But I need to digress briefly. I forgot to mention that we were fed a most marvelous hot lunch yesterday by Delavan CRC, and cold water by Inspiration Disabilities Center a few kms further down the road. We appreciated both refreshments!
Half of today’s trip was spent on a bike trail. The pictures below give you some idea of what that was like, including some of the beautiful flowers along the way. Who says I don't stop to smell the roses?
On the way we all stopped at a small coffee shop and overwhelmed the gracious and friendly hosts who managed to feed us all our caffeine fix. Most of the cyclists had left so what you see is one of the last groups.
What we were not told about the trail is that it diverged at a number of places and that it was important to stay on the Fox River Trail. About a dozen of us, myself included, took a wrong turn somewhere. I personally ended up all by myself in Wheaton, Illinois, totally lost. Fortunately I am not your typical male: too proud to ask for directions. By the time I got back to where I needed to be I had traveled 38 extra kms. We call them bonus miles…
I was also witness to a minor accident involving two of our girls. A car hit their bike and took off. Both girls were OK, and the only damage was one bent rear tire. We got the license plate of the car and the police came to take a report. What happens after that we have no idea. One of the other girls with these two had a flat at the same time, so I fixed that for her. It was a long and busy day!
The roads we were on today were also very rough. I did take the time to notice a few fellows doing a job you could not pay me enough money to do.
Finally I arrived at Trinity Christian College, with a worried Diane waiting at the entrance, at 5:15 p.m. A quick shower, pack some stuff, a photo of a deer on campus,
and eventually we were picked up by Bob Love, our son-in-law’s father, and we had a wonderful dinner and evening with Bob & Phoebe at their home. After supper we watched the Olympics for a while, and we are sleeping in a comfortable and dry bed (rain is expected tonight) in their home. They will bring us back tomorrow morning. We are very grateful to them.
I mentioned last e-mail about my somewhat unhappy experience at Trinity. It wasn’t the school’s fault. The problem was that I was madly in love with a girl who lived in Ottawa, so every 3 weeks I left school and hitchhiked the 1600 mile round trip to visit her, which meant my grades really suffered. It’s a good thing I married her, I could not have survived that constant hitchhiking. After I married Diane and went back to school, my grades also shot up from D’s to A’s.
But now I’m off to bed. Diane is already sleeping. Good night.
Today’s stats:
Distance: 168.37 kms
Average speed: 22.0 kph
Maximum speed: 47.5 ph
Time in saddle: 7.40.15
1 comment:
Hi Bert,
I understand from the website that some cyclists were taken through some impoverished neighbourhoods in Gary today. Were you one of them, or Jake? If not, can you tell me the names of 2 or 3 people (preferably people who are accessible by email)? I'd like to get some comments from them while the experience is still fresh. Thanks!
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