Kendallville, IN-Napoleon, OH-Sandusky-Burton,OH

These last few days completed our 7 day stretch of riding and now we're in Burton, OH for a rest day, a well deserved day off.

Riding to Napoleon was only 70 miles, a "walk in the park" day. We were done by noon so we met in town for a burger and beer. Finally I found a Labatt's Blue beer and I'm still looking for my perch dinner.

My parents, brothers and their wives came to visit me in Napoleon, OH. They brought some watermelon and cantaloupe that was immediately consumed. The cookies I saved and put out for lunch the next day. I think they were impressed by the way I live these days, in a tent with my laundry hanging from the fly of the tent. It's a way of life I've become accustomed to and only one more week of it before I get back to all the comforts of home. We went to dinner, they dropped me off and headed back home.

The next day was a hot, flat 87 miles to Sandusky, OH. We camped at the KOA by Cedar Point. Many riders went to Cedar Point Amusement Park. Brad, Chacko(who's from India and has been in AZ for about 7+ years) and I went to a beach instead. The only thing was the beach was another 8-9 miles away, each way. It was the first time Chacko had seen a Great Lake. The water was like bath water and after walking across super hot sand the water felt wonderful. We headed back towards camp and got dinner at a local restaurant that had perch, only it was frozen and I'm looking for fresh perch. I've been telling Chacko about perch dinners so he got the perch sandwich. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm home for my meal. Back at camp after another shower to wash off the Lake Erie water I climbed into my tent only to have it rain again. Wouldn't you know it my tent had a little leak where the fly wasn't pulled tight. I had to shift everything around in it so I could sleep without being rained on. Between the heat, humidity and the rain my sheets were damp. Good thing one more day until I can do some laundry.

Continuing on to Burton we started the 92 mile day along Lake Erie and through Cleveland. That part of the ride was nice and flat. The weather was cooler than yesterday with a north wind off the lake. In Cleveland Brad, Su, George and I stopped by the Botanical Gardens. We only spent an hour there and saw the Glasshouse exhibit which included a Costa Rica rainforest and a spiney forest from Madagascar. East of Cleveland the hills started again. Thirty more miles of hills and then a rest day, hooray!

When I arrived in Burton I had a wonderful surprise. My friend Ann Walton came to visit me and had a room at a B&B. What a treat. I slept 9 hours, first time in a long time. The host made a fantastic breakfast of sausage and french toast. Everything was too good to be true. Then we went on a buggy ride with an Amish family. Very interesting way of life they lead. After we came back to Burton, had lunch then Ann headed home. Thanks for the great time Ann.

The Burton library is closing now so I'm signing off. Next rest day is Gettysburg and I'll see my sister Diane and her husband Tom. See you soon.

Belvidere-Coal City-Valparaiso-Kendallville

Well, first of all my iphone is dead so I won't be sending daily updates unless I can get to a public library like I am now.

We had some stormy weather for a couple of days and even though I had my phone in double baggies in my rain jacket, it still got wet. It rained again at night in Belvidere and we started the day in rain for about 50 miles. The roads were flooded several times and in some places the water was flowing like a river over the road. It was a strange feeling to be riding through it. After the rains, the weather got hot and humid and the wind picked up. Unfortunately it's been a headwind. We arrived at Coal City and it was HOT, one of those nights where you lie in the tent just trying to fall asleep. Then the rains started again. So for two nights I didn't get much sleep. Good thing the rain stopped by the time we got up and off to Valparaiso, another day of headwinds.

My sister Sue was waiting for me at Valpo. First things first, dry out the tent and do laundry. Everything was damp and stinky. After that and a nice shower we went to dinner at a local place. We figured it must be good because the parking lot was full and it was. Thanks for coming Sue.

Today we rode 105 miles to Kendallville in another headwind. I thought the winds are usually westerly but they've been more NE. The weather was good and the ride was long. I'm at the point where I'm counting down the days for the trip to be over. It's a great experience but something I only need to do once. I'm off to camp now for a shower. I looked at the time and realized we crossed into another timezone so we lost an hour and it's later than I thought.

Day 33 Madison, WI to Belvidere, IL

Another rainy morning and we had 94 miles to go. Fortunately it was a
warm rain so riding wasn't too bad. Last night there were some bad
storms in the area and several trees were down on the side of the
roads. The rain did stop and the sun came out which made the day hot
and steamy. Add a SW headwind and it was a tiring day. We crossed
into Illinois today, another state done. A 2008 big rider hosted a
rest stop which included watermelon and DQ Blizzards ice cream treats.
It all tasted so good.

I'm in my tent typing this and it's trying to rain. I have wet clothes
hanging inside and I don't think they'll dry tonight. It's 8:15 pm
and I need to pack it in as I'll be up a 4:30am tomorrow for a long day.

Rest day

We had a rest day in Madison, WI and I woke up to rain which cleared
up by noon. My cousins came to meet me for lunch. They picked me up
at the dorm at the University of Wisconsin and then we drove downtown
to State St. by the capital. Many of The streets downtown are either
one way or buses and bikes only. Tom drove around the same few blocks
several times before he found a parking spot We had a nice lunch
together. Then they took me back to the dorm and headed out. Thanks
for coming, I enjoyed it very much.

Later that day I cleaned my bike and rotated the tires, walked around
to different bike shops and checked out the lake. For dinner some of
us walked downtown to a Japanese restaurant. Funny thing, we walked
to State St faster than we drove there earlier. On the way home it
started pouring again so now I have wet clothes that didn't dry during
the night.

Viroqua to Madison, WI

Another century under our belt. The day started off foggy, so foggy that I couldn't see through my glasses. As the day went on the fog burned off and it grew hotter all the way to Madison. There wasn't much of a breeze in the morning and the afternoon brought us a gentle north crosswind. Good thing it wasn't too strong because I was tired enough as it was at the end of the ride.

We were on some back country roads that are a ribbon of black road through the corn fields. At one point there was brand new blacktop that was still soft. It felt like we were riding on flat tires.

Summer in Madison must mean road construction season. The roads we were to take are under construction and the cue sheet was a bit misleading so many of us were lost. I was with Mark and Mike and we finally asked a student for directions. We arrived at the University of Wisconsin and were elated to see that the rooms have A/C.

Su's husband Steve came for a visit and they graciously took me, Brad, Izzy and George to dinner. Thanks you so very much for the wonderful evening. After that we were dropped off at the dorm and I called it a night.

Hay stacks

Note that they are stacks, not tightly bound rolls made by machine.

Parking lot

The parking lot was full, mostly cars and motorcycles and this horse
and buggy.