Day 43: Washington to Confluence

90.43 mi max 44.0 6:10.07 avg 14.6

The first part of today's ride was pretty tough. Either I was going 3 mph or 30...the hills were straight up and straight down. The hills are VERY challenging out here. They are longer and steeper, and with fewer downs to help with the ups, than in Montana or Wisconsin. Needless to say, I took the climbs slow.

The first water stop was at an aquatorium - bleachers overlooking the Monongahela River...and it was kinda cool that they were painted like an American flag. Charlie joined us last night in Washington, PA. and he'll be with us for our final week. And Brian took today off, because there's something wrong with his neck - he slept crooked.

The second stop was at the head of the Youghigheny River Trail. I spent some time at the bike shop and got a GINORMOUS ice cream cookie sandwich that actually didn't taste like much at all...but it was big. In the meantime, rider Mark showed up and got a bunch of things and about 3 seconds after we were both ready to shove off, his tire blew out. So, I passed a bit more time talking to 3 girls and waited for him. In return for waiting, I got pulled...my average at the beginning of the bike trail was 13.1...and it went up by 1.5 mph.

At mile 62, Fred had set up a luncheon for us, but all I wanted was ice water. I didn't even eat anything (it might have been too much ice cream). It felt entirely like naptime.

During the first part of the trailride, on the crushed limestone), Mark was hauling it at 18 mph. After, he said apologetically, "I won't be able to keep that up." That was fine because I was really tired. When we got to Ohiopyle, Moon caught up to us and we all stopped for soda & water at a little cafe. As we were leaving, Mark asked how many more miles. I answered, "Ten." "Let's just pound 'em out." So that' s what we did. We caught up to Moon and saw two deer who only looked at us (a fawn and its mother). No pics. When I got into camp, I just laid on my thermarest to take a nap.

The hardest part today was being alongside the river and watching kayakers playing. I wanted my boat SO badly!

And the worst part of today was putting on soaking wet clothing first thing this morning. EWWW!!!

Day 42: State # 11

62.58 mi max 48.0 4:41.44 avg 13.3

Today's ride was like Quabbin ride...maybe a few steeper downhills (I've only ever hit 43). I did it in well under 5 hours. I can't wait to go home! By this time next week, I'll be halfway to Kim & Dom's from DC: 100 miles out of town.

I rode alone today, which was fine! In Midland, I met up with Heidi & Matt of grad school fame. It was so awesome of them to come down! I do have the best friends in the world. And I talked to Ellen today....I definitely have a place to stay when I get into Boston!

Midland's heyday - if it ever had one - happened well before we arrived. There really wasn't much in the town, aside from 2 or 3 nuclear power plants - a very depressed place. The diner in town was good, though. Or maybe we've gotten to the point where any kind of food is good food.

The hills were more intense than they have been. That made things a bit more challenging for me. But...I did it well and I'm happy with that.

I stopped at a Subway just before camp, where Moon & a bunch of other people were hanging out. He went to Iraq as a soldier and was telling us stories about what it was like over there. Moon also talked about the readjustment to the real world...and we wondered if we'll have to do the same thing - be reprogrammed to fit in with "regular" people...

The campground this evening is pretty limited. The "camp store" consists of two soda machines. There are no laundry facilities (should have taken care of that last night). In fact, there isn't much of anything. They gave us this really big hill to set up on. Fortunately, there are trees at the top of the hill, so for those who are willing to put forth a little more effort, a REAL backcountry campsite can be had - and it's flat!

Day 41: Burton to New Waterford, OH

60.88 mi max 39.0 4:29.03 avg 13.5

Another flat tire today. I ran over some piece of metal on the road and it sliced my tire. Christy stopped and helped me put a boot in it (a folded dollar bill)...and I was back on the road. Debbie and I rode together today. After Warren, I decided I really wanted ice cream...but of course, nothing was open at 10:00 am. We got to Dairy Queen at 10:55, so we waited for it to open. In the meantime, some guy on a bike approached us and told us to visit the largest outdoor dog show in the US (who'd've guessed in Nowhereville, OH???) It was cool - I saw some Airedale Terriers, like Duffy from Maine...and lots of other breeds that I didn't recognize and Bassett Hounds and Great Danes and one yellow lab that Just Wanted To Go Home. Debbie and I watched a part of one show where the dogs basically had to do dressage, and stay and fetch over a fence. I MISS MADISON!!

After, Debbie & I went to Das Dutch Haus, an Amish restaurant. The food was very yummy and home-cooked and cheap. And I had bluberry cream pie, which was a crumb crust with blueberries and then a layer of blueberry-custardy stuff, and then a layer of meringue. One of these days, I'll bike enough to actually lose weight.

The talent show was tonight, so I got to play, and I was a part of some acts, too...including Debbie's Big Ride Blues, and James's and Steve's Harmonica/Jaw Harp duo. Everyone was really good. Ellen wrapped herself in balloons, and inside each of the balloons was a question. Some of them were really funny - one person had to kiss the person sitting next to her...
Charlie also did the Squincher Blues, accompanied by Steve on harmonica, and John did another blues song. Norm was emcee for the night...he even invited his friend, "Minerva". Dave W. was hysterical. His act was split in two, the first being "The Translations of Moon." Moon redefines personality - there are so many things about Moon that make him who he is, which is very cool. I do hope that we get to hike the Appalachian Trail together in 2008. Dave's other skit was even funnier - he would impersonate members of the group, saying something that they might have said. Then, he'd take a sip of "truth serum" and say what they were REALLY thinking. For example, (I'll quote Christy, because she's already written it so well): For example, Dave pretended to be the Event Coordinator on the teleconference with us back in April saying, "Oh...you'll get used to sleeping in your tent. You'll love it! You'll be so tired at the end of riding all day, that you'll fall right to sleep." After the "truth serum" his translation was, "You're going to loathe your tent by the end of this trip. It is going to be miserable sleeping in a wet, humid, sweaty, smelly space. Don't worry about the brown spots that will form on the walls of your tent...that's just mold! You'll want to burn your tent when this is over!!"
Eric K. also did some funny impersonations. His schtick was associating members of our group with movies. Jim, of course, was the Terminator: "I'll be back!" He's made an amazing recovery after his fall just a few days ago. I wish I could remember what he said for Brokeback Mountain. Anyway, it was great entertainment. WAY better than TV :)

This campground is called Terrace Lakes. That describes it pretty well. There are a couple of terraces. The sides of the hills are forested, giving each plateaued area a sense of privacy. As an added bonus, the talent show was on a little pavillion. I guess it doesn't matter so much because it wasn't raining.

Day 40: And Burton.....doesn't quite rock!

Stats from both days are combined for Day 39.

We slept in until 10:00...so it really was just like a rest day, sort of. Charlie & Steve left really early, and Alice had planned to do the Art Museum with Alan. Mark & I headed out for breakfast/lunch at a deli place in a mall. The part of Cleveland we were in was much like the Financial District in Boston - after 5 pm, the WHOLE PLACE is shut down, and it doesn't open up until the business people come back. And there aren't a whole lot of options. We did ride our bikes inside, much to the dismay of some security officer. It was probably the most exciting thing he'd seen all week long...the mall was kind of fancy-schmancy and didn't seem too busy.

The ride wasn't bad, although hillier than I'd expected. We stopped for ice cream at Dairy King (locally owned & VERY good) and chatted with a local woman. Alan, we noted when he drove by, had Alice's bike with him and therefore Alice. We later found out that Alice had not felt well that morning, had then gotten lost and was on the wrong road and was almost hit. I guess that's probably enough excitement for one day.

Dinner was at Joel's Italian-American restaurant. Dave F. and I walked down to the center of town together. The town reminded me very strongly of my hometown, with a common, and a very low-key "business district" - basically a couple of shops and a few restaurants. Dave and I talked about adversity in riding. He admitted that he really likes and thrives on adversity - the heat, the wind, the humidity, the hills, etc. Right now, my ideal day of riding is almost like the day into Sandusky: mostly flat, with a stiff tailwind, and I like about 70 degrees and sunny. Anything other than that is just a matter of finding a way to cope with it. I guess some people embrace the difficulties, and others (like me) just transmutate into ducks and extremophiles. (But then I don't have issues, I have a lifetime subscription).

Oh yeah, AND I got my violin today. Well, Laura's violin. I was so excited to play!

Day 39: Cleveland Rocks!

99.42 mi max 39.0 7:24.10 Avg 13.4

The humidity finally broke with a storm that came across Lake Erie. I rode with Debbie R for most of the day (after the flat tire that I got ten miles into the ride). I also rode with a vacationer for a little while. He knew lots about the area, which was cool...including a bit about the guy who'd built himself a place to hide in the event of a nuclear war. He sells them, too, if anyone's interested. "Crazy old nut," was the vacationer's comment.

Anyway, as we were talking, I saw lots of flashing lights up ahead, and I commented, "I hope that's not one of our guys." Sure enough, it was Jim. The ambulance crew already had him collared - his face was all bloody but he was talking. The police officer asked me if I knew him, and when I said yes, motioned for me to stay. Apparently he took quite a header across a ditch in the road - which had been dug up in between when Justin passed through and when Jim did.

Debbie & I took our time. It was nice, especially after having pushed so hard for the last week. Our first rest stop was hosted by a couple, 2 former Big Riders, Stan & Cheryl. More really good food. We also took a detour up to a bike shop - it seems as though the creaky sound in my headset is gone! At the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, Deb and I waited for staff-Mark & Alan - she was finished for the day and I was headed for my hotel.

I met up with Mark at the Gateway Radisson. The general consensus was to walk around a bit, get lunch, and then go back & nap before going out. We had lunch at Panini's, a bar & grill place - not a bad sandwich. It's interesting that they put fries and cole slaw right on their sandwich. It was different but really good. Our walk took us to the science museum - Mark chose to head back, but a chance to hang out in a science museum, even for just an hour, wasn't something I could pass up. My favorite two exhibits were an interactive music lab (it allowed for a lot of improvisation, which was cool) and also a flying simulation over the Grand Canyon. I bounced off of the rocks and hit the water a lot...but it was fun!

Short nap then out for dinner at a fancy brewery and a blueberry beer that was really good. Charlie, Steve, Alice, Mark & I were "the gang"...although Alan showed up later. After, Mark & I went to another bar. We started talking with a couple next to us, and got into a discussion about what had brought us to Cleveland. "We're on a cross-country bike trip to raise money for the American Lung Association," said Mark. "Oh," said the guy. He was a little older, and he put down his cigarette to pull up the side of his shirt, revealing a vivid, pink scar. As a result of his addiction to cigarettes, he'd already had one lung removed...and he was still smoking. I don't get it.

Day 38: The THIRD Broken Spoke

88.81 mi max 29.0 5:03.44 avg 17.5 mph!!!

I'm so excited to go to Cleveland! Alice, Mark, Charlie & I got 2 rooms...it will be fun. Plus, we'll only have about 40 miles or so to Burton on our rest day - the humidity will be down, so it will be a walk in the park - so to speak.

Today's ride went soooooo fast. Look at my stats - I've NEVER had that kind of average, especially over 88 miles. Hello tailwind! And, actually, my average was 17.8 up until my group lost me. I started out with Mark...then we picked up Sean, Will, Dominic, and Kim. We were flying at 20 mph or so, with Dom & Mark taking turns pulling. It was actually kind of scary being in a group that big. At one point, we all pulled into a church parking lot to change over our maps. The turn was sudden, and I don't remember who was leading. Anyway, there was a lot of gravel between the road and the pavement of the parking lot, and I almost hit it...and didn't have time to tell Will behind me that there was gravel up. He hit the ground, but amazingly, was unscathed.

After the first water stop, our group split up and I went with Dom & Kim until the second water stop. I took a little extra time at Anna Marie's stop, so Dom & Kim went on ahead. I'd been with other people a lot these past few days (since the discovery that I can go fast with other riders), and didn't mind going on my own.

Bad decision. About a mile and a half after the water stop, I was reading my DRG as I rode...and noticed that it said something about really bad tracks....thu-dum-bum-bump. Yep, I found 'em the hard way. That moment of not paying attention cost me another spoke. Rider-Mark was not long behind me, so he stayed with me...although neither of us could do much because the spoke was, again, on the drive-train side of the rear wheel. This makes a spoke replacement more difficult, because it's necessary to remove the rear cassette (all the gear thingies on the rear wheel.) This requires a special tool called a chain whip...which is big and heavy, and I don't have one.

Fortunately, Moon was right behind us, because he has the capability to fix a spoke - he has a travel version of a chain whip. The bike store from which I'd bought my spokes before I left home had given me the wrong size in the rear - previously, Alan had had to cut down my spokes in order to put them on the bike. (A short spoke won't reach the rim of the wheel, and a spoke that's too long will poke through the rim and tear a hole in the tube.) Mark saved the day, though, because he had a spoke that fit my wheel. Alan's timing couldn't have been better - Moon had everything finished up just as Alan pulled up in his van.

After that little episode, Larry, Moon, Mark, and I hauled it to Sandusky. Most of the time it was 21-22 miles per hour, with a very stiff tailwind. It was awesome. Mark pulled really hard, too, around 23 mph, so when it was my turn, I was already tired and couldn't go in front for very long...but I did what I could.I lost them just before town because of a stoplight. Then I really got stuck when a train went through, with about 100 trailers (for tractor trailers).

Finally, tonight was Cedar Point, which was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great roller coaster rides. We could have spent more time there, but we have to ride tomorrow. I guess the Ride used to stay in Sandusky, but now it's in Exciting Burton. Mark, Anna, Debbie, and I hung out at the park. The best one was the Millenium, at the very end - Mark and I were the only ones to go on that ride. It was wild...I love getting lifted up out of my seat :-)

Day 37: Kendallville, IN to Napoleon, OH

71.51 mi max 31.0 4:32.48 avg 15.7

Can you say State #10?!? I love the way it only takes us two or three days to get through a state around here. SWEET!!!

If I ever dreamed of buying a tube of Desitin, I certainly never in my life dreamed that I would actually use it. Long days on the bike plus nasty humidity are an easy recipe for some serious saddle sores. I'll do whatever works...and if it means I have to use Desitin, then so be it!

Make sure you read the sign above - I think you should be able to enlarge it by clicking on it. I liked it. A lot.

Deb is back towards Virginia now...I think it's probably best for her.It's got to be REALLY difficult to watch all of us riding, knowing that she cannot. Anyway, her latest missive described skinny-dipping with a group of anarchists. .

More cornfields & beans today. Within 6 miles, I'd had another flat - annoying!!! The mosquitoes were FAR worse than Alaska. In fact, that was everyone's biggest complaint about the camp this morning. A person leaving his or her tent in the middle of the night had to be expedient or risk anemia. Anyway, Anna was behind me by 5 minutes, so I pumped up my tire from the safety of her van. Just before checkpoint #2, Moon, Justin & Larry caught up to me so I pulled in behind. Some kids were out doing a water sale/car wash. We stopped, figuring that it would be a great way to support the local economy. After Larry finished with his water, he handed the bottle back to one of the kids, who looked at one of the girls and whined, "You refill it this time!"

We lost Larry in Butler, IL, and shortly afterwards, Moon & I caught up to Justin. I should mention that I talked to some creepy guy outside a convenience store, eating a hot dog at 9:30 in the morning. He had long, scraggly hair and a beard, and his sholder bones protuded sharply form his back. He was wearing a blue tank top, and was riding a mountain bike. His story was that he'd biked to Ohio from San Jose, CA (he has family here, he said). He was 18 when he did it, and now he was 45. He was getting bored, he said, and it was time to move on...according to the story, he biked in 4 days & 3 nights, him and a few friends.

He also wanted to know what we'd get out of this trip. That's a really good question, for which I didn't really have an answer. There are people on the trip who do, I'm sure, and wouldn't have stood there. Why am I doing this trip? I love to travel, I love to bike, I love helping other people. Why not take a train, though? I'd still be traveling. Why not bike around Massachusetts? There are plenty of places closer to home that I haven't ever visited. Why not volunteer in a soup kitchen or donate another pint of blood? Those are helpful things. All that still doesn't answer what I'm getting out of it. Maybe I had to take this adventure on because it's there. I have to find ways to constantly challenge myself, whether it's physically or mentally...and this Big Ride Across America meets that need - that's what I'm getting out of it.

Enough philosophical mumbo-jumbo...back to the ride! Moon & Justin were great fun to ride with. We went to a bar at lunchtime. In our defense, there weren't any restaurants in town that were open, just another bar down the street. It didn't matter to us, anyway, where we went as long as it was out of the heat. They ordered nachos and I got a sundae. I'm liking this see-food diet!

Of the 38 riders, only 12 tents are set up at the Henry County fairgrounds. Correction, 38 riders plus 5 staff...and all the staff are camping. So, there are probably 30 of us riders here in the air-conditioned hotel. The staff at the hotel have been extremely accomodating. We all probably would have found an alternative for dinner, except that it was Dennis's birthday, and it just didn't seem right to be away for such an important occasion. The hotel had one car which it used as a shuttle, and the Indian man who was driving it made a LOT of trips between the hotel and the fairgrounds. To alleviate some of the driving, one of Roberta's friends had a 5-person van and, and she transported 8 people to dinner.

As an additional bonus, I found out by email that Andy is going to take Madison for the rest of the time that I'm away! Yeah!! I have the best friends in the whole wide world :-)

Day 36: Out of the frying pan & into the fire

91.31 mi max 29.0 6:05.54 avg 15.0

My tent is a sauna. You can tell EXACTLY where I've been sitting on my Thermarest. Breathing is an effort. It is so hot and humid. Everything I own is wet. Even my laundry which I dried in the dryer is back to being damp.

When we get to Cleveland, Mark, Christy & I are getting a hotel room and we'll just stay there.

It's so humid that I'm considering taking Benadryl to get to sleep.

The ride: hot & humid. I coasted behind Justin for 40 miles, and that was pretty sweet. After checkpoint, though, I started out on my own and was stopped (taking pictures of llamas) when Justin went by. Later on, I tried to latch on to Christy & Mark but I was really wiped after the day. We did go through Topeka, an Amish community. There were a lot of Amish on the roads today, riding their bicycles. A lot of them have phone booths on their property - they don't like the modern stuff in their homes, intruding on their old way of life and disrupting focus on the family. However, I did see some farmers today, with a horse drawn hay baler, but the baling part was run with a generator. For the most part, the day was flat. We were told that the biggest climb would be up the I-55 overpass. Not the most interesting day for scenery. So much of America, whether we'd like to believe it or not, is still farmland.

The mosquitoes here are the worst I've seen on the trip. And, for that matter, the bathrooms rank pretty low too. The showers are in a separate building. Each dimly lit chamber has two sections, one presumably for changing and the other for showering. Not that it matters much - there is so much moisture in the air that you would do as well to shower with your clothes on. As you enter the once-(possibly?)-peach-colored cell, the heavy door swings shut with a heavy, foreboding boom. The urge to run out of the shower is overwhelming - when you turn on the faucet, will it be water or will you be gassed in this Nazi death camp? Even if you manage to keep your clothes dry, it won't make any difference. All the moisture is trapped and as you struggle to dry yourself (with a camp towel the size of a kleenex), you sweat so profusely that your camp towel becomes soaked...so you need to take another shower...it's a vicious, never-ending cycle.

It's really hot.

Before he left, John told his colleagues, "Just follow the hottest part of the US, that will be our group." It was supposed to be a joke....

Day 35: Coal City to LaPorte, IN

109.26 mi max 27.0 6:49.57 16.0 mph

Dinner tonight exceeded opulent. There was a pig roast put on by the entire town of LaPorte. In addition to the pig, there was grilled-in-the-husk corn, green salads, pasta and potato salads, chips, desserts and food, food, and more food. And a keg. There was a flute quartet, too. There were reflexologists there, also - free foot massages sounded great to me! And everyone was sooooo nice! Larry, the guy who organized the whole thing, is a former Big Rider, so he gets the whole town involved in laying out a spread for all the cyclists coming through on the Big Ride. It was AMAZING.

The mosquitoes here rival Alaska. Very impressive in their tenacity. Thank god for DEET!! (Better living through chemistry, haha).

The humidity is still nasty, but at least it's cooling down a bit. My riding clothes - non-cotton! - didn't dry this afternoon, from their washing yesterday, even though I hung them on the chain link fence. Ugh.

Today's ride totally rocked, although I didn't see much of it. I started at 6:05, first out of camp. I really wanted to attempt to beat the heat & humidity today (with over a 100 miles to do...right...). Around 30 miles, Christy & Moon caught up to me, and we followed the DRG. It said to turn right, so we did. It should have been a left onto IL 50. For the next 40 miles, I let them pull me. It was awesome - so many times I hardly had to work. Shortly after we crossed into Indiana (there was no sign to take pictures of), there were a couple of small hills, but enough of a challenge that I couldn't keep up with Christy & Moon. About 10 miles later, Justin, Bob & Larry passed me, so I hung onto their train. They pulled off for lunch and I continued on alone. As it turned out, I was the first person into the third water stop, and I had the important position of scoping out the ice cream situation (it was open, and very good - although I think I detected a few ice crystals. I miss BART'S!). As I stepped out of Pat's Ice Cream Parlor, I saw an approaching storm. Looking at it, it was not a question of whether or not we were screwed, but when and to what degree. I rounded one corner and was hit by a full force headwind...but it was also 20 degrees cooler. Not long after, Justin's group came by again, so I latched back on to the train. They pulled pretty hard, and I stuck with it, all 25 miles into camp. Traditionally, everyone takes a turn up front, and when Larry bowed out, I said, "I don't know if I can pull." He said, "Do the best you can." So...I took off. I guess it was a little fast, 20 mph...after, they said they had a tough time keeping up and were about ready to ask me to slow down. I was into camp by 2 pm; we were the 3rd group in. First was Dave, then Moon & Christy, then us 4. Yeeee-ha!!

The only bad thing about today is that I didn't take any pictures during the ride...but there really wasn't much to see, either.

Day 34: Belvidere to Coal City

105.20 mi max 26.0 6:57.01 avg 15.1

This weather reminds me of Trinidad. It is hot and humid. I went into my tent this afternoon and sat on the floor for a few minutes. It was more like a sauna, and when I moved, there was a big wet spot where I'd been. Well, two hours later, the wet spot was still there. What separates this from Trinidad is the predictability of rain. If only we could get some rain, we might have a chance of surviving this.

I saw my first Dunkin Donuts since Seattle. While that is a questionable measure of "progress," it does mean that I'm definitely making my way east.

Today I rode with Dom & Kim. Mostly backroads, very bumpy. I guess they have expansion joints in the road, but they aren't friendly surfaces for cyclists. Lots of corn & beans for scenery. We did have one unique rest stop today. There's a guy, Lyle, who has two BARNS full of bikes - the barns are so full that bikes are oozing out at the seams. Well, maybe it's not that bad - but he does a lot of repair work on old bikes, and chances are pretty good that you'll find your first, second, and maybe even third bike somewhere in his barns. The red barn with the bikes is Lyle's; the barn that's being held up by posts is just a random, ramshackle barn.

This campground, here in Coal City, is terrible. There are ants everywhere. The bathroom is so hot that it makes the sauna of my tent attractive. The showers don't drain (also like my tent). As soon as I turned off the hot water, I started sweating again and my dry clothes became my wet clothes. There is a lake here, created by the mining process. The water barely qualified as refreshing, as it was like a lukewarm bath. And it had that green, post-mining tinge.

Last night, Paula was very apologetic that there would be a pizza night - but I thought it was great. Especially the dessert pizza, one that was apple & another that was cherry. In other very exciting news, Debby finished her first-ever century. She came in right in the nick of time, before dinner. It was very cool - Brian went out to meet her at the entrance and escort her into camp, and the rest of us formed a receiving line. Our slightly-damaged Deb didn't make it into tonight, although I can hardly blame her. It's so much work to move around without an injury. I think she's heading to Chicago and will meet up with us later on.

Day 33: State #8 - Illinois!

84.95 mi max 31.0 6:09.04 avg 13.8

The dew fell early this evening. By 9 pm, everything outside was SOAKED. I've brought into my tent my camp towel and all of today's clothes which I tried to wash in the sink. Maybe everything will dry...but I'm not going to hold my breath on it.

Tonight we are staying at a campground called "Outdoor World". Our host, Beth, and her staff donated the space where we are setting up our tents, as well as the food. The perimeter of the grassy space is created by the circular driveway. Putting 30-odd tents in this area is tricky at best - if we weren't close before, we certainly are now. Dinner is, of course, Friday Night Fish Fry. A HUGE thanks to Paula for getting some veggie trays - the only color in our dinner this evening (well, those who didn't abandon FNFF in favor of Blimpie's subs). Outdoor World isn't bad, overall...there's a ginormous pool, and it's quiet. Some riders found solace in the TV and air conditioning of the Indoor World here at Outdoor World.

The humidity has picked up...they even have license plates warning us how it will be. That's got to be a bad sign. I miss the West for that reason alone - I'd rather take 114 in the Badlands instead of 90 deg. and 99% humidity.

I met a guy on a recumbent this morning, Bill Gemplar (although I think I might be mangling his last name). We rode together for about a mile. He said that he was delivering some mail up the hill...had a been a few seconds earlier, I'd have caught him at his other house where he'd have given me orange juice. The amount of kindness in other people is astounding...perhaps it's because we only hear about the bad stuff.

I'm in Illinois now. It seems strange to think of how far I've come. As surreal as Washington, DC was from Seattle, it doesn't seem possible that I've travelled 2200 some-odd miles. I can tell you that I've biked for over a month...or that rest stops are 20-30 miles apart...but really, 2200 miles doesn't have any concrete meaning for me.

I got another flat, courtesy of some nasty Illinois potholes. Dom & rider-Mark (as opposed to staff Mark) helped me this time. And, as usual, I rarely stopped, although I did get the picture of Argyle. Charlie, Dave F & I rode in the last two miles or so together. And Mark & I rode a few miles together - he was taking it easy because of a broken spoke.

I can't wait to see Madison!!!