Month: June 2018

Any Road Tour: Day 20 – Trails and tailwinds to the banks of the Mississippi River

I’m sitting in my tent listening to waves wash up on the little beach just below my tent site on the Mississippi River in Lake City. Finally! Hawks and eagles are flying around searching for dinner.

There is a near zero chance of rain tonight so no rain fly for me. I expect I’ll be drenched by 2 am.

Last night I got the senior’s special at the family restaurant next to the hotel: spaghetti with alleged vegetables on the side.

The Settle Inn turned out to be a very nice hotel. The complimentary breakfast had proper china and silverware. I had my usual double dose of food.

Off and running under overcast skies with cool temperatures, I found the Great River Trail and followed it north next to an active rail line along the river. It was mostly unpaved but it had withstood the recent rains rather well. (The surface was almost as good as the GAP trail in Pennsylvania,)

An interesting feature of Wisconsin trails is that you have to pay a user fee – $5 for the day, $20 for a year.

It was worth it. The trail was shaded and afforded so many different views. Trains, bluffs along both sides of the river, swamps, trestles, even an Indian mound.

In the winter it is used by snowmobilers because Wisconsin.

I didn’t see anyone for ten miles then I saw some riders with event numbers on their shirts. Soon after a black van pulled along side me. It was a local bike shop doing support for the event. The woman and man and I talked for a while. She gave me some energy food things that tasted like marguerita mix. Trail angels show up when you least expect them.

Such nice people. They even took my picture to prove that I am not making this up from a bar in La Crosse.

I managed to get lost soon after this but The Google and a compass set me right. I road a few more miles on the road turning down a chance for Food and Booze! (Wisco people aren’t very subtle.)

I re-crossed the river at Winona Minnesota.

After a delicious burrito at the Winona Sandwich Shop, I headed north on highway 61. Yes, it’s the same one made famous by the Bob Dylan song only he was singing about the southern part in the Mississippi delta.

For about 20 miles I had a tailwind and a perfectly paved 12 foot shoulder. The Mule took off, cruising along at 16 miles per hour . Wheee!

For a brief period I diverted from this four lane highway to a quieter country road near Kellogg. They warned of jaywalking turtles.

About an hour later I was wondering if my destination got the night existed. Lake City is on a section of the river called Lake Pepin. The town once was a world leader in the manufacture of pearl buttons. And claims to be where water skiing was invented.

For me it held good and a campsite along the river.

I was pretty tired. Fortunately a nearby camper named Brad came over and helped me set my tent up. (The elastic cords inside my tent poles are stretched. Anybody know how to deal with this?)

And so the sun sets on another long day in the saddle. 90.5 miles.

My total mileage so far is 1,498.

Tomorrow I go to Saint Paul.

Any Road Tour: Day 19 – Great River Roading

Yesterday my waterproof panniers leaked again. The biggest victim was my 39 year old paperback copy of The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test.

The clerk at the motel gave me a roll of 8 plastic bags to put my stuff in so I don’t think there will be any more water problems.

Yesterday The Mule passed another milestone. 47,000 miles. He gets extra oats tonight.

After eating mass quantities at the hotel breakfast bar, I hit the road from Prairie du Chien thinking I had 77 miles to ride. It turned out to be 63.5, all on Wisconsin’s Great River Road along the Mississippi River. The river is mostly a protected area in these parts so there wasn’t much motor boat noise. The road, a two lane highway, wasn’t nearly as peaceful. There were trains every 20 or 30 minutes, and car and truck traffic which increased throughout the day.

I could occasionally see the terrain in the western side of the river. It was very hilly. I cruised along headed north with a tailwind. River and railroad to my left, bluffs to my right. It was hazy until 12 a.m. so the views were rather muted. I can’t complain. Tailwind, riding in the shade, temps in the 70s.

I pulled into a gas station. The sign indicated I was in Wisconsin. For the record I have yet to try cheese curds. They are to Wisconsin what boiled peanuts are to North Carolina.

A few other signs caught my eye during my ride.

The views were well worth the increasing traffic as the day wore on.

At 3 I arrived in La Crosse Wisconsin which is only 62 miles from Prairie du Chien. With rain approaching I once again forgot about camping and headed for a hotel. Apparently La Crosse is a happening place this weekend. Most hotels in town that I could afford were sold out. The desk clerk at the sold out Courtyard found me a hotel that had a vacancy. It’s called Settle Inn. It’s still being built but what’s finished is quite nice.

There’s a guest laundry which was very much in need. And there is a restaurant next door.

Speaking of next door, Minnesota is now across the river. Iowa it was nice knowing you.

On to Minnesota!

Today’s miles: 63.5

Total so far: 1,407.5

Any Road Tour: Day 18 – Ups and Downs

I awoke to thunder. It was pouring outside. The weatherman said that the rain would end by 9 so I waited it out.

When I hit the road it was cool and breezy. The wind from the east was a tailwind for most of the day.

I rode through downtown Dyersville. It reminded me of downtown Bloomington Indiana in Breaking Away. I felt like telling a cop that I was a little disturbed by the developments in the Middle East, but I let the moment pass.

The riding began with a five mile tailwind. This allowed my legs to ease into the day. The tall grass on the side of the road looked like it had been through a tough time.

I rode north under overcast skies. To the north dark clouds loomed.

I did a four mile winding descent into Elkport that was quite thrilling. Sometimes even a Mule can fly.

Then came the climb. I was warned that this ride would get hillier as I headed north. Roger that.

Then it started to rain. I was already a bit chilled and the rain added to my shivers. I stopped and put on my rain jacket. Within minutes it was pouring. And there was thunder.

Pedal, pedal.

I checked my surroundings for shelter in the event of lightning. Barn. Porch. Garage.

The climbing kept me warm but I was starting to worry about my visibility. On a descent I pulled over to put on my blinking light belt. I was quite cold so I zipped up the pockets and pit zips on my jacket. Stopping The Mule took much much too long. Rim brakes are pretty useless when they are trying to stop 270+ pounds going 30 miles per hour in the rain.

I had a long downhill to Elkader. No guts, no glory.

Whoosh!

I made it to the bottom in one piece then started another long climb, perhaps the biggest one since Ohio.

About halfway up the beast, I spotted a burger joint with a covered patio. Food and shelter! When I stopped I realized that I was shaking from cold and tired and grumpy. The Google told me there were plenty of options for motels and such nearby. Hmmm.

The weatherman said the storm would pass over in about an hour. So I decided to enjoy some fish and chips. Hot food was just what I needed. My focus on rain-related matters had blocked out the fact that I was extremely hungry.

Snarf!

Then I spotted the sign for ice cream. “You want nutrition, eat a carrot.”

I ordered a double dip cone and inhaled that bad boy in minutes.

The counter staff advised me that there were plenty of hotels in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin about 30 miles away and just a couple of miles off my route.

The rain stopped and I decided to ride on to Monona, the day’s planned destination with free camping in the town park. 15 miles of hillage ensued.

The town park was lovely but the soggy ground and porta potties turned me off. After a coffee break at a gas station convenience store, I decided to ride 15 more miles to Prairie du Chien.

They were remarkably level miles with more Iowa farm views.

I passed through the town of Watson.

A few miles later I flew down a curving hill to the Mississippi River. It was a thrilling ride. I just took the lane and went for it.

As I entered the town of Marquette, I feathered my brakes to bring The Mule in compliance with the town speed limit.

I crossed the river to Wisconsin and did the state line sign picture thing.

And The Mule and I paid our respects to Father Marquette who “discovered” the Mississippi.

After a three mile search for lodging, I ended up at a Super 8 (again) south of town. After cleaning up, I went next door to the family restaurant and had the soup and salad bar. All of it.

I discovered that my waterproof Ortlieb panniers leaked quite a bit. The desk clerk at the hotel gave me a roll of plastic bags to wrap my things in. The worst victim of the water infiltration was my ancient copy of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test.

As I write this it is thundering again. Tomorrow’s route continues on the Iowa side of the river. About six very hilly miles away is Effigy Mounds National Monument. I’d like to check it out but the prospect of rain is putting me off. I understand that the terrain in Iowa to the north is super hilly. Lucky for me, the river road on the Wisconsin side is level. I shall take the path of least resistance.

Total miles: 77

Trip miles: 1,344.

Any Road Tour: Day 17 – Two for one

When I drew up the itinerary for this tour, I planned short mileage days for Iowa. The reason for this was that all my friends who hAve ridden RAGBRAI, the massive cross-Iowa bike ride, have told me that Iowa’s hills are horribly difficult.

It turns out they are probably right if you are trying to ride them with 10,000+ other people. When you are riding alone, they’re not bad at all. The tend to be long, sometimes longer than a mile, but not particularly steep. Compared to what I rode up during the first week of this tour they are easy.

The farms in Iowa follow the contours of the land. Instead of Indiana farm’s straight rows, Iowa farms are all curves and contrasts. For most of the day I admired them. The last 20 miles not so much.

It was supposed to be a 48 mile day of grueling hills but, as I already said, the hills were no big deal. I arrived at my planned destination, a cute town called Oxford Junction, at 12:30. I could camp in the town park for free or continue on to Cascade, 25 miles to the north. I decided to skip the all you can eat offerings at the town restaurant/bar and forge ahead.

In the town of Wyoming I stopped to consider riding beyond Cascade to Dyersville. I decided to delay the decision until I arrived at Cascade.

Off I went down a suspiciously winding highway. My map said this should be a straight road. Hmmm…

I was going the wrong way. Four miles. Uphill. Into a headwind. Doh!

At least the return trip was fun.

I stopped in Wyoming and had some comfort food: a blueberry fritter. Damn did it taste good.

On to Cascade. It was a slog to be sure. I tried to put those extra eight miles out of my mind. Just put my head down and pedaled.

I arrived in Cascade feeling pretty good. I sat on a bench outside a gas station considering my options. Camp for free in the lovely city park in Cascade or ride on 23 miles to Dyersville, my itinerary’s destination for tomorrow. I’d already ridden 81 miles.

A mechanic came out of the garage and started talking with me. He told me the 23-mile route was designed to take me past the Field of Dreams ballpark in a cornfield. I didn’t think much of the movie so when he told me that taking the highway to Dyersville was only 15 miles with only a few hills after about 10 miles.

When you get route advice from a non-cyclist you really should take it with several grains of salt.

I went for it. The first 10 miles were scenic and level. Just what I needed. The rest of the shortcut matched the mechanics description to a t.

Which is not to say I was enjoying the last few hills or the relentless expansion joints in the pavement that were beating my body up. When I saw the Dyersville water tower I knew I was home free.

Down a long hill into town. Rather than camp in the park I grabbed a motel room, after making sure it’s TV system carried tonight’s Stanley Cup game. Go Caps!!

Today’s mileage: 96 (thanks to those 8 bonus miles)

Trip miles: 1,267.

Tomorrow I’ll take it a bit easier.

Any Road Tour: Day 16 – Tailwinds to the Mississippi

Drinking a half gallon of caffeinated soda at 9 p.m. might not be the best formula for sleep but I did it anyway. After yesterday’s beatdown from hills and headwinds I could not get enough to eat. I had PB&J sandwiches, a Snickers bar, two chocolate chip cookies, and fast food. And my pants are falling off. No lie.

I had two breakfasts because, well, no food be said “Stop!” I think I am going to get banned from some hotel chains.

I decided to stay on the due west Adventure Cycling Northern Tier Route because the Google instructions for riding into Iowa on a northwestern diagonal were much too complicated.

On the road around 8 I instantly felt regret. It was cool and there was a strong wind from the east. Perfect tailwinds for a fast bike ride. Why didn’t I get on the road sooner?

Leaving Kenawee I was cruising at 15 to 20 miles per hour. Hills? What hills?

The level prairie had given way to rolling hills. The main crops were corn and soybeans as before but they were planted in curves that matched the topography.

I didn’t take any pictures because I was too busy taking advantage of the fantastic conditions. I stopped for lunch st a 7-11 in Sherrard. I was half way to Iowa at 11:30,l. When I came back outside, the wind had changed direction. It was now a crosswind out of the south. It gradually shifted to the southwest creating something close to a headwind.

Still I was grateful for 38 miles of assistance.

I stopped a couple more times just to break up the grind.

Then I saw this sign. Not again. It was ambiguous.

I ignored it and never encountered the promised outage. At about the point where the outage was supposed to be, I caught a mile long curvy downhill on smooth pavement.

Zoom!

After a few more miles I stopped to orient myself. Next to me were acres of crops clearly in a flood plain.

My head was immediately surrounded by annoying flying insects. I won’t be camping near here was my immediate thought

Soon I was on a busy highway making use of my mirror just like in South Carolina last fall.

Then I saw this sign.

At the top of the bridge I stopped to check out the Big Muddy.

On the far side of the bridge in the city of Muscatine, I put a notch in my handlebars for the 8th state on my trip, Iowa.

A search with The Google turned up several hotels. After stopping for a celebratory ice cream cone, I pedaled onward looking for shelter.

Traffic was heavy and the highway unwelcoming, so I turned down a grassy hill into the parking lot of a Super 8.

Mission accomplished.

Today’s 78.5 miles were far easier than yesterday’s 62.5.

Tour total: 1,171.

Any Day Tour: Day 15 – Headwinds are us

The city park in Wenona was a pleasant place to spend the night. I don’t don’t have a chance to eat dinner which is probably not a good idea after riding 92 miles.

In the morning I had breakfast at The Broadway. Like most small town places it doubles as a bar and a restaurant. As I was chowing down on pancakes and eggs and sausages at the bar, a bearded burly man sat down next to me and ordered a Bud. The barkeeper asked he wanted a shot with it.

Whoa.

The early ride out of town presented me with stronger headwinds than yesterday and more hills. Ugh.

The novelty of corn and soy fields and funny birds (I am told they are killdeer) has worn off. It was just a slog up a slight grade into the wind. As the day wore on the heat, humidity, and wind speed increased.

I came upon a field of pots.

They were mums. So orderly.

Just before the town of Henry and the bridge across the Illinois River, I come to my first big downhill in days. Man, I’m going to rip down this baby. Just before I started to pedal I noticed way down at the bottom on the other side of the road two cyclists. I decided to wait for them to come up so we could chat. This would allow me the rando trick of preserving the energy from the descent.

They waved at me to come down. So I did. They were Neil and Phyl, tandem cyclists heading from Colorado to Maine. We had a long chat about many things including struggling with our unwieldy bikes in windy conditions.

Having stopped at the bottom Neil decide to walk the tandem up the hill. Phyl and I talked some more trading info on the roads ahead. I was soon to discover that her info was biased by the fact that they’d been riding with tailwinds and downhill.

They were very nice people and I’m going to look up their journal on Crazyguyonabike.com.

After crossing the river on a narrow bridge with a big truck behind me, I rolled into Henry and bought food and sunscreen. What I’ve been using has apparently been prepared with Crisco because my skin is fried.

The winds picked up, the terrain cane more and more challenging. I didn’t have any pop in my legs. There was nothing to do but hope the time passed.

In Bradford, I found a restaurant/bar. The owners were sitting outside next to a Big Green Egg grill. They were done serving lunch but offered to cook he something. I had a burger (about 1/3rd of an inch thick) with their homemade chips. Lord, did it taste good. I also drank beaucoups glasses of ice waster.

Back in the road I felt revived. But the headwinds and the hills continued to beat me down. After the town of Osceola, I encountered a road closure sign.

I decided to take the chance that my bike and I could get through. I guessed right. There was a way to scramble around the construction pushing The Mule through a path the construction equipment had made. The crew of two were finishing up for the day. We chatted for a while then they went home and I went back to business. A few windy and hilly miles later I rolled into Kewanee. The Google showed me how to get to a hotel. There’s a Motel 6 across the street. Some kids hanging around in the parking lot said there was another bike guy in the hotel. It was sold out so I came here next door.

Tomorrow I am considering going off route. Instead of going due west to Muscatine Iowa then north to Oxford Junction, I might go northeast to Davenport then on to Oxford Junction. This would shave a day from the schedule and possibly avoid some hills.

Today’s mileage was 62.5

Total so far is 1,092.5.

Any Road Tour: Day 14 – Turbines and Chipseal

After a fine hotel breakfast or two at the Super 8 in Watseka (a surprisingly nice place, BTW) I asked the Google for directions to get me back on my route. The Google did an outstanding job directing me down perfect country roads with plenty of trees to shade me from the headwinds.

The headwinds today were about half as strong as yesterday and easily manageable. When I started riding it was 55 degrees. It warmed up to the high 70s with moderate humidity. Until mid afternoon there was literally not a cloud on the sky. Dang it was nice out.

The Google route was windy (as in not straight) but after days of riding a grid it was a welcome relief.

Many of the county roads are paved with chip seal. The road is coated with sticky tar and then gravel is put in top. I road a few miles on roads that had been recently renewed. It slowed me down but didn’t approach the level of unpleasantness that other bike tourists had warned me about.

The dandelions on the side of the road are enormous. I didn’t see any yellow just these big fluff balls.

Another item of note is the bird life. I spotted what looked like an osprey chowing down on some prey in a field near the road. Seeing me he took off and landed on a telephone pole about a quarter mile from his meal. After I passed he flew back to it.

And there is a small bird that looks to me like a sandpiper. It’s about the size of a cardinal. It gray-ish feathers on its wings and tail with a brown patch just above the tail. They only fly a few feet off the ground. After flying for 30 yards they land and run for a few feet before taking off again. They are entertaining to watch and I must have seen 100 of them today.I road past several wind farms today. It’s amazing what happens when you plant a turbine seed in a corn field. I once saw a turbine blade on display near the Energy Department. The thing looked to be as long as a football field. (How they drove into DC with it is beyond me.) Anyway, seeing these things from a distance is truly impressive but up close they are hypnotic. I nearly ran off the road I was so captivated by them.Another thing I noticed today is that the pool table is starting to have some gentle up slopes. I probably climbed 200 or 300 feet today, 30 feet here, 20 feet there. In Kempton I stopped for lunch at Tom’s. There is a mural that runs the length of the building. It’s a bit like to cover of Sgt. Pepper’s. I parked The Mule to the left of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Is she signing something?In Odell I crossed Route 66. There is now a bicycle route that follows the route from Chicago to Los Angeles. As I was taking a picture of the sign a woman jumped out of her car to get a picture of her own. My plan had me stopping at Cornell Illinois but there were no campgrounds or hotels there. There was plenty of daylight left and I was feeling fine after 67 miles so I continued on to the City of Wenona. They let bike tourists camp in the city park. It’s a very nice set up and the shower was the best. My thanks to the Wenona police officer who directed me to the park (and checked up on me later) and to Sheila who showed me around and gave me the secret code to the shower room.On days like this I have a hard time getting off the bike. I rode 92 miles. My total for the first two weeks of the tour is 1,030 miles.

Any Road Tour: Day 13 – Headwinds and camping fail

I was awoken by geese and the sound of gurgling river water. A breeze was making the trees sing along. Not a bad way to start the day.

About a mile from camp I rode by the buffalo farm (in Buffalo Indiana no less). The buffalo were grazing but too far from the road to take a decent picture. (Brittany, I swear I am not making this up.)

I stopped at the corner store for coffee and a cookie. The coffee was weak and the cookie was stale.

I hit the road to learn that the breeze was a headwind. And it stayed a headwind all day. Of course as the day wore one it turned into a 20 mile per hour beast with gusts well above that. The wind made it impossible to ride above 10 miles per hour. And the gusts moved The Mule all over the road. Both my legs and my arms were getting a serious workout.

The winds were much worse when I was riding past open farmland. The corn was to early to offer me any sort of wings break. )I wonder how it grows straight up and down with all this wind). Each farm had a stand of trees to block the wind so I’d get a few seconds of rest before the next blast. (Several times during the day I stopped. The wind actually blew The Mule and me back a step when I tried to start again.)

Other then the wind it was an absolutely beautiful day.

I crossed into Illinois after noon. There was no welcome sign. They must have known I was coming.

Most of my riding was done with my head down to try to cheat the wind. I’d look up and see corn or soy or hay, realize I was still in a nightmare headwind, then put my head back down.

Weeks ago I planned this to be an easy 58 mile day to take advantage of the free camping in the park of the town of Iroquois. The park is beautiful but camping is no longer allowed.

My choices were ride another 20+ miles into the headwind for free camping in another town en route or ride 6 miles off route to Watseka and grab a hotel room. Watseka won without a fight. I simply could not handle another 20 miles of this headwind.

At a lunch stop I learned that there is a cross country cyclist ahead of me. I wonder if I’ll catch him.

Watseka is within eyesight of a massive wind farm. Those turbines were getting quite a workout today.

I spotted this house today, in Watseka. A painted lady with a wrap around porch and a tower. Perfect.

Finally Watseka has what all badass midwestern towns have, a humongous grain elevator.

The desk clerk at the hotel is from New Delhi. She was a nurse back home but her credentials did not transfer to the U. S. I told her about my blood clots and she knew all about DVTs and pulmonary embolisms.

So today I rode 67.5 miles, about 10 miles farther than planned. They were honest miles. Good miles.

This morning, tomorrow’s forecast was for similar winds but it has been revised to winds that will not crush your soul.

938 miles in the bag. I try not to think about how much farther I have to go.

Any Road Tour: Day 12 – Tailwinds at last

The Red Roof Inn breakfast lived down to my expectations. Three rounds of Cherrios, mini muffin, and coffee fueled my first 36 miles. I grabbed two plastic wrapped apples for the road.

After spending 10 minutes wandering around I consulted The Google for directions and was soon back on the rail trail. I fell into my riding trance and was spinning along pushed by a tailwind when I nearly hit a bollard. It was hinged at the base and laying flat. I just managed to avoid hitting the hinge. It would have been a disaster. My front wheel wouldn’t have survived and I would have been a hurting unit.

Pay attention moron!

I came to the town of Converse and wondered how it was pronounced. Incidentally Peru is pronounced PeeRoo not PayRoo.

After 25 miles I passed three campgrounds in a row. Life’s not fair.

I met a cycle tourist going the opposite way. He was riding the length of the Wabash River. He told me of a good breakfast place in Peru. “They’ll fix you up.” And they did.

Outside of Peru I stopped at the International Circus Hall of Fame. It was sadly downtrodden and deserted but for a caretaker. He let me wander about then told me stories of seeing the circus as s kid, probably in the 50s. After the show they’d take the 2 elephants down to the river to play. He said the campers didn’t much care for that.

Back on the rail trail to Deedsville. I tried to contact my in laws who live 60 miles northwest of here but my calls rolled to voicemail. So I turned west, for the first time on the Northern Tier Route that I will follow all the way to Montana.

The wind was at my back and I had perfect, straight country roads to ride. There were gentle hills that allowed for easy hill hopping, speeding down hill and practically gliding up the next.

I was down to my last Apple and diverted about six miles to Royal Center where I picked up some fine vittles for camp.

Following the map, and not the detailed instructions on the back, I ended up at what looked like a camp. It was instead a former camp that had been converted to a retirement place by two brothers. One brother rolled up in a golf cart and told me the camp I was looking for was on the far side of the river about six miles away. Ugh.

He was shirtless and filled his golf cart with his mass. His left shoulder had a tattoo like the one Mike Tyson has. And his belly was immense, but hard as a giant’s bowling ball. I tried to imagine how much beer went into its construction.

He told me to stay for free but I had already told the campground I was coming so I declined.

Just before the turn off to camp I passed a store that was stocked with everything I needed had I not already ridden six miles out of my way to buy it.

On the last mile to the camp I passed a buffalo farm. I kid you not. Which reminds me that I saw numerous vultures today. Hmmmm.

I set up my tent on the banks of the Tippecanoe River. Other campers told me that a tree near my tent held two baby raccoons. They had been abandoned. Unfortunately they didn’t come out to chat.

There was good eating for dinner.

93 miles

870.5 so far

Any Road Tour: Day 11 – Cruising the Cardinal Greenway

Last night’s repast was McDonalds and a raid in the gas station convenience store. I disgust myself.

I did get done laundry done at the Econolodge. Once again the breakfast bar featured stale Cheerios. I was not amused.

I waited until almost 8 o’clock because it was raining. Thus I lost an hour of riding in comfortable weather.

It turns out I stopped about 4 miles east of Richmond Indiana. As I rode into town I realized that being in town was nothing to get excited about. Richmond looks pretty worn out.

In town I picked up the Cardinal Greenway rail trail. It was s smooth ride but for the tree debris from a storm that passed through last night while I was unconscious.

I passed numerous small trees that had been toppled. Fortunately they didn’t block the entire width of the trail. Then my luck ran out.

I had to take all the stuff off my bag and portage over the tree. It only took a few minutes but I was sorry I didn’t pack my chain saw.

A few miles later I came to another tree across the trail. A cyclist coming from the other direction and I pulled the tree off the trail. Hulk smash.

At a crossroads I heard the clippety clop of horses hoofs. A black Amish buggy made a right turn in front of me. As it passed I could see a little boy in the back.

On I rolled only to encounter a DC bound bike tourist on s Rans Nimbus recumbent. We chatted for ten or fifteen minutes. He said he was going to send his camping gear home, because it was slowing him on the hills and he wasn’t using it.

He said I would get plenty of use out of my camping gear once I turned onto the Northern Tier route that goes all the way to Seattle. I warned him about the hills he’d be facing in eastern Ohio and recommended deviating from the route I took. He warned me of a trail closure in Muncie Indiana about 20 miles away.

He doesn’t have a cell phone with him. It took him a half hour to figure out a way around the closure. (I just walked my bike through the closure which was about 100 yards of trail construction.) I use my cellphone constantly on my tours. It saves me all kinds of time, but it also means I don’t interact with local people that much.

The trail took me straight into Muncie there I stopped to eat lunch at a Mexican place. It was next store to a bike store where I stopped to pump up my tires and buy more chamois cream.

My only physical complaint for the last several days has been chafing and nerve pain down there. I am using lots of chamois cream for the former but the latter seems only to respond to getting off the saddle now and then.

The riding had been very easy. The only difficulty being the seemingly constant headwinds, hit muggy afternoons, and thunderstorms.

The trail continued north from Muncie without obstructions. In Gaston I shifted to country roads for 16 miles. It was a nice change of pace but the road surface was bumpy and, without protection from trailside trees, windier.

And there were farms. Beaucoup acreage planted with corn and soybeans.

I had been toying with the idea of riding another 30 miles to camp near Peru (pronounced pay roo) but my sensitive butt and dark storm clouds did not concur. As it was I got caught in the rain. Luckily the tree canopy over the trail was so dense that I barely got wet. Thunder and the report of a lightning strike nearby sent me looking for shelter. Three miles later I tied up The Mule at a Red Roof Inn. It looked drab on the outside but the room is quite nice. The Asian family that runs the place are very personable. They even offered to help carry The Mule up to my second-floor room. (I took care of it myself.)

So with tummy full of pizza I end my 11th day of pedaling west. Although it sounds like a lot, today’s 81.5 miles was not all that hard.

Tour total: 777.5