Today was our first full day in Indiana. For breakfast, Blair whipped us up a blue cheese and chive omelette, cooked in duck fat. Exquisite. We also had some homemade breakfast ice cream: mint chocolate chip. Doubly exquisite.
We rode route 40 west towards Indianapolis most of the way. It was very flat, exactly how you might imagine Indiana. The road had 2 lanes in each direction, with only enough traffic to fill one, so we basically had a whole lane to ourselves. The wind was blowing south to north, so no headwinds, though the side winds occasionally attempted to blow us off course. Also, when a big truck comes by the wind-waves it leaves behind are insanely powerful, powerful enough to jostle the bicycle.
Today was our fastest average speed of the trip, outside of Day 1 which was flat and unweighted. We averaged 11.8 mph. Maddie was racing past the dynamic speed limit signs that show how fast you’re going compared to the limit; she was going quite fast on the flat Indiana pavement. At one point we rode 5 miles in under 19 minutes, the fastest 5 mile section of the trip. Maddie said, “we should just only bike through Indiana!”
We arrived at Jeff and Deidre’s house in Fortville, IN at 4:30. We showered, then went outside to enjoy the sun and gentle breeze. Today was our most beautiful day of the trip. Morale is as high as ever; that’s what the sun does for you!
Jeff whipped up a fantastic dinner. Tuna, brisket, pasta salad, and asparagus were on the menu. It was all delicious. A post-dinner Dairy Queen run and an after dinner drink later and we are ready for bed (I am literally falling asleep as I type, so please excuse any typos). We learned that the sun stays up much later in the western part of the time zone than it does back home on the east coast. It was almost 9 and there was still sunlight, a beautiful red and purple sunset filling the sky. Tomorrow is a rest day, our first in a week. We are going to enjoy it!
Random thoughts from the road:
There are way more pickup trucks out here than back at home on the east coast. It seems like every other car that goes by is a pickup.
Dogs hate cyclists. They bark and run around every time we pass by. Luckily none have gotten very close to us, but one did circle us for a half mile yesterday.
Every small town has an antique store and a pizza place. Lots of old stuff that needs to be sold, and lots of Italians spread across the country, apparently.
Whenever we bike by farm animals such as cows or horses, I can’t help but feel like they’re posing for us. They usually stand motionless, grazing. Acting as if they’re not getting into trouble when humans aren’t around.
Every town we visit thinks they have the worst drivers. A cop in town today warned us about the bad drivers around here. Please, we’re from NJ and NY. Just once I’d love to hear someone say “oh don’t worry, we have the greatest drivers; they’re super safe and drive slow!”
- Charlie