Some things I have done that are awesome. part 2

Tuesday June 24th 2008


Omg! Sweet balls of fire. Today I finished a nice little 129 mile trip from Attica, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois. My body hates me and I have to sleep.


Wednesday June 25th 2008


I feel so much better today than I did last night and I'm quite impressed with my body's ability to heal itself. I guess 13 hours of riding deserves 13 hours of sleep. Thinking back on yesterday I can't seem to get over how brutal it was at points and how I really didn't think I could make it.


Waking up at 7:00 am and realizing my knee could hardly bend was a troublesome kind of thought to have, especially when I had plans to ride at least 100 miles that day. After packing up camp and eating a healthy breakfast of crackers and cereal I made an attempt to ride my bicycle. No bueno. Your body has a pretty direct way of telling you how it's doing and right about now it was informing me that what I needed was to go to McDonald's, indulge in some pancakes and sausage and have some coffee.


After talking with the lady at the counter and enjoying the rare treat that is Micky dee's breakfast, I felt much better and my knees were working pretty well. From here on out it would be smooth sailing. Of course the smooth sailing part only lasted for about 60 miles at which point my perfectly crafted last minute Google map failed to inform me that the next 20 miles of road would be missing the shoulder and in it's place would be a 1 1/2 foot wide path of gravel! boo! 20 miles does not seem like that long but with a fully loaded bike and 23c tires it lasted for what felt like an eternity. Time and again I would find myself saying things like "don't give up!" or "this can't last forever!" but after 2 hours of riding, my top speed reaching about 6 mph, and the brutal heat I took refuge beneath a small bridge, ate some crackers, a can of baked beans, one more cliff bar and passed out.
While I lay asleep the temperature had steadily been climbing. returning to my bicycle also meant enduring the heat. It was the kind of heat that made it hard for everything to move, the flies floated along and the birds seemed to have lost their enthusiasm for song. The wheat along side the road looked as though it was ready to give up. The tree lined roads gave way to open fields as far as the eye could see with only tractors stirring up dust in the distance and semi trucks hauling down the open road. Just when I had given up for the about the tenth time, I came to a cross in the road and made to decision to abandon my planed route in favor of a less awful path.


It was as if all my hard work had payed off! the miles and miles of poor road and endless heat seemed to end and I found myself in the middle of green lush corn fields! never had I been so happy to see corn! The heat retreated and a nice breeze felt as though it was at my back. At this point I felt I could ride forever. The road I turned onto happened to be 274 st. In my mind It seemed odd that It was really 274 streets to Chicago especially because I was in the middle of nowhere. But that's exactly what it ended up being, and from where I was I could see my route running parallel to this one. Another couple hours of riding brought me through South Chicago and from there I got onto the south shore bike path and rode all the way to the loop. I had never thought that much of Chicago but as I rode into the city, covered in dirt, exhausted and hungry I was pretty happy to finally be there.





My only advice would be to rest a lot more than I did, get a nice saddle and don't leave the biking gloves at home. For about a week part of my nether regions were numb and for about two weeks my pinkie finger was half asleep. And as far as training for somthing like this goes? I think winging it worked out just fine.