Keegan's Log

Day 34: June 15, Crawfordsville, IN to Indianapolis, IN

The forecasts for this morning foretold of thunderstorms in the area, but it was a nice sunny day when we left the hotel. We rode through Crawfordsville first, the city looked like it was still asleep at 7:30 in the morning. Dad and I were near the front of the group, the going was a little slower than normal due to the moderately strong winds. We made a quick stop in ___, then continued on to the sag stop. The sag was at a farm in southwest Boone County, the Gentry farm, a family had helped by giving us a place to sit and rest. The farm had a few dairy cows out near our group, the Gentry family gave tours of the milking machines and the farm itself. It was a great stop, we stayed for nearly a half hour before pushing on toward Indy. Therese, who had done the trip last year, joined us at the first sag and rode with us until we joined Lafayette Road.

We rode some nice country roads in to town, a welcome change from the usual highways. At about 40 miles into the route we reached Brownsburg, mom and Lauren were waiting for us there, they rode with dad, Therese, and I for a stretch. When we turned south to head for the Speedway, Lauren, mom, and Therese peeled off and headed for home. We rode south through Eagle Creek Park, then continued south to 16th street and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We pulled in about 12:15 and sat down for a hot dog at the overpriced concession stand. The sky grew dark almost as soon as we arrived, the rain and thunder followed shortly afterward. Most of the riders made it in before the rain hit, but a few had to ride in the rain or seek shelter away from the track. We were supposed to take a lap around at 1:15, but the rain hadn't subsided yet, so we were placed in a holding pattern until the weather cleared. We finally left the concession stand at about 2:30, lined up in groups of 10, and took our lap around the Speedway.

We headed north again from the track, soon after we found that a road had been closed for a bicycle race, so dad was charged with finding a detour for the pack of about 25 riders behind us. We wove around the west side of Indy, eventually finding ourselves back on the cue sheet. I led the pack much of the remaining distance to the hotel, the group turned off and dad and I continued on home. About a mile past the hotel I got a flat, a slow leak, but with only 2 miles to go we decided to inflate it and ride, hoping to get home before it went flat again. It worked, we made it back, exhausted as usual. I showered and changed, before too long we headed back for route rap at the hotel. At route rap we learned that Carl had taken a fall, and while I don't know the details, he is doing okay and hopes to rejoin the tour tomorrow. After dinner we returned home for a nice family dinner, hamburgers on the grill and corn on the cob. Tomorrow we ride to Richmond, on the Indiana/Ohio border. At least the weather will be much nicer, the skies are supposed to clear tonight, leaving us with clear, sunny skies tomorrow.

Phil's Log

Coming soon...