Big Bird's Adventures

Leaving Dubuque I cross the Mississippi River into Wisconsin of all places. Now, I have always convinced myself that way back in my college days when I and a bunch of racer friends came to Chicago for a bike race and I thought we had traveled enough North that we stayed in Wisconsin. I now believe that was false and I have never been to Wisconsin before, so that now on this day, after crossing the river, I have now checked off state 49 in my quest to visit all 50 states. Now only North Dakota remains. In addition now that I am on my own again, I have time to write my travel log again, and so I will return to reposting my notes published with Strava. The other format change I will make in these postings is that I am out of the “Big States” now, and between Wisconsin (less than a day), Illinois (3+ days) and Indiana (4 days) I am going to combine all the travel logs for those states into one posting.

July 27 Day 41 – Northern Illinois very hilly.

So, as you might see from the elevation gain in my Strava post for this day that one day in Hillinois, the local name for the region, equals 2-4 days of this years Ragbrai. I knew once I crossed the Miss I would have to climb because that is what happens when you ride away from a river, but the bluff above the river stretches for miles East and all the drains run N/S so a W/E run across it means off the bluff to cross the drainage creek and then if you’re lucky maybe it will be a gradual climb but inevitably all the climbs out included 15-20% grades at some point. Some long, and some short. Some I ground out and some I simply dismounted and walked.

One nice part of the day was all the shaded areas. Yes, finally some tree shade along the route helped a lot with today’s heat index, which was over 100 all afternoon. I am currently following a RideWithGps created route and one thing you have to be careful with using the app is that when it chooses the route less traveled you may need to alter that and force it into a town that has services to offer. Today, that town was Stockton Il, and I got there just after noon and I needed calories very badly. Dr Pepper, 32oz Gatorade, and I ate my second breakfast sandwich. Afterwards I had ice cream before making another routing mistake.

Another first on this day is my request for a Warm Showers stay was accepted by Jilly and Kenbob Whiting. Their place is SW of Freeport up a half mile gravel lane off a road still within the Freeport town line and RideWithGps didn’t have their driveway included in their network. That’s an option when these apps pull data for their network. Pull driveways? RideWithGps No, Google Maps Yes. What does that actually mean? Well most of us live in homes 20-30’ from the road so why do our driveways need to be in the network? They don’t, but maybe driveways over 1/4 mile long probably should. Here is why that is important. I am routing to an address that is a 1/2 mile off the road because when you type in someone’s home address the “Pin” is on the house and not at the driveway access to the house. In this case the house is also less than a half mile from another road, so RideWithGps needed to snap to the “closest” edge of the network. For the Whiting’s house when it “snapped” to the nearest edge/road, it chose a road on the other side of a creek from which I couldn’t get to my hosts house so I then had to then use Google maps to route a 5.1 mile correction route which then took me right up their driveway. My hosts were away when I arrived and I was given instructions concerning the outdoor shower and the basement accommodations. To be honest, when I got here all I did for 15 minutes was sit in the shade and relax before finding the outdoor shower and rinsing my head a LOT!!

Jilly showed up soon after and we started chatting until Kenbob came back, but then I got a call from Larry. “Dude, where are you? The exact address as I have a friend in Freeport who wants to meet you.” “That’s weird” I thought. How am I going to ask people I just met “Hey, is it okay if this guy who I don’t know, wants to come by and say hello?” So I asked Jilly before Kenbob came home and she wanted to know a name before agreeing and so Larry gave me the name, Bob Bishop. Some time goes by and I was just about to give that name to Jilly when a blue car shows up that didn’t seem like it belonged. That has to be Bob Bishop and Larry must have sent my Lat/Lon info to him before I got the okay to do so. “That’s incredibly rude” and put me in a tight spot but this must be Bob so I started walking towards the car and I couldn’t tell who it was in the car but then Mike Smith (Larry’s Brother in law) gets out of the car and I realize the surprise had been implemented. Turns out Mike was out there on a business trip but that he and his wife had decided last year that Northern Illinois was where they wanted to find a property on a lake and retire to, as it offers up the best options for their kids to visit and it’s close to where Madonna (Mikes spouse) grew up. So, a very nice surprise indeed and my hosts were onboard once this was all explained. We ended up setting on the porch chatting well into the evening downing some beers, and letting the Whitings get to know Mike pretty well. While we were sitting there Mike had a few phone calls in which an offer was made on a property and accepted. Congratulations Mike and Madonna!!

Tomorrow I am targeting Woodstock and maybe I’ll get a hotel in downtown Chicago and start the Chicago to NYC route proper on Wednesday. I have to do the math, and if it supports that then Mike and I can hang together one evening again and get dinner together. We shall see. Another possibility is I just reached out on LinkedIn to Abijeet Gupta who lives near or in Dekalb. Have not seen Abijeet since the early 90’s but it would be nice to do so again. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Day 41 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

July 28 Day 42 – Northern Illinois a little flatter.

I was so done when I finally rolled into Woodstock Illinois, the town which was the actual backdrop for Punxsutawney Pennsylvania in the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. All the town square scenes in the movie used the town square in Woodstock.

I was 10 miles off course staying with Jilly and Kenbob so once back on course I still had 70 miles to ride and while I was past the big rollers of the day before, there were still some to ride until I rode through Rockford where it finally started to flatten out more.
Being Monday, it means everyone was back to work that morning and with the early morning rain, I modified my plans and got a later start after sitting with Jilly and Kenbob for an hour awaiting the end to the precipitation. This meant there was more commuter traffic out and it was also quite humid already. I knew it would be a long day, but long days get broken out into shorter segments and at least the route went through some towns starting with Freeport outer, followed closely by downtown Freeport. I hit a Casey’s in the fringe area of Freeport forgetting there was a diner downtown where I should have spent my money. I like Casey’s but I like family owned diners better. A good sit down breakfast would have been perfect!! Alas I rolled through a downtown that needed a makeover, much like Galena, but how many Galenas can a state have? Not sure I know an answer to that.
When I awoke early, I found that my request for a warm shower in Woodstock had been accepted my Nathan so woo hoo, another place to stay. I texted him all day long as my status changed and we eventually shared our locations so he could see my progress and could be ready when I started to get closer.

My hosts the previous night were SW of Freeport while my route was North of town and running mainly W to E. The routing done by RideWithGps was actually quite nice and once back on route I had few issues with the roadway and shoulders. The town of Pecatonica was a wee bit disappointing as it seemed large enough to have some level of a downtown, but maybe they just didn’t have the critical mass to support even a country store so there was nothing and on to Rockford I had to ride if I wanted to replenish liquid stores.

Rockford was a conundrum of its own. I had a nice ride into town, and I could see they had a CVS, though not on route, but my route through town was very dodgy/sketchy where when I stopped for liquids, the lady at the shell station was behind plexiglass so thick it seemed like it could take a bullet or two. Very sketchy. Not the best looking area but it didn’t feel unsafe and I sat outside and liquified up and ate my other breakfast sandwich before setting off again. I bagged the CVS idea as I was sure I would get that chance again on the morrow as I headed into more CVS friendly territory.

Not long after Rockford I ended up on Spring Brook Road and just as I got to edge of Rockford influence I saw a Starbucks and opted for the largest iced coffee drink they served and sat in the A/C long enough to dry out and I might have even napped in a sitting up position for 15 minutes without falling over. I have friends who have witnessed me doing just this.

I texted Nate and I was back on the road recharged. The road had flattened out and I was cruising along, 15-18 mph under good strength. The legs felt fiarly refreshed. Did someone inject me with some super drug? I felt great. Came to a right turn onto Woodstock Road. 19.3 miles left. Hot yes, but still cruising. Woodstock road was segmented by crossing roads and each time it shifted it got a wee busier until it turned in to Kishwaukee Valley Road and then the shade disappeared and the amount of traffic increased and the good feeling in my legs left me. So, I slowed down. One of the increases was the number of gravel trucks but for the most part I would say everyone treated me well. The shoulder was favorable, and I found just enough places to pull of and find some shade but as Nate said those places were few and finally I made the push and as the end was near the road rose one final time as I pulled into Woodstock proper and I ignored the directions to Nate’s place and rode through the square. I must admit that the set of GH day did not come to mind, but it had been a while since I last watched that movie. Nothing special and the square lacked open places to sit and enjoy so I rode through and found a Gatorade out on one of the incoming roads before I went to seek out my host. His profile said photographer, so as I rode towards his place I was thinking there would be a sign indicating the studio but he did not own a studio. My turn by turn said “end” and then I saw a young man waving his arms and so I knew where I needed to go. An old asbestos sided farm house that tended to the lands of this section when this section was indeed farmland and I pulled in and immediately began to unwind. That is how I met Nate and we sat outside until I coagulated into a human again and we went inside. Nate was a temporarily unemployed software guy who was hosting migratory people like myself and we had a nice chat before I went inside and enjoyed his hospitality.

Showered, we went into town to meet a friend, Cam, and get some food to take to a local beer stop that didn’t have food of its own only to find after ordering food that the beer place had a sign on the door “I need a rest, see you tomorrow”. We ate outside and then went to a “Hippie” bar for a beer before returning to the ranch house. Chatted some more, shared stories and photos and then I retired to my sofabed. AC kept me cool enough and I rested for the next day’s leg into downtown Chicago. I decided that downtown was 70 miles and I didn’t need to go further so with the knowledge of where Mike Smith was staying, refer to previous post for MS reference, I booked at the Travelodge about 4 blocks away and that was a wrap. Day 42 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

July 29 Day 43 – I was up most of the night and when I stirred around 6, Nate got up and made some espresso. As I packed he decided to accompany me into town where at 7 a coffee shop that makes breakfast sandwiches opened up. We arrived around 7:15 and true to Nate’s word they made the best breakfast sandwiches. All made to order. Nate had worked here in the past, so he knew the routine and the crew and we had a good laugh while I loaded up. One to eat now, one to go.

I have to admit I was delaying the inevitable and didn’t get out of there until after 8. A really late start! Not too humid, not terribly warm but it was going to be another humid and high heat index day, so my early goal was simply to get near the lake. Lake Michigan that is. I thanked Nate again, promising to write a review in WarmShowers and off I proceeded with everyone else bound East (Commuters that is). I ended up on Bull Valley Road which was just the right road I needed. A little too much traffic, but bouts of idle and decent shoulder. It got me a significant distance before the bike paths began.

Bike paths vs rail trails. Is there a difference? Well all rail trails are bike paths but not all bike paths are rail trails. Bike paths are part of a city planning effort and if there is some old rail right of way to use, then fine. Otherwise they get engineered but not to the specs of an actual railroad so bike paths tend to have steeper sections on them that no train today or in the past would get up. That’s a big difference.

So the bike paths began. Let me say something about bike paths that I don’t like. I hate it when a bike path crosses a road. Bicycling should have the right of way. Let the cars stop and make sure there are no bikes. We have to spend energy to get moving again. Personal energy. Car? Press the gas pedal. Also, when a path moves from say the south side of a parallel road to the North side and then back again and then back again. Fuuuuuuck. The RideWithGPS instructions suck for those transitions and that is my gripe. A proper head unit would show me the route, but I don’t have that and so I rely on the turn-by-turn to instruct me properly. Well it does not and I find frustration in the commands when they make no sense with regard to these one side of the street to the other side of the street transitions.

Eventually I made it onto the Skokie Bike Path (Yes that Skokie) which was straight, relatively uninterrupted and absolutely no shade as it followed a huge powerline right-of-way South towards Chicago. After 8+ miles I was guided into the North Shore towns where clearly all the well to do of Chicago Suburbinites live. I recognize the homes from the well to do towns I know back in Jersey. There is money in Northshore Chicago. I took one dead end to go see Lake Michigan and took a little break while the locals recreated and sunned themselves 2 stories below me on the beach. I tried staying close to the Lake but the Lake Front Trail doesn’t begin proper until you get below Evanston, home of Northwestern U. What a nice campus and town by the way. I stopped for some sorbetto.

Eventually I found the trail and enjoyed a relaxing “There’s Chicago DT in front of me” ride for the next hour as the downtown grew larger in my field of view and all the water access crowded with people seeking relief from the heat. I was tempted at that relief but not sure i would dry out before arriving at my hotel.

Grant Park. The Central Park of Chicago. My day’s route ended there and the morning’s route starts there however Lollapalooza is in town and Grant Park is Lollapalooza and so the whole park was fenced off. I didnt realize that until it was too late and I had to ride further South to get around ithe entire venue and double back to my hotel.

In my room I quickly showered, dressed and got out to look for a beer which I found at International Ales. Mike Smith joined me about 15 minutes later and we spent the next two hours hanging out catching up on the last few years of our lives. Always a pleasure to see Mike. Hopefully see you at the Mill in January.

Tomorrow I cross another state border into Indiana. I am over 200 miles from my Aunt’s place in Anderson so I don’t see that happening in 2 days, so I’ll see her on Friday. Day 43 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

July 30 Day 44 – Late start, then a decision to hit a Starbucks when it looked like rain and then the decision to make it a short day because rain all afternoon. Not a zero but like a zero.

When I went to bed last night the place next door said 6am and that was what I shot for. At 5:57 AM I was standing at the door but lights off and no one inside prepping to open, I thought, “Hmmmm I’ll give it a little more time”. Finally I went back in my hotel where they said “7”. Meh. I looked at the map and all the places I saw said 7 or 8. I guess chicagoans don’t eat early breakfast on weekdays. The problem was I was hungry and I didn’t feel like nor did I have a clue to just how far some place would come along. I knew I’d be on a trail most of the way, and if there is one thing you “hear” about Chicago, but really know nothing about, that would be South Chicago. Sometimes called South Side, but really it’s the South Shore and the South Shore is not the North Shore, so really who knows what the economic viability of South Chicago is except South Chicagoans? So, I waited until 8 and went in and had a sit down breakfast and got a sandwich to go.

Lollapalooza was still setup in Grant Park so I retraced my incoming route to get back to the Lake Front Trail and then headed South against the flow of incoming bike commuters. I know I went past Soldier Field but I didn’t notice it. I think I was always looking at the Lake and just never looked in the right direction. At one point I did pull off and get a parting shot of Chicago before affixing my gaze on my route and seeing how far I would go today.

It was right around Rainbow Beach Park where the trail ended and dumped me onto the bike laned 41 South that took me further South and the route to the South Greenway was well marked and all the drivers were very respectful. South around William Powers State Rec area and Powder Horn Prairie Marsh soon I was on the Erie Lackawanna rail trail where I stayed until the storm caught up with me. The rest, as they say, has been written.

Tried to call my Aunt but she didn’t answer. I’ll try again tomorrow. I won’t make it there until Friday afternoon so there is time. I have two alternatives to get there. The route(s) I have both Miss Anderson proper, one to the W and the other down through Muncie to the E. What I really want to do is drop down through Orestes and see if I can locate the farm where my Mother grew up. I stopped by there 44 years ago but that was 44 years ago. I think the house has been replaced but the barn was still there and people my mother knew were still alive. No one lives there any longer. By there I mean that all the people my mother knew have passed. There is one woman who may live in the area that is about my Mom’s age. Her mom and my grandmother were friends. It’s a thought.

Besides my Aunt, her two daughters (my cousins) live in the area again so maybe I’ll see one or both of them. We shall see. I’ll stay probably 2 nights. That’s the plan at least. Day 44 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

July 31 Day 45 – Oh that damned wind!!!

It was still pouring rain at 4 am so I kind of knew it would be a late start, and it was. Worse, the winds were NNE tending to NE as the day wore on, so great if you go S, not so great when E, and I had a lot more E than S to do today as my route was getting me halfway across the state as it angled down towards Indianapolis. My goal for the day would be Rochester with a stretch goal of Peru. It would all depend on how I felt.

Out of the Hampton Inn I turned South, good, but once I got back on route, it turned East for a long long time. Bad, until I hit a bridge out road closure and had to go South (yea) again. Problem was the next Left was a busy (read trucks) road and once I cleared the interstate, I lost the shoulder and so I turned into the wind to fight my way back to my original Route. Fortunately that was the only road closure, but that wasn’t the only off route course change I made on this day.

Terrain: for the most part, Indiana is a Soybean State, with Corn. Because of the storm, all the humidity had been pushed out so it was actually quite pleasant most of the day. Except for that wind while East-bound.

By the time I pulled into Rochester the wind had wore me down enough that I was ready to stop for the night. The cheapest place in town had the critter reviews so I decided against that and went with the Super 8 (At least it was above critter level). As I approached I saw a nice little Mexican restaurant nearby that would serve for dinner quite nicely. Checked in, showered and cleaned up I took in the Mexican place had had a great meal and a couple of beers. More than enough to recharge for the next day which would probably be a 90 mile day to get to my Aunt’s place on the NE side of Anderson. The last time I was here was the last time I rode across the country in 1981. A long time ago.

Planning out the end game. If I leave Sunday morning, then I can make Pittsburgh by Friday and spend a couple of days with my friends Frank and Lisa. Frank is the guy I rode across the country with in 1981. The plan then is to meet my buddy and brother, Larry in Pittsburgh and then we will ride the Gap and then any other connecting trail to get as close to State College as we can and then pick up the Pants ride to ride in. The goal is to be at his cabin by Thursday and we shall see who among my backpacking/camping brothers can make it up for the weekend.

Let me mention the linear park exhibit along one of the trails that was a scale model in scale of our solar system. Within the first quarter mile you ride past Earth and Mars followed shortly thereafter. After that, the scale, 1 mile = 355,000,000 miles plays out as I wasn’t sure the exhibit was complete when finally Jupiter came into view. The trail was ten miles long and Neptune was right there at the end of the trail. There is more abandoned rail to expand so I hope they add the kuiper belt to the model and if possible the outermost heliosphere. That would be so cool!! Technically the exhibit is called OSSIS as in Our Solar System In Scale. Day 45 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

August 1 Day 46 – On and off course today. Technically on course to my overall destination but off the main ACA course I was following.

I had a technical glitch when I originally wrote this day up, but because of the glitch I lost the entire dialog and didn’t feel motivated enough to re-write it. As I write this, it is now months later, so I will attempt to summarize. Anderson Indiana is where my Aunt Lyn, my Dad’s younger sister lives and since I am in Indiana I wanted to make sure I paid her a visit, because it could be the last time I ever see her. That is worth the detour. The ACA route I am on actually has two options here in Indiana, one being to go downtown Indianapolis, and the other being a more Eastern alternate through Muncie Indiana. Anderson splits the difference, so I left the ACA and basically followed a grid route on gravel roads towards Orestes first, and then finally to the NE edge of Anderson. Why Orestes? My mother grew up on a farm just outside of Orestes and I was curious if I could use my memory to locate the property where that all went down. The barn and the original house are gone, so it was going to be very tough on my memory. As it turned out I had my orientation backwards, thinking the house and barn were on the East side of the road, but my Mom corrected me that it was on the West side, and so I rode right past it and didn’t know it. I did know that that I had gone too far because the I did recognize the bridge and creek that was South of the property.

In any case, I continued on and reached my Aunt’s house in mid afternoon where my cousin Darlene joined us after a bit and we sat around and caught up on our lives and talked about my journey. I didn’t want to put my Aunt out at all so I had my cousin drive me into the downtown area where I found a brewpub where I got dinner and a couple of beers before returning to my Aunt’s place by Uber.

I took a 0 day in Anderson and spent the day with my Aunt, my cousin coming and going. We chatted all day, and when dinner approached we just repeated the previous day’s activity where I returned to the same place in downtown Anderson. Day 46 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

August 2 Day 48 – After a zero day I probably could have made it to Beaver Creek in one ride, but I am not in a hurry.

I awoke before my Aunt did and got everything ready to go, and then I awaited her arrival in the kitchen. She would want to make breakfast for me, so I let her and that gave us the opportunity to spend some last minutes together. It was Sunday, so I really didn’t have anything to worry about on the roads. The church goers wouldn’t be out for another two hours, so I had plenty of time to get to the rail trail I was heading for.

Sadly, I failed to get a selfie with my cousin Darlene. It was a pleasure to hangout with both her and my Aunt, and I couldn’t entice either of the to join me in town for dinner and beer (I forgot about this. I guess I offered both nights). My Aunt’s beer days are behind her, and so are Darlene’s. Sadly I wasn’t able to see my other cousin Debbie either. Another time. I will be back for 2027 Ragbrai so I’ll target that event to see Debbie when I pass through. Yes, I will ride across Iowa again. It’s an addicting exercise as well as experience. The crew is fun, and the corn sweat is something everyone should learn to love.

With a couple of eggs, and some yogurt (homemade it seemed) in me, I got a selfie with my Aunt and hit the road. Left on Sheppard, Right on Cross, and 13 miles later I would be on the Cardinal Rail Trail, Indiana’s longest and part of the National Rail Trail which will eventually allow a cyclists like me to ride Coast to Coast on set aside converted rail lines. The Cardinal was a life saver as the winds had shifted a wee bit more to the East and were ENE, but the Cardinal was tree lined and provided the necessary buffer against the wind. Score! The trail oscillated between generally gaining and generally losing elevation, so I was shifting to get the best speed out of my efforts, and the miles evaporated as the morning wore on. Most of the crossings had decent sight lines, so I rarely had to come to a complete stop at any crossing, and the rail line followed the main highway most of the way. For reference that highway had no shoulder and even though it was Sunday, there were a lot of trucks in both directions. No shade either, but plenty of shade on the Cardinal.

I passed someone in an ND jersey, waved and rode on. I was cruising, he was riding and I didn’t see him again until I got to Richmond and was trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day. I needed food, and I saw a bagel shop on 5th, and the ND guy approached me and recommended the smoothies, which sounded good to my ears. We chatted a while longer, I never mentioned the ND Penn State rivalry of the 80s and we went our separate ways.

Bagels. Let’s talk bagels. Sure, Jersey and NYC water have something to do with it, and here in Indiana the water is hard, and needs softening, however that isn’t it. You have to bathe bagels in a vinegar hot bath before you bake them, and I don’t know why the rest of the country doesn’t know this (or ignores it as a step in the process). It was a good looking bagel, but it lacked the chewiness that Jersey/NY bagels are known for. It’s really sad that the rest of the country cannot learn this simple part of the process and reward their locals with better tasting bagels. Unless those folks ever come to the NYC tri-state area, they never find out what a truly delicious bagel should taste like.

The choices were two. A simple campground that looked sun soaked, and a “resort” RV park that had a lake and a pool, and cabins. I called the “resort” and decided that would be it, but I had to ride over there and it was in Ohio and I was still in Indiana, so off to Ohio I went. What’s round on the ends and Hi in the middle? Ohio!

It was rolling hills all the way there, but against all that flat, it was nothing, but I did have to change gears a lot. I was in by two, and took my time. I setup camp, and then decided on a swim, but in the end, I simply laid by the pool and relaxed until I decided I needed to shower and get some grub. That is when Harold came over to talk turkey. He and his wife, Lisa were camped nearby, and he was curious so he came over to chat. Through the course of convo he revealed that he was intent on starting an AT thru-hike in March (I have stayed in touch with Harold, and he tore his ACL and suspended his AT hike for a year), so we talked more about that. I got him to exchange contact info, and maybe I will consider an AT start in March. We don’t have to hike together, but we could camp together. That could work. If he hikes like I do, or I hike like him. Something to keep in mind.

Steak house across the street closed until Wed, so I walked up the street through town to the Red Inn for food and what appeared to be a Detroit vs Phillies game. I don’t recall what I ate, but Harold and Lisa were there when I arrived, having finished their own meals. When I was finished I walked back and began the wind down process. Tomorrow I will make it to Beaver Creek where I will stay with my friend’s sister, Mary Beth, who will put me up or more likely put up with me. Until tomorrow. Day 48 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

Tagged: adventure, Bicycle Touring, bike, Bike About 2025, Bike Packing, Bikepacking, biking, Cycling, Illinois, Indiana, Travel