"Something has happened in China which is out of our control." - Day 24

Possibly 4 days to go! Holy cow! From where we are now, Google says it's 495 miles to Stamford, CT. That's crazy to think about! We woke up bright and early at 6 this morning, got breakfast at the convenience store in Lyons. Unfortunately, I was still feeling full from last night's meal at Lyon's Den, and didn't eat much.
We headed towards Highway 20, enjoying Ohio's nearly perfectly flat landscape and a very slight tailwind. We didn't set a goal for today, rather we just decided to bike until dark or we got tired, trying to make at least 120 miles.

I have been planning since March to spend my next year teaching English in China, and have been trying to coordinate visas, contracts, and medical forms during the trip. As a result, I have e-mails from the company I am working with forwarded as text messages to my phone. Today in the middle of the day I got a text that said "Something has happened in China which is out of our control. After your ap" Since the text message cut off the rest of the message, I didn't know what had happened. I was able to call my friend who is also going to China, and he informed me that the Chinese were no longer granting visas for foreign teachers in the province where we were supposed to be teaching. So for now, the upcoming year is in limbo.

Besides some construction, it was a pretty regular day, if a little slower than what we've been used to with a tailwind. We've recently discovered that ICEEs and Slushees are wonderful ways to cool off; I drank three yesterday alone! I had another craving today, so we skipped Subway today and had lunch at Burger King, where the lemon ICEEs are cheap and delicious.
I needed a break after we hit 120 miles around 5:30 pm in Lagrange, where we set a goal of Hinckley, which was another 20 miles. We got Subway to go for dinner and were directed by the townspeople of Hinckley to the Hinckley Reservation to camp. They told us that it was illegal, but also pointed us in the direction of a secluded area of the park where we shouldn't have any problems. Hopefully we'll make it through the night without any major problems. Otherwise, our spirits are high with the end seeming so close. We've been picking up the average for the past few days though, and it has been taking a toll on our bodies.

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
10:20:05	142.5	2700	13.7	37.9

"Let's leave before they kill us." - Day 23

We were off to another late start this morning after the luxury of sleeping inside. We plotted a way out of South Bend and set off, intending to take highway 20 most of the day. But disaster struck as we rode down the on ramp, which had a sign declaring that bicycles were prohibited. When we stopped to check the map for alternative routes, a seemingly friendly man suggested that we take a county road to Dunlap. However, the county road went to Goshen, so we were forced to backtrack north to Highway 20 where bicycles were once again allowed. The silver lining was that we met a friendly woman named Emily during our second breakfast at Martin's supermarket in Goshen. She offered to let us stay with her and gave us directions back to the highway.
It was smooth sailing with a bit less than normal roadkill amounts until we got to Ohio. Just across the border there was a big billboard advertising a tourist information center, and since we had just vowed not to buy an Ohio map, we opted to stop.
The "tourist center" was set into a dirt hill with an enormous TV antenna and gravel parking lot. THere was a rusty mailbox by the door that said "Ohio maps," but was empty. We opened the unlocked door and inside found somebody's cluttered home with the TV on. It reeked inside and our calls of "hello" went unanswered. I turned to Travis and said "let's leave before they kill us." Which we promptly did.
We continued east on Highway 20, stopping only to try a few grains of wheat. We had been warned about bringing pepper spray for dogs, but hadn't had any problems until today. Travis was ahead of me when I heard him yelling expletives. I looked to my right and saw a vicious dog at full sprint charging out of an unfenced yard. Needless to say, I poured on the steam, shouting expletives myself and veering into the center of the road to add more distance between his teeth and me. We made it out unscathed and probably gave a fun show to the minivan behind us.

After asking for the town with a bar at a junction in the road, we ended up at the Lyon's Den bar in Lyons, Ohio. There we gorged ourselves, got a free beer from Raymond, and a map of Ohio from the bartender. We were fortunate to get it, as there isn't just one highway heading east towards Pennsylvania. The bartender gave us some "bakers" (baked potatoes) for the road, and we were directed to an old school yard to pitch our tent. We're still on a good pace to be finished sooner than we expected, even though our average speed today was a little slow.

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
9:16:36	129.4	2558	13.9	32.1

"University of Dame Notre...LEE!" - Day 22

Woke up late this morning a little before 8 am. Right at 8, a park ranger came by and collected $6 for camping one night. I found it humorous that on the receipt under "Vehicle License" he wrote "bikes." We quickly packed up, deciding to get breakfast at a convenience store. There we picked up an Indiana map. I was looking at the University of Notre Dame and noticed they had inverted the word order on the map. I pointed this out to Travis, causing him to exclaim loudly "LEE!" It turns out that we have a mutual friend who is studying there, so we set a lofty goal of making it to South Bend, 129 miles away according to Google's phone text service.

We set off zig zagging across Illinois along various county roads towards Highway 2 in Indiana. It took us 50 miles and into the afternoon to reach it, but it was almost entirely flat. Once in Indiana we lost our tailwind and Google indicated that it was still 104 miles to South Bend, although it doesn't reply with the shortest route. We were worried about making it, but the flat and the motivation to sleep inside kept us going.

On the highway a few miles outside of South Bend, something hit my front wheel and then flopped into the guardrail. I didn't get a good look at it, but judging from the noise I would guess it was a bird. We've seen and smelled all kinds of road kill but this was the first that we've made.

We rolled into downtown South Bend just after sunset, where Lee met us and guided us to Subway and his apartment. We stayed up late chatting but got to check internet and sleep indoors. We have finalized with Jocelyn our plans and Google says it's only 734 miles from here. We should be there in 7 days if we continue at this pace.

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
10:15:36	156.3	2428	15.2	27.7

"I think I have a broken rib." - Day 21

Our rest day yesterday treated us well. I finally satisfied my craving for cereal with two bowls of cereal and orange juice for breakfast. Laura and Karen made muffins for us, gave me buttered pretzel sticks, and each of us two nut rolls. Plus, looking at Google Maps it looks like we'll be in Illinois for just one night.

We got on the road at 8:45 and stopped at HyVee for supplies. There, I again indulged in some fruit, eating two juicy and delicious peaches in the parking lot. A few minutes later we were riding our bikes over the Mississippi River towards the finish line in New Jersey/New York/Connecticut. I am still trying to solidify our plans to stay with Jocelyn so it remains up in the air.
We had great westerly tailwinds and were making good time, but I could tell that Travis was struggling. We pulled into a gas station where he told me his side that he had injured in Rapid City, SD was acting up. He thinks it's possible a rib is broken. Knowing that there isn't anything that can be done besides painkillers, we called an exercise and sports science friend who recommended Ibuprofen and an ace bandage. We spent the rest of the day looking for a place that would sell one until we came to a town about 60 miles later with a Walgreen's. By that time though, the ibuprofen had kicked in and we continued east through Illinois.
With our tailwind we still made it to Morris around 7:15, even with all of our stopping. A sign on the way into town indicated tent camping to the south. We followed the signs to a state park, the tenting area of which is no more than 100 yards away from the houses in a nearby neighborhood.

We ate some canned food we bought a while back for dinner, going without dessert because we had already finished the muffins from this morning earlier in the day. Overall, a great day at a cool 80°F on Highway 6. Plus our 130 miles puts us 20 miles ahead of our 10 days to the finish schedule!

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
8:18:32	136.2	2272	16.3	34.9

"Feel free to use the pool, jacuzzi, shower, laundry, watch tv, and eat and drink whatever you like." - Day 20

Day 20 went mostly according to plan. We woke up around 7 as Holly and Erik got up, ate some pop tarts, and hit the road. We made it about 7 miles before hitting a detour due to another closed bridge that took us onto I-80. Knowing that it was illegal to ride bikes on it but also not knowing how else to get across, we began riding on it. I-80 is a lot busier and less enjoyable to ride on than I-90 and we made it no further than a quarter of a mile when a highway patrol car pulled onto the shoulder in front of us, lights-a-flashin'.

The patrolman politely explained that we couldn't be there and that you couldn't pay him enough money to ride on the interstate with how dangerous it was. We cordially replied that we didn't want to be there either, that the detour took us there and we didn't want to try another way around without knowing the road conditions. He advised that we get off at the next exit, which is where the detour took us anyway.

A scant few flat and easy miles later we rolled into Davenport and to the house of a friend of Travis' aunt. She and her sister were out garage sale shopping but told us to make ourselves at home, which we did, eating their food and taking a shower. They arrived about an hour later.

Normally I don't enjoy sitting around doing nothing, but I cannot put into words how great it felt to sit on a sofa watching a without moving a muscle. My afternoon of rest and relaxation was topped off with a delicious and filling meal of pasta, ribs, bread, salad, potatoes, and a chocolate cookie dessert. To top it all off, we got to spend the evening in the jacuzzi.
We've been spoiled the past few days, sleeping indoors 5 of the past 7 nights and showering 6 of the past 7 days. But we don't know anybody between here and the coast, so that is likely to change. All in all, today was exactly what we needed after our hard day yesterday and I think we'll be able to finish strong in 10 days or so.

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
1:52:51	26.0	2136	13.7	21.8

"You can choose front yard, backyard, or living room." - Day 19

Day 19. Geez. This morning Ken's mom had breakfast out for us, which was a welcome improvement over instant oatmeal and convenience store pastries. We bid farewell to the Ferrells at 6:30 and after turning the right way off of their street, set off towards Davenport.
Riding early in the mornng was pleasant and we were pushing at a steady pace with our lofty goal of reaching Davenport. We hit another milestone coming down a hill outside of Grinnell, breaking 2,000 miles.
We were on pace to make it the whole way at 15 mph for 12 hours through the first 60 miles. We had Subway in Grinnell before trudging onward until Travis caught is front tire in a crack and went down. The tire was shot and it took some time to replace it with a spare. We endured a strong south crosswind along with moderate hills all day. Fortunately, we avoided rain though.

We had checked the highway report online in Des Moines to avoid any closures due to the recent flooding. As a result, we stayed off of Highway 6 between Iowa City and Davenport, opting instead to take a county road to the north. We kept seeing ominous signs warning "thru traffic only" and "road closed ahead" but without alternate route, decided to keep going and hope that we'd be able to get through on our bikes. It turns out the bridge had been badly damaged and was fenced off. But we decided that we'd risk collapsing the bridge with our additional weight, rather than head backwards 6 miles to try to find another route. Needless to stay, it remained upright.
By the time we made it past the bridge it was getting pretty late. The floods had also caused us to end up crossing I-80 more times than we would've liked and a wrong turn outside of Wilton left us behind. With 25 miles to go to Davenport, we called it a day as the sun set.

In our typical fashion, we went to the first bar with food that we saw. When we asked if anybody knew where we could pitch a tent, the bartender offered her front yard, backyard or the living room. When she called her husband to let him know she was brining to guys home from the bar with her, he responded that he'd have clean towels ready for us! Erik and Holly were great hosts, offering laundry and breakfast that we refused. The two felt like they should pay some of the hospitality they had received on a motorcycle trip forward and we were the lucky beneficiaries. Their company was enjoyable, but we were exhausted from our longest day yet and had to go to bed. We didn't quite make it to Davenport, but we're in great shape for a 25 mile rest day tomorrow before crossing the Mississippi!

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
11:36:10	164.7	2110	14.1	35.7

"Dude I HAVE to stop and scratch my feet!" - Day 18

As we rolled out of our tent this morning, we were surrounded by a thick fog. We didn't think much of it and went on making our instant oatmeal breakfast. However, as we began to take the tent down, it began to downpour. We hurriedly unpacked our rain gear and finished taking down the tent in the heavy rain. We decided to go ahead and ride in the rain, even though we've lost 3 of our 4 taillights and the one that remains only works intermittently. The rain eased up after a few minutes and it was dry enough to remove our rain gear within an hour.

Riding in the rain gave us a nice change of scenery and was also a little bit cooler. However, my feet got soaked and after an hour or so were getting uncomfortable. I tried to dry them by taking my socks off and pedaling with my feet on top of my shoes but the itching just got worse. Eventually, it was too uncomfortable to bear and I demanded that we stop so I could scratch.
At the gas station, we were once again asked if we were training for RAGBRAI, and were told all about how much fun the bike across Iowa is. We had actually originally thought that we might be able to join it for a day, but it is later in the year than our trip allowed. It certainly sounds more enjoyable to only ride 60 miles a day, with refreshments and activities the whole way. So we vowed that we would return to Iowa in the future and partake in the traveling festival.

We eventually picked up the trail that was recommended to us in between Bagley and Jamaica. Railroad trails are awesome because the railroad takes direct and flat routes. The Subway in Panora treated us well and we cruised the remaining 40 miles to my college roommate, Ken's, house in Des Moines. We were required to buy day use permits on the trail for $2, which we thought was strange.
Ken's family welcomed us with showers, laundry, two delicious meals and some fun stories about Ken as a youngster. We've got a big day tomorrow for the push to Davenport, 180 miles in one day hopefully!

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
6:06:51	85.5	1945	13.9	29.2