Indiana and Illinois

Hanging out at the baseball game in Dayton was a lot of fun, and the next day we had a police escort out of town. With lights flashing, we were able to run the red lights and hold traffic up for 7 miles on our way out of Dayton. Thanks to everyone in Dayton who helped us out. They really made it an enjoyable couple of days.

From Dayton to Hartford City, IN was the group's longest day so far (well at least the longest planned day) at 96.7 miles. After our police escort we hit a bike trail and were able to move pretty quickly for most of the morning. Things were going well until storm clouds began to appear in the distance late in the afternoon. As the sky grew darker with about 20 miles left, Chad and I decided to try and out run the storm. At well above 20 miles per hour into a strong head wind we pushed ourselves really, really hard. The storm clouds kept moving closer and closer, and we kept riding faster. With just a mile or so left the thunder and lightning began, and we decided to just make it to the church instead of seeking cover. We reached St. John's about 15 seconds before the bottom fell out of the sky, and we hid under the awning until the pastor saw us from across the way. Everyone else was caught in it, but they all found shelter in barns, houses, and diners. They waited out the storm, and then made it in later that evening.

From Hartford City we had another long day (80.8) to West Lafayette, IN. It was a good day, although windy, and we made it to the Faith Community Center fairly early.

West Lafayette to Gilman, IL was one of the hardest days we've had on the bike so far. 88.8 miles seemed twice as long as we fought crazy strong headwinds (40 + mph at times) all day long. We left at 8 am, and the first group, which I was in, didn't make it to Gilman until 5 o'clock (It would have been 6 o'clock, but we crossed time zones). 10 hours from the time we left definitely makes it the longest day time wise I've had so far.

Gilman to Pontiac was a great, short day. 45 miles with a little wind, but we made the best of it. I got to lunch early, took a nap, ran a few errands, and then pushed the last 10 miles pretty hard. When I got in, Lisa, Katharine, and I walked to Dairy Queen where the couple in front of us in line treated us to free blizzards.

Pontiac is our first day off. Most of us went out last night, played some darts, and pool and such, and stayed up later than normal (my normal bedtime these days is around 9ish). This morning I slept late, and then a group of us went to eat breakfast and run some errands around town. Joe, Marty, and I convinced the local grocery store to give us their day old produce and breads tomorrow morning, and now we're back at the church watching a movie and relaxing.

I added new pictures today, you can check them out by clicking on the "Photo Album" links over on the right. Photo Album 2 is the newest one.

I'm 1321.8 miles into the trip, and 40 days away from Seattle!