L.A. to Boston - May 10 to June 28 - 3415 Miles

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Day 34 - Thursday, June 12 - Champaign, IL to Crawfordsville, IN - 79 miles - 2500 feet climbling

Today was helmet decoration day. Kim and I drove out to the countryside last evening and I confiscated a stalk of corn out of a cornfield. I thought that corn would be appropriate for a retired Iowa farmer.

Kim will drive back to Iowa today so she was on hand to see our morning departure routine.


Another appropriate helmet decoration. Warren (Texas) was under the weather for a few days and on medicines. His helmet is decorated with empty prescription bottles.


And another appropriate helmet decoration. Brendan (England) was the rider who was knocked off his bicycle by a chicken thrown by a trucker. Fortunately, Brendan was not injured.


Achim and his son Alex (Germany) and their helmet decorations.


A short relief of not riding on the highways took us through a park in Oakwood, IL, and this pedestrian bridge. Amy (Kalamazoo, MI) and Scott (Moline, IL) are shown on the bridge.


Entering the state of Indiana, our eighth state line crossing.


An Indiana license plate.


Closing in on Crawfordsville, IN, our destination for today.


These bicycles have an easy life as flower-pot holders.


My helmet decoration after 80 miles without water. Many of the helmet decorations were abandoned during today's ride as they constricted airflow through the helmets on this warm humid day.



Kim will appreciate this picture of a 7-week old yellow lab puppy near tonight's motel. We have a thirteen-year-old yellow lab at home. Labs make great pets and they generally don't chase bicycles in a menacing way.

My riding partner for today, Randy, had three flats on the front today and was ready to ditch his bike and return to California. However, the staff installed new tires and tubes at our sag stop and he was back on the road again with no flats the rest of the day.

We, also, had our last time change today so now I am an hour ahead of Iowa time.

I called home this evening and Kim had arrived safe and sound at about 1 PM - so it was about a 5.5 hour drive for her. It started to rain on her just as she entered Iowa. She was able to pass through the Iowa City area on I80 with water lapping at the edges of the road. After arriving home, she heard that I80 was to be closed tomorrow (Friday) through that area because of high water.

Tomorrow morning, we will start an hour later and ride 64 miles to Indianapolis, IN.

Thanks for the comments,

Bob