Keegan's Log

Day 33: June 14, Champaign, IL to Crawfordsville, IN

My apologies for this e-mail and the web site updates being so late, the hotel for the last two nights had an odd phone system that didn't let me get on the internet. Should be back to normal now...

This morning I got up, got dressed, and headed over to the Bob Evens for some blueberry pancakes. We left with the rest of the pack today, the ride first took us through downtown Champaign and Urbana before we found the open country roads. Less than 20 miles into the ride I got a flat tire, very frustrating considering I had just put on new tires, rim tape, and tire liners the previous day. Dad was out of earshot so I had to change this one solo with only a hand pump, but I was underway in under 10 minutes.

We rode through the countryside to Danville, a pretty large city near the Indiana border. We rode through a park and over a footbridge, then to a park for the only sag of the day. Dad waited for me at the sag, he had been ahead of me since I stopped to change the flat, so in about 5 minutes we were ready to hit the road again. It was only 2.7 miles to the Indiana state line, we stopped to sprinkle sand while Walter took a picture for us.

It felt good to be riding in my own state again, the terrain looked so familiar and inviting compared to some of the vastly different parts of the country we've been through. We rode between cornfields and farms, passing stands of Sycamore trees along the side of the road. The wind was mostly a crosswind with a little to our faces, but I watched as the wind played with the trees and tall grass, bringing the roadside around us to life. It really feels good to be home, I kept humming the tune to "Back Home Again in Indiana" as it seemed oddly appropriate at the time.

We stopped for lunch at a small downtown caf� in Veedersburg, the staff seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the sudden influx of 25 bicyclists. Still they were courteous and my grilled had and cheese hit the spot. Dad had finished before I even got my food, but he stuck around and we both left the restaurant, 22 miles of ground to cover. We stopped once on the way in for a break, then turned off the route to head to downtown Crawfordsville. We found the local bike shop, dad got his wheel rebuilt to replace the cracked rim, I headed back to the hotel for a shower.

Mom came to visit just before route rap, she joined us for the meeting and dinner afterward before returning home. The helmet decoration contest was judged at route rap, I went with a spare tire motif, dad had two rubber snakes recycled from the side of the road. Dinner was in the hotel dining room, the meal was almost too fancy for our group. After dinner I had Pat look at my wheel, the rear hub was loose causing the wheel to wiggle from side to side, but he got it tightened up so it rolls much better now. We saw mom off then headed back to our room to wind down. Tomorrow it's off to Indy, unfortunately the forecast shows thunderstorms rolling over our heads during the day tomorrow. Have to remember to pack the rain gear...

Phil's Log

I understand that Keegan and I aren't on the same day. Go by the city.

And hopefully we will be able o access the Internet tonight. All attempts failed at the previous motel where we stayed for two days. Apologies to those that thought we must have crashed!

We've been watching the weather expectantly as a cold front and associated thundershowers approach. We hope the storms pass while we're not riding. We yearn for the cooler weather. As I sit on the "porch" of my mote room, the sun is dropping below a high cloud bank which would normally signal an approaching warm front. Indiana weather is not to be trusted. Ah yes, we are in Indiana now!

The ride fro Champaign was fine. We first had to ride into Champaign from our hotel on the western outskirts, and we saw many of the same roads that Chuck and I had seen from the bus the day before. We are usually ahead of all but he early rush-hour traffic, so no worries. But within 10 miles we were in the country. Corn is the predominant crop here, followed by soybeans. With all of the moisture in Keegan's and my absence, the corn is dark green and healthy looking, and about knee high. The soybeans are still in their seed leaves, but a good year for farmers is shaping up, it would seem. It was a pleasant morning ride east, though warm and foretelling of the scorcher to unfold.

Our route took us through Danville, Illinois through a city park and over a narrow pedestrian bridge that had been built on the foundations of a long gone railroad bridge. It was a twisty route but free of traffic, and nice. We crossed into Indiana at 41.5 miles, did our sand sprinkling thing (I wonder what the EPA would say),, and on east. Veedersburg came at 56.6 miles, and everyone stopped at a cute little corner cafe, truth is we overwhelmed it. The waitress kept a truly happy smile as she literally ran from the tables to the kitchen trying to get us all fed. It was helmet decoration day too, so our usually odd crowd was way more funky than Veedersburg was ready for. i stepped outside to take a photo of the cafe completely surrounded by two-deep leaning bicycles. I If weren't that each bicycle had a red flag, t might have been an old Europe photo.

Crawfordsville was only about 23 miles ahead, so no one hurried. (79 miles is becoming an easy day, even with heat.) Keegan and I broke from the group near the end to drop into Crawfordsville and the Valley Bikes store Valley is an unusual shop, almost eclectic among bike shops. The owners, a couple with kids, own and run the shop probably to fulfill their dream. They had a 36 spoke rim like I needed, and charged me a very minimal labor amount for removing it from the front wheel which it was a part of, and building it onto my existing rear wheel components. We talked as the owner worked He had done a cross country ride in '76, as a bicentennial thing, by a much longer route that included much of the Rockies southbound. Their huge, docile dog which they described as a mix of chou and dog dog lounged about as the wheel went together. They undercharged me for the whole job, including two new continental tires.. I could easily see going back someday for a Rans recumbent. www.valleybikes.com. Well worth a cyber or personal visit.

Sue drove out to the motel to meet the group and have dinner with us. Tracy was in rare form with the helmet judging. It was a good time to see the group "dynamic", which can be pretty whacky. The riding is fun. Fun too are the sort of people that go on a ride such as this.