Saturday, July 26, 2008 – Day 34

Start: Coal City, Illinois
End: Valparaiso, Indiana
Miles: 87.67 Total Miles: 2,614.87 BRAA Total Miles: 2,472.50
Time: 5 hours 44 minutes (avg 15.2 MPH)
Flat tire count today: 0 Total flat tires for the ride: 9

So, the big question that we are asking ourselves is, “How can it be that the rolling hills in Illinois (they are quite small) can seem more difficult than the mountains in Washington (Snoqualmie Pass) and Montana (The Rockies)? The past several days have seemed very tough, but I am pretty sure it is because we were fresh and ready to tackle the early rides. This past week has seemed much tougher because of all the miles we have put in with no real rest time in between.

I just have to bring up the activity at the camp ground we stayed at last night. It was a really nice camp ground that you supposedly have to be a member to be able to use the facilities. Things went fairly well until around midnight. A couple of the campers obviously had too much to drink and a verbal argument ensued. It went on for what seemed like hours. The comment that we all remembered best this morning had something to do with the wife/girlfriend not being too pleased with the husband/boyfriend’s “Internet girlfriend”. It was pretty hilarious.

Today’s ride was a nice one. The weather was great and we had a northwest wind that helped us along most of the way. I guess it was also a nice day to go fishing. Considering it was Saturday, fishing in the morning is a nice thing to do. These guys were out having a good time, I am sure.

We passed a restaurant today called the Launching Pad. I am not really sure the point of the guy standing in the parking lot, but I thought it was a neat picture. He was very large and obviously caught my attention as well as several others.

We made it to state number nine today. A little more than half way through the day, we reached Indiana. The funny thing is due to our route, there was no welcome to Indiana sign. So, the support crew painted a state line on the street where we actually crossed over into Indiana. When we reach our next state – Ohio – I will turn around and hopefully be able to get a picture of the welcome to Indiana sign from the other side of the state.

That was it for the day because as soon as we reached Indiana, the streets quickly deteriorated and I could barely think about anything else since my brain was being shaken every which way from all the bumps and holes in the road. From what I was told, the residents of Indiana are proud of their terrible roads. We were told that the roads will not get any better during our time in Indiana. So, more shaking to come.

Tomorrow is a rest day in Valparaiso, Indiana. We are staying at Valparaiso University in the dorms. Once again, a well needed rest day. Especially after about 650 miles in the last seven days.