In short, it seems that the Amish are more strictly separated from the rest of the world and more conservative.

Mennonites and Amish come from a Protestant tradition known as Anabaptism (meaning to be baptized again) begun in the 16th century. The first Anabaptists separated from the state church because of their belief that a relationship with Christ is an adult choice and baptism must come out of an adult decision to follow Christ in every aspect of life. At that time, infant baptism was the accepted practice. (See "How did the Mennonite church begin?")

Besides their common historical roots, Mennonite and Amish groups all stress that they should live out their beliefs in daily life. While the groups agree on basic Christian doctrine, their differences come in interpreting how those practices should be lived out.

The original difference in opinion came in 1693, when Jacob Ammann, a Swiss Anabaptist leader, felt that the church leaders were not holding to strict separation from the world and that spiritual renewal was needed. Ammann did not believe that the ban, or shunning, was being practiced as it should be. He separated from the Anabaptists over this issue and his followers were nicknamed "Amish."

Ammann enforced more separatist ways upon his followers, and today some practices among the Amish include: untrimmed beards and hooks and eyes in place of buttons on outer garments of the men; horse and buggy transportation; horse-drawn implements for farming; plain and distinctive dress patterns; no electricity in homes.

However, most Mennonites today are not outwardly that different from any person you meet on the street, and in fact live in countries around the world with a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. Mennonites believe in simple living, but express that simplicity in a spirit of stewardship and awareness of the needs of others rather than completely separating from society as the Amish continue to do.

The Amish homes, barns, and siloes were quaint and charming. The Amish children especially were really cute all dressed up in their little outfits and hats. The Wisconsin countryside was really gorgeous.



Oh, and this is my most favorite mailbox I've seen on the trip thusfar. :o)


My parents said that when I was very young and just learning to dress myself, they’d find that I always had a bathing suit on under just clothes. Just in case we happened to encounter a swimming pool, I needed to be prepared! My mom said that it would be in the middle of January and at church and she’d notice a bathing suit strap poking out of my dress. I grew out of it, but in retrospect, I’m really not sure why I ever repealed the policy. There have been so many occasions on this trip where I’ve needed (some say this is debatable, but I’m still classifying it as a need) to jump in water on short notice. Passing by a water park about 20 miles from camp was one such occasion!

At long last, we arrived in Viroqua, Wisconsin and were chatting with some of the locals who told us that today was the “hottest day we’ve had in several years”. The heat index today was 115, and it was absolutely sweltering. We were in a campground, so again, we began to brainstorm about how we could weasel our way into air conditioning. So I put on my sweetest face and went begging. There was a church just across from the camp ground and I asked the fellow inside if we could stay there. He made some calls and the answer came back as a “no” – for liability and insurance reasons, they weren’t comfortable having a group stay at the church. I really am bad at begging and getting free things. When others on the trip tell people what they’re up to, others will buy them meals, make donations, offer to let the rider stay in their homes, etc. When I tell people what I’m up to, people stare at me and tell me I’m crazy. :o/ However, the guy who had to deliver the message that we couldn’t sleep there, a staff member a bit lower down the totem pole, felt badly about it and gave me this little cowboy boot he’d been whittling as a consolation prize. I think it’s my favourite souvenir from the trip thusfar.



Thankfully, one of the more skilled beggars of the group had worked her magic and convinced a different church to open its doors. It felt glorious in there and I even got to play the piano a bit when there weren’t too many people around.

Viroqua was actually a really cute little town and I wished I’d had the chance to explore it more, but it was literally just too hot to move. If you took a single step, you’d already be sweating (again – not an acknowledgment that women sweat ;o)). I did get to stop by a really nice little café in town where they had live music and I was able to get an (obviously iced!) coffee.

happier knees

As those of us who had spent the night in a cool, quiet home got back into camp the next morning, we got the report from the others on how the night had been. Jim said that if he were a rack of ribs, he would be well done because he had been slowly cooking all night. I think that everyone who didn’t join us at the house regretted it.

We had a breakfast of donuts, eggs, hash browns, bacon, and coffee at the Hyvee before setting off to cover the 88 miles between Owatonna, Minnesota and Winona, Minnesota. It was another hot and humid day, but it was actually a great day. We crossed the 2,000 mile mark today, which is really hard to believe – it seems like we just started a few days ago!



I rode with Jim, who is generally the fastest rider, today, and while I know that he had to slow down, I also had to speed up. It was the first day I really pushed myself since we’d made the changes to my cleats, and I found that adding the shims to my cleats to help even things out for my legs has made a huge difference for me knees. Now they don’t ache all the time, and I’m able to dig in and put more power behind each pedal, whereas before I was only able to stay in a low gear and spin my legs quickly. HOORAY!!!!! I felt so much better all day. Also, I removed a lot of the stuff I had on my bike – like my rear rack, the bag I was carrying on the rear rack, and my mud guards -- because, it turns out, the extra weight really does make a difference.

As afternoon approached, Jim and I were ahead of the rest of the group and on track to be the first into camp. This was typical for Jim, but as a former lanterne rouge, I was absolutely ecstatic about this. We were rolling along, making good time, and then Kenny, another speedy fellow, came up behind us. I was fairly disappointed about this as I really had my hopes on being the first into camp. In the film we recently watched, Breaking Away, some sneaky riders used the technique of throwing their bicycle pump into the spokes of another bicycle to trip them up and make them fall. I would be lying if I said the idea didn’t cross my mind when Kenny caught up to us. :o) However, I did resist and the company was really nice. Kat also caught up to us, and I decided I’d have to be content with being among the first to camp rather than the first.

However, when I saw Lake Goodview coming up on the left, any care I had about arriving to camp quickly fell to the wayside. We bee-lined left and went running into the lake, shedding clothes as we went. I set my camera on the bench beside the lake and turned it on to take a photo in 10 seconds. I tried to count to 10 and make everyone be posed for the photo then, but obviously, we were a little off. :o)


On the way in to camp, Kenny had a mini freak-out because he saw a Culver’s, a place that makes frozen custard that he’s a bit in love with. So we stopped there and had snacks and ice cream for a bit. And after all of that playing, I was still the 8th into camp. HOORAY for happy knees after making the right shoe / bicycle adjustments! :o) It’s funny how surprised everyone is for me to speed up – I passed Charlie today, and he said he was wondering to himself throughout the day how that could have happened. His conclusion was that, being from Georgia, I was used to the heat and humidity, so while everyone else struggled with it, it was when I began to thrive. :o)

Today we had a special treat as we stayed in the dorms of Winona State University. It’s funny the things that you get really excited about without going without them for a while, but I was absolutely over the moon about our setup at the university. We each had our own room (a first on the trip), there were ten (count them -- ten!!) outlets in my room, our beds had sheets, we had a real towel, there was wireless internet, air conditioning, and laundry. I was beside myself.

Dinner was catered at the university for us that night, and after dinner we all sat around and played games and had a great time. I can tell that I’m really going to miss everyone when this is over!

While I had my own room, it turns out it was my own hot room. We only thought the rooms were air conditioned when we arrived because it was so much cooler inside than out. Once our temperature had normalized a bit, we realized the rooms weren't actually air conditioned. So, once again, many of us piled into the lobby together. Unfortunately, I'd left my bag with all of my camping gear in the gear truck (which is locked at night) since I didn't think I'd need it. I'd decided to give sleeping in my room a go, but realized after 5 minutes, I wasn't going to be able to sleep, so I stumbled back, carrying my bed sheets with me, into the lobby where the lights were already turned off and tried to feel around for an empty couch. After grabbing one too many poor sleeping person's feet, I concluded that all of the couches were taken. A loveseat it must be. I curled up on the loveseat for a while. And then I stretched out with my feet hanging off the end. And then I pulled a table up so that my feet could rest on it and I was kind of in a "L" shape. And then I pushed two loveseats together, so that I had a kind of square cushiony play pen. Try as I may, I just could not get comfortable. After much thought, it struck me that the cushions were removable, so I lined up the four cushions from the two loveseats on the floor against the wall and had a make shift sleeping mat. It worked splendidly, and I went to bed feeling quite clever and pleased with myself. :o)

summer heat

OK, it is hot – and I do mean hot. The kind of hot where you are drenched in sweat and perpetually soaked throughout the whole day. And I don’t mean to return to unpleasant topics, but you can imagine that clothes rubbing against your body all day is irritating enough – I’ll just say that it’s even worse when the clothes are completely wet. Also heat rash has started popping up on appendages all over camp in the form of little red bumps. In this respect, I think I do actually have an advantage – growing up in Georgia certainly prepared me well for dealing with heat. While it’s not the loveliest of conditions, I don’t find it all that bad.

Today we cycled 72 miles, and encountered a lot more neighborhoods than I’ve been used to seeing in the vast and open wild west. As we move into the more populated areas, we’ve met more bicyclers and have also cycled near enough to Big Ride alumni that several of them have come out to say hello and ride with us. Today, a 2010 alumni, Deidre Lindstrom, drove 20 miles from her home to meet up with us along the route and she brought all sorts of fun snacks with her. Also, a 2007 alumni, Vern Katzung, who lives nearby, rode along with us for 40 miles today. (I know that my commas in the previous sentences have been out of control – I couldn’t sort out what else to do with them!) Anyhow, Vern is now 70 and did the Big Ride when he was 66. However, he said that the year he did the ride, a 78 year old also did the trip. I’m going to have to think about this whenever I feel like throwing a fit and giving up. Surely if a 78-year-old can do this, I can get my act together enough to! Also, an 80 year old who some of the riders met in New Ulm, rode along with us for part of the day. He said that, at 80, he and his wife still start the day with cycle rides. I hope I do that when I’m 80 too. :o)

As today’s ride wasn’t too long, we arrived at the campgrounds quite early in the afternoon, and had some spare time on our hands and not too many places to escape the heat. So I looked up water parks and found that there was one only 3 miles away. I rounded up a group and convinced Rich to drive us over there. They had a couple of water slides, a lazy river, a rock climbing wall over the pool, and a volleyball court. It was the perfect way to spend a hot afternoon. :o) Interestingly though, I did manage to scrape the top of my foot on the bottom of the pool – all of my injuries on the trip so far seem to be non-cycling related. :o)

For dinner, we went to an all you can eat buffet at Hyvee, and I think poor Hyvee didn’t know what had hit them when a swarm of hungry bicyclers descended upon their buffet like flies on a carcus. The amount of food we eat to keep fuelling our bodies is truly amazing. Geena and Caitlin are particularly uninhibited in seeking out fuel. They have made it routine to wander around restaurants and kindly keep food from other people’s plates from being wasted. :o)

As night time fell, the temperature unfortunately did not follow suit. It was really just too hot to sleep outside, so we all sat around brainstorming about what to do. We have more or less turned into the reverse of heat-seeking missiles. Geena and Caitlin decided to go sleep at the Hyvee as it was open 24 hours a day. Several people went to a hotel. There was a sports facility with an ice skating rink nearby, and we thought that would be the perfect place to escape the heat, so we went there and begged to sleep indoors. While letting strangers sleep inside was against their policy (I can’t imagine why!), one of the employees had sympathy for us, and invited us to sleep at his home. His wife kindly drove over to pick a load of us up and took us to their house where we slept in the basement. It was really nice to be in a real (air conditioned nonetheless) home and we got to chat with their children and play with their dogs. The generosity and hospitality that people have showed us throughout the trip has been amazing.