Preview

Despite being in a questionable part of town with fine dining establishments, like the one to the left of the car ,the bikes were still attached this morning. That’s the problem with making reservations and not knowing the area. It’s not a big deal in a car, but as I’ve learned repeatedly, it can be a big deal on a bike. Especially if your reservation is at a motel on top of a hill, after a 100-mile day.

Other than the high-end dining near my motel, I was fortunate to have a Planet Fitness just a mile and a half away. My membership works across the nation despite it only costing about $10 a month. That’s likely why I often see homeless people and those living in a van wandering around the shower room. Anyway, I went for a run and some other exercises. They did have big ceiling fans and undoubtedly air conditioning. However, during my run I probably sweat about a liter of fluid. My shirt was soaking wet. The humidity will be something to contend with on this particular trip. Of course, the upside is that when I woke this morning my mouth didn’t feel like someone had put a blowtorch in it while I slept. When I wake up in Colorado, with the heat, smoke, and no humidity, my mouth crackles.

The real preview to the bike ride happened as I walked out to the car. I’d been in my motel room with my glasses on. When I walked out of the motel, my glasses immediately fogged up, and it wasn’t because of the cold. If the temperature was 2° different than when I went to bed last night, I’d be surprised. Heat and humidity will be interesting as we pedal 50 miles or more a day.

Staying in Topeka, Kansas, I wasn’t far from Kansas City, MO. Don’t ask why Kansas City is in Missouri. Apparently, the same people who made the maps of Canada helped in the US Midwest. Most of my morning was spent in Missouri. I’m quite certain that 70% or more of I-70 is under construction in Missouri. They have this unique approach of putting the cement barriers almost up to the line on both sides of the two lanes of highway. It leaves literally 20 ft for two vehicles to be moving alongside each other. When I would come up to a semi in the Suburban, passing was like threading the eye of a needle. Hopefully Nick and Jess don’t mind a few new scrapes on their Suburban, especially since I achieved them at over 70 miles an hour and not in a Pueblo parking lot.

At one point, I came upon a semi that apparently didn’t thread the needle very well. It was scrunched up and wrecked on top of the cement barrier. Hopefully no one was injured.

After crossing Missouri, I drove over the Mississippi River and into Illinois. Somewhere to my right was the St Louis Arch, but I couldn’t see it through the thick atmosphere, and I was also trying to avoid turning the suburban into a river barge. Entering Illinois, I couldn’t help but think of a funny movie, The Blues Brothers. I’m on a mission to get the Suburban to Reagan Airport, Brenna’s belongings to SVU, bicycles to Pittsburgh, and pick up 3 people at the PIT airport, but I don’t think it’s a “mission from God” (watch the movie if you don’t know the line). However, I can say that every time I ride my bike cross-country, I am more grateful to God for the amazing world we live in and for a healthy body with which to enjoy it from the seat of a bike.

Tonight I’m staying in Reynolds, IN, just a little way from the Ohio border. The prodigal son of Ohio – I lived there miserably (self-inflicted) for two years as a teenager – has returned, although not likely to Findlay.