The road so far:
Miles traveled: 2,222.08 miles
Elevation gained: 69,577 feet
The road yet to come:
Miles to go: 1,204.1 miles
Elevation to gain: 38,350 feet
Today was a nice treat - it was not only our fourth rest day, but I had a visitor for this stay - Teresa was able to come out to join me, and is staying until we depart tomorrow morning. She will be joining us again in Boston for the end of this journey.
As with all of the other rest days so far, there was much to do. Bike wash. Laundry. Touristy stuff. And, of course, REST!!! When I went to get the bike ready for washing, I discovered that the protective boot over the future shock is torn. (The future shock is a suspension device on the Roubaix that allows the handlebars to travel up and down slightly as you go over bumps or rough pavement, and it is covered by a rubber boot that keeps stuff from getting into it.) Oh well - I’m sure my bike shop will be able to fix it when I get home. Hopefully there will be no damage to the future shock itself and they’ll just have to replace the boot, but it is what it is.
After laundry and bike washing, we went out for Italian food, followed by a visit to a “natural area” in Busey Woods. Basically, it’s an area where the natural habitat of the local wildlife has been restored, and you can walk through to see the animals. Mostly deer, with birds as well.
(There was also an indoor part, the nature center.)
After our visit (and a nap), it was time for dinner. There was nothing too exciting to eat at the hotel, so we headed over to Red Lobster. Good thing we did! We ran into two other riders from our group, who mentioned the helmet decorating we were supposed to do for tomorrow, which I had COMPLETELY forgotten about! So after dinner it was time for a trip over to Party City to get what I needed. Teresa took a great picture of me wearing my completed helmet, but you will all have to wait for tomorrow’s blog post to see it! Our helmets are getting judged in the morning, and I can’t let “the competition” see my entry ahead of time….
Anyway, that’s all for now. Tomorrow is yet another big day - we will be crossing our eighth state line as we enter Indiana. 80.5 miles with 1,682 feet of climbing, but according to the weather forecast it will be our first true tailwind of the tour - I can’t wait! Anyway, see you tomorrow!
What will you do after this trip to keep your channel interesting? There's a whole world out there. I hope to do the eastern half of the US in 2026 - against the wind, or maybe with the wind - we'll see. In the meantime, Germany, Austria and Italy this fall and then from Frankfurt to Vienna in 2025. Europe is great - lots to see and lots of little roads. Oh, and interesting too.
ReplyDeleteNot really sure WHAT I'll do after this trip. Teresa and I have talked about possibly taking a cycling vacation in Europe somewhere, but that's not in the short term. In the short term we are thinking of doing the metric century route of the Ramapo Rally in August, but that sort of pales in comparison to this. I'm open to suggestions!
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