Blue skies with some puffy clouds and mid 70’s. The Iowa bike trail system is really healthy it seems. Well marked and well maintained, the paths seem to crisscross the state. Of the nearly 70 miles I rode today, 65 were on a bike path. So nice. Lots of people out biking, walking, outside. What an asset. Stopped in Waterloo for the night.
I try to clean my chain each evening after the day’s ride and discovered something unsettling last evening. I noticed that my back rim was cracked in 2 places. These rim is aluminum and apparently fatigued from the miles of this trip and prior rides. Add to it the weight of the load (me and the gear or 270 pounds-ish, and you get a situation where a good bump in the road can cause damage. I think I remember where those bumps were yesterday. I called Scott (see yesterday’s post), who called Myron, who called me to arrange for support. He told me of the names of a couple of shops in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, who might be open. Geoff’s cycle and Ski was open today from 12-5. Closed tomorrow as is everyone else. Myron picked me up and all my gear at 11:00AM. We were at the dhop by noon. Young Luke said he could build the wheel and give the rest of the bike a once over. We cam back in 2 hours and i was on my way by 2:30. What wonderful acts of kindness. Truly. I always wondered why anyone would live in the middle part of the country, away from the oceans. I am getting a sense that the tightness and mutual care of the community is the draw. People help each other. It’s probably not universally true, but community it alive and well in Muscatine. And Genheseo. And, … the list goes on.
I said a tearful farewell to Nancy at noon on Friday and set off for Geneseo, IL to stay with Warm Showers hosts Scott and Jennifer, and family. The ride was along the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail which was a little bumpy, grassy, bumpy at times. This speaks to the effort and resources needed to keep up bike trails once they are put down. At the end of the day, Scott picked me up in his truck saving me from some hills before his home. This was the beginning of what I hope is a long friendship. The stay was wonderful. Scott anf Jennifer have a warm family that really supports one another. Their grandson even started calling me Uncle Dave. Scott has a very cool car collection and took me for a ride in a 64 Mustang. Kent, Scott’s brother, who is an avid and accomplished pilot, showed me around the small airfield. The yellow Piper Cub is beautiful.
After saying goodbye (should have been “see you later” instead) I left for Iowa. Crossed the Mississippi in Davenport and continued to where I spent the night, Muscatine. A person in the lovely park in the center of town told me Muscatine is the only unique town name in the US.
First, let me tell you about yesterday. I rode about 50 miles to the town of Morris. The morning highlight was riding with 2 people from Joliet, Il, Ken and Joan. So nice! We met on the path in Frankfort, IL. The 3 of us rode for about 10 miles until Ken turned for home. Joan rode on for another 7 miles or so. Thank you!!! Joan’s a long time member of the Joliet Cycle club. Frankfort is beautiful. Rode with Rudy, a bikepacker and board member of the Illinois Bike Coalition heading out for a few days at Starved Rock State Park. We were both traveling the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail. I had a chance to meet a curious guy from Joliet who loved my bike setup. We chatted for 15 or 20 minutes. Leon shared with me that he’d lost his 16 year old daughter the day before. I am so very sorry Leon. ❤️
In the afternoon I rendezvoused with Nancy who flew into Chicago from Portland!!!! So nice!! I can’t describe in words the feeling of being together after nearly 4 weeks. Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring the area.
Nance and I threw the bike in the back of the rented Pathfinder (no need to remove the front wheel) and st out for a state park. We had a lovely lunch on the banks of the Illinois River where we saw eagles and pelicans. Pelicans! We played cards and just soaked up each other’s presence. At the park we met Sundara Fawn, a mystic and entrepreneur. Such a positive light!!
So nice to be together.
From the wide open spaces of Indiana to an Urban Illinois outside of Chicago. Met my new hero today, Tom from Crown Heights. Tom was on his bike moving fast yet taking the time to ride with me for 10 miles or so. Turns out Tom rides 25 miles or so every day. Turns out he is 87 years old. I was floored and inspired. Tomorrow my wonderful partner and spouse, Nancy, flys into Chicago to hang out with me for 2 days. How nice.
Moved into the Central time zone after I convinced myself that my speed was improving dramatically. No, it’s not. Warm Showers again last night with Pam and Vaughn. Great people. Kind and generous. Farmhouse was unique. Comfortable and homey.
It’s always fun when someone asks me where I started and where I’m going as I pass by. Sarah is not only curious, but super nice and encouraging. So nice to cross paths Sarah!!
I am 9 windy miles outside the town of Rochester , IN staying with a wonderful Warm Showers couple having spent the night last night with a really wonderfully generous couple, Cassie and Bill. They invited me in despite the fact they were hosting a neighborhood meeting and greet. I was also invited to the party. The neighbors were so incredibly inclusive. Really very special.
The ride yesterday was long, 103 mides. Today, 58 miles. Tomorrow 68. So the miles keep accumulating, 1,277. Riding the Rail Trails is such a treat. Tomorrow I turn towrds Chicago. Getting cooler. Going to be in the 40s.
And finally today, my hero Landon who encouraged me and gave me some important directions.
One of the really unsurprising, but profound things about a bike trip across the country is the perspective shift of how one sees the landscape. I’ve often seen the country, Ohio say, from the air and it looks flattish with rivers and lots of farms. I’ve driven through parts of northern Ohio, Cleveland, and seen things from the ground but through the window of a metal container. On the bike, I feel an appreciation for how an ant may view the world. The world is reduced to what’s around you. Every journey has the element of getting from point A to point B. What changes are the units we may use to measure movement, and the community of which we become a part through the journey. On a plane, I go from point A to point to point B, Portland to Seattle say, and my community is comprised my fellow passengers, airport people, airline workers. On a bike, it’s fellow bikers, people willing to share directions or water or both, people in cars traveling along the same road, hosts, people doing their daily work.
I am learning to better listen and to appreciate the voices of helpful strangers, voices of the people in my life who love me most, of my friends and fellows. The sounds of birds, cows, frogs, the wind. And a contentment and peace within. A real connection to a power greater than myself.
So Ohio, I think of you as wonderful cousins and a loving aunt, as humble farmers and people devote in their faith, as people willing to share their time with a stranger, as modest cities, as seemingly endless rows of corn or soy beans, of deer, of beautiful bike paths, of rural roads with so few cars, of the beginning of the checkerboard agricultural landscape which will be the setting for many of my upcoming miles.
Wow, I can understand if you are saying “stick to the photos, Dave”. Taking a day off here in Richmond, IN. Reflecting on yesterday, I met a new hero of mine, Scott. Scott has been on his bike for many miles over the years, nearly 50,000. He said he’ll reach that milestone next week! Scott is visiting all 51 national parks on his bike a few each summer. Next summer will be the final with a trip to Glacier. Scott’s pedaled almost literally around the world. This is so inspiring. Meeting others on their way across country has been equally inspiring.
Stats:
As of August 21, 20 days away, 17 riding and 3 off. 1,116 miles, 66 miles a day average.
It feels like I’ve been in Ohio for many days. Part of this is my visit to Cleveland. But tomorrow by the end of the day I will be in Indians. Here are the Rail to Trails maps for these 2 stated courtesy of Rails to Trails website. Today was 77 miles of nearly flat trail riding with a brief onroad section in Columbus.
Met a solo rider going from West to East. My friend Matt.
Jackie and David from CT touring from Cleveland to Cincinnati.
Yesterday, the 19th, was the 16th day of the tour. I found myself in Westerville, OH, a quaint suburb of Columbus. I pulled in at about noon hoping for a quick bike checkup before meeting my Warm Showers host Charles. David was THE man at The Westerville Bike Shop when he enthusiastically said no problem to my request. Tightened the gear cassette, regreased bearings, tightened up the seat post, and trued my wheels. All while I strolled down the street to by ice cream. And the ice cream was sublime.
Dave goes West 