A Visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

     On Wednesday, we cycled 55 miles through lovely Amish farm country in Ohio, from Ashland to Canton. Helped by favorable winds, we arrived in Canton in plenty of time to have some minor bike repairs done and then to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Canton has a special place in the history of professional football, as the American Professional Football Association, the predecessor of the National Football League, was founded there in 1920.
     We continue to be struck by how car-oriented and pedestrian-unfriendly the medium-sized towns are in Indiana and Ohio. We went to a restaurant about a half mile from our hotel, and without a car the only choices to get there were to bike on unbikable roads or walk on unwalkable roads. We chose the latter, walking beside a highway through weeds and dirt and crossing two multi-lane roads without benefit of pedestrian crossing lights.

An Amish farm near Ashland, Ohio

At the front entrance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame building

The Historic Lincoln Highway

     Most of our ride on Tuesday, from Upper Sandusky to Ashland (both in Ohio) was on small, quiet roads through beautiful farmland. We're fortunate that many of the small roads in Ohio are paved, allowing us to get off the medium-sized roads that have formed the bulk of our cross-country trip.
     Our route through the last three states of our trip -- Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- is on or close to the historic Lincoln Highway. It was the first cross-country highway, conceived in 1912 and formally dedicated in 1913 by auto enthusiasts and auto industry officials. It extended from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, and was known as "The Main Street Across America". Information about the highway is available from the Lincoln Highway Association (www.lincolnhighwayassociation.org) and state chapters in the 12 states its traverses. Much of the eastern part of the Lincoln Highway today coincides with US Route 30.

Cycling on the Lincoln Highway

A plaque dedicated to the Lincoln Highway

On a picturesque country road in Ohio

A mid-morning break for snack, water, and (as pictured here) email

Highway Exits: The New Centers of Commerce in Small-Town Middle America

     When we traveled through Montana and the Dakotas earlier in our trip, the towns we stopped in were too small (~1000 people) to attract chain hotels & motels. Over the past couple of weeks in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, & Ohio, we've generally been staying at chain hotels (Best Western, Comfort Inn, Microtel, Super 8, etc.) in larger towns of ~8000-20000 people. These are located not in the town centers, but 1-2 miles away at the nearest highway exit, together with chain stores (Walmart, KMart, ...) and chain restaurants (Macdonalds, Burger King, Arby's, Dairy Queen, ...). With the centers of commerce shifted to the highway exits, the downtowns are often shabby, with a lot of boarded up storefronts and no active hotels. Fortunately, most of the towns have at least one reasonable downtown restaurant, allowing us to avoid the unhealthy junk food found at the highway exits.
     Monday morning started at one highway exit hotel -- Microtel in Delphos, OH -- and ended in another -- Comfort Inn in Upper Sandusky, OH. The day began the way Sunday evening ended: with a power failure at our hotel, the result of a lightning strike right beside the hotel on Sunday evening. Once we left the hotel, however, the ride was a pleasant and fast one, helped by a friendly west wind.

Our starting point on Monday morning. The trucks outside were part of the effort to fix the power failure that began 12 hours earlier.

Ducking under a tree for protection from an early morning rain

Stuck at a railroad crossing when the train stopped moving

We went past the end of the train, crossed the tracks, walked our bikes through someone's back yard, and proceeded along our route

Arriving at our destination hotel, the Comfort Inn

Fortunately, there was a decent restaurant for lunch and dinner in Upper Sandusky, OH

Hot Times in Ohio

     Sunday's ride was long – 69 miles from Huntington, IN across the state border to Delphos, OH – as well as hot. We left early, at 7 am, to minimize our cycling time in the heat, but the temperature reached 90 degrees before noon, so we had a couple of sweltering hours in the heat before reaching our destination at 2 pm. Fortunately, the Ohio countryside was very pretty, with picturesque farms and farmhouses, making up in part for the discomfort of biking in the unpleasant heat.

     Our weather woes did not let up after getting to our hotel. There was a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain, leading to a power failure lasting several hours. Because of the heat and rain, we opted to have pizza delivered to our hotel instead of heading out to a restaurant for dinner.

Yet another state -- our second-to-last state border crossing of the trip

91 degrees at 11:49 am !!

Replenishing fluids in the heat

A pretty Ohio farmhouse

Another attractive farmhouse

Torrential rain during an early evening thunderstorm

Pizza and chocolate cake in our hotel lobby

Friendly Trucks: A Pleasant Surprise

     On Friday, we cycled in the Indiana countryside, mainly through farmland. Most of the roads were quiet, allowing us to ride side-by-side and talk while cycling -- somehow, we still have plenty to say to each other despite having spent every day, all day, together for over two months straight.
     An exciting event on Friday was Peter's first use of his dog-protecting pepper spray. A mean-looking dog (to Peter, that's redundant, since all dogs are mean-looking) ran onto the road barking at us and chasing us. The dog's intentions were unclear, so Peter drew the spray can quickly from its holster on his bike frame and fired away when the dog got to within 10 feet of us. The dog immediately stopped and turned away. Carol is clearly lucky to have such a brave, gallant partner!
     The roads on our trip to date have been highly variable: some busy, others quiet; some well paved, others full of cracks and potholes. Almost all have been two lane roads (one in each direction). A key feature of a road with respect to cycling is the nature of the shoulder. The best situation is to have a wide paved shoulder, since that allows us to move well off the main road surface when trucks coming roaring by. However, that type of shoulder has been quite infrequent -- a narrow shoulder or no ridable shoulder has been the norm. So our safety has been determined, in large part, by the willingness of trucks to give us enough room as they pass us. Before we started the trip, we had been warned about the mean, dangerous trucks we would encounter, especially in the "wild west" states like Idaho and Montana. A pleasant surprise has been the fact that the trucks throughout our trip have been exceedingly friendly, moving well away from us (often crossing halfway into the opposite lane) when passing us.

Scenes from our Friday ride:

A truck giving us plenty of leeway on a road with a narrow shoulder

Riding by a cornfield

Riding past a massive sprinkler

Riding though a forested area

Taking a break in the shade of a factory (because there were no stores or restaurants for most of our route), until we were booted off the grounds

From Chic Chicago, IL Through Gritty Gary, IN

     On Wednesday we lectured, and were wined and dined, at the University of Chicago. We had a great day, but the fact that it was the last teaching/lecture day of our trip was a sad reminder that our incredible adventure will be coming to an end in just over two weeks. We were hosted for our lectures and for lunch by Rich Baron, Chair of Radiology, David Paushter, Vice Chair of Radiology, and Aytekin Oto, Chief of Abdominal Imaging.
     On Thursday morning, we headed south along Chicago's lakeshore bike path. After riding through the South Side of Chicago, we passed through the rough and tumble towns along the shores of Lake Michigan, first in Illinois and then into Indiana. After leaving Gary, IN we headed southeast, away from the lake, to our pleasant destination town of Valparaiso, IN.

University of Chicago Medical Center

The lakeshore bike path out of Chicago

The first indication that we were in Indiana (no "Welcome to Indiana" sign on our road)

Cycling along the flooded street, beside a barbed wire fence, in Gary, Indiana

Reaching 3000 Miles, Then Pampering Ourselves in Chicago

     Tuesday morning began with several miles of cycling on rutted, shoulderless, nerve-wracking roads in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. Shortly after setting out, we passed another major milestone: 3000 miles. The latter part of our ride was on the bike path along the Lake Michigan shoreline, which was a delight and a welcome respite from the horrible Illinois roads.
     Once in Chicago, we spared no expense in lodging and dining. We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel, where we were upgraded to a two-room suite. Dinner was at the Everest Restaurant, one of only a handful of restaurants in the US to be granted the prestigious Relais and Chateaux status.

3000 miles!

Another Illinois road with a shoulder of unbikable loose gravel and heavy traffic

Cycling on the lakeshore path into the heart of Chicago

Our fine accommodations

Five-chocolate sampler for dessert

From Wisconsin to Illinois; From Great Roads to Horrible Roads

     On Monday morning we crossed from Wisconsin to Illinois. As soon as we crossed the state line, the roads took a dramatic turn for the worse. They had no shoulders or shoulders that were in such bad condition as to be unbikable, and the road surfaces themselves were often cracked and full of potholes. This made riding unpleasant and, at times, dangerous. We've cycled 2998 miles so far, in a broad variety of settings -- rural, small town, and large metropolitan areas in 15 states -- and the 35 miles of road conditions in Illinois have been the worst by far to this point.

     One of the many wonderful aspects of our trip has been the opportunity to get together with friends and relatives along the way. This morning we met with friends Brian and Karen McEathron over coffee and breakfast in the lovely town of Lake Geneva, WI. One of their comments was that we didn't look worn out after cycling three-quarters of the way across the country. We explained that, if anything, we get less and less spent as the trip progresses, since we're in considerably better shape now than we were when we first took off on April 20.

With Brian and Karen McEathron in Lake Geneva, WI

Saying goodbye to Brian

Carol smiling as we entered Illinois. The smile soon disappeared, once we had to deal with the horrible Illinois roads.

Biking with a Friend in the Dairy State

Sunday's ride was a wonderful 67-mile jaunt through some of the dairy farms for which Wisconsin is famous. A delightful element of the ride was having our friend Myron Pozniak join us for the first 27 miles. We applaud Myron's patience for putting up with our relatively slow pace, due in part to the 25 pounds of baggage that we carry.

Getting ready to set off from Madison, WI

Myron and Carol's feet would make a great ad for Sidi bike shoes

Some of the many dairy cows we passed

Madison: Lecturing and Visiting Friends in a Marvelous College Town

     We were scheduled to lecture at U Wisconsin beginning at 12 noon on Friday, so we started our ride from West Baraboo, WI early -- at 6:30 am -- and made sure to keep up a good pace. We arrived at out hotel in Madison at 10:30 am, giving us plenty of time to shower and change before heading to the Medical Center for our talks. We were hosted by good friends in the Radiology department -- Myron Pozniak and Mark Kliewer. On Friday evening, we went out for an excellent sushi dinner with Myron, his wife Kathy, Mark, and his wife Eileen.
     On Saturday, we got up early to eat breakfast at the farmer's market, then spent the day both touring the town and working on our book. Madison is a lovely college town,with a plethora of bicycles and full of eclectic restaurants and quirky shops.

Posing with Myron Pozniak

Posing with Mark Kliewer

Morning coffee and newspaper in the shadow of the state house

The Saturday morning farmer's market

Lunch outdoors at an Afghan restaurant

A town full of bicycles

A street artist at work

The Beautiful Wisconsin Countryside

Our last one-and-a-half days have been in rural Wisconsin. We've been on wonderful small roads through farmland. The terrain is quite similar to New England -- trees, rivers, hills -- and very different from the flat treeless plains of northern Montana and parts of the Dakotas where we were a little earlier in our trip.

Spectacular Wisconsin farmland

Another wonderful view

Quiet road, nice shoulder for biking

The perils of ignoring a "Road Closed Ahead" sign