awanabug's Bicycle Trip

Saturday (continued)  We went to the drive in movie in Georgetown, IN and saw the latest Batman movie.  Got home about midnight.

 

Sunday, 10 August, Day 71.  Got up early and read another chapter in Luke.  Hung out most of the morning with Mike & family.  Had a private worship service focusing on the greatness, beauty, complexity of God's creation.  Later, we all went to Charlestown State Park for a hike and experienced the some wonders of creation first hand.  On the way home, we stopped for a few minutes to visit Mike's mother.  After a quick shower to remove likely chiggers and ticks, I watched Mike and Lynn play golf on wii.  This time, Lynn really whipped Mike!  I started packing for my ride in the morning, and I went to bed after a very relaxing day of rest.

 

Monday, 11 August, Day 72.  I woke up before it was completely light and read Luke 20.  Mike got up and started breakfast as I finished reading.  Oatmeal was the fuel of choice to energize the first part of my ride.  I loaded the bike and after saying goodbye, about 7:30 going north on highway 3.  It would be about the same distance as leaving Charlestown on highway 62, but would cut out the detour and would not drop as deep into the creek valleys as 62 since it was farther from the Ohio River.  It turned out to be a good choice.  Eventually I rejoined 62 and rode on into Madison, where I picked up highway US 421.  It was much straighter and had far less hilliness than 62 has between Madison and US 50, making the route much more pleasant, though somewhat longer.  The day began quite chilly.  In fact, I wore my day-glow yellow biking windbreaker for the first time since early in the trip, finally taking it off about noon.  The headwind was from the north, making riding a bit laborious, but that was a small price to pay for the much moderated temperatures compared to about 15 degrees warmer in the mid-90s and far less humid than a week ago!  It was a rather enjoyable 94 miles that I covered arriving  at Tim Rodgers' home about 4:30.  When I rode up the drive, there were several people and a small flock of chickens in the yard.  I was surprised  when Tim came off the porch grinning and reaching for a handshake as he said, "Bill, good to see you!  I have been wondering about you!  Seems he  lost my blog address or something.  The tiny chicks he showed me about 2 1/2 months earlier were nearly full grown.  The corn that was barely out of the ground back then was now 10-12 feet high!  I set up my tent with chickens picking around in the nearby grass.  We had a good time talking and he brought me a snack too.  It was nice to talk to Tim again and get updated on everything.  I went to bed as it began to get dark.  The evening air was really chilling fast.  I was pretty tired after fighting headwinds all day, and glad to get some rest.

 

Tuesday, 12 August, Day 73.  As the day dawned, I woke up and read Luke 21 by flashlight, then began packing up.  Before I got it all packed, Tim invited me in for breakfast.  He fried bacon & eggs and we had them in a toasted sandwich, washed down with a tall glass of milk.  Then he gave me a small brown bag for lunch to carry along.  He then offered to drive me to Miamisburg to pick up the bike trail and avoid traffic, but I said I should probably finish it all since I had gotten this far.  I thanked him and finished packing as he headed out for the day.  The weather was almost an exact copy of yesterday!  Wonderful after so much riding earlier in opressively hot, humid conditions!  The ride went very well the first 25 miles or so, but somehow, I missed a turn and ended up on the same road I had taken going south a couple months ago, winding over quite a few rather high hills, which I really wanted to avoid, but it was not to be.  I eventually got to the bike path, and encountered a path closed sign with a couple trucks across most of the path, and fairly fresh concrete pavement for about 20 feet of the path.  The workers insisted I had to go back and take another route, but after telling them a little about my ride, and my blog, after I asked if I could carry my bike across the rocks beside the path, they said ok, but they would not be held responsible for anything that might happen, so I picked up the bike and started across.  After I picked it up and started carrying it, one of them said the concrete might be solid enough to walk on, and after testing it, and seeing it probably was, but the surface crumbled a bit, I declined, saying I didn't want to mess it up.  Then they wanted my blog address!  I gave it to them and rode on.  Several miles later, there was a stretch of the path being repaved that covered about a mile or so just before Centerville.  I had to ride on Highway 73 for that stretch, but otherwise, it was certainly nice to be riding on the bike path after two months of having cars roar by at maybe 50 or 60 or more mph.  It was also nice to be able to see blue herons wading in the Great Miami river, and baby turtles basking on rocks, even of neither would allow me to get a picture.  My right foot was hurting for some unknown reason, so when I arrived at Carrillon Park, I stopped, laid on the grass till the ants drove me away, then ate the last of my food and drank the rest of my water before getting on the bike for the last 8 or 9 miles.  I had another detour in downtown Dayton that sent me into the streets again, but I was soon back on the path.  It wasn't very long before I arrived at home , finishing the 86 mile ride at about 4:30.  As I leaned my bike against the garage, my next door neighbor, Danita Brown immediately came out and greeted me, then her husband, Kieth (my fishing buddy) heard her and looked up from working on his truck,  then we started talking.  I walked around to my front door and found it was unlocked so I didn't need to dig into my backpack for my keys.  My wife was sitting on the couch and greeted me.  We talked for a while, then I unloaded the rest of my stuff from bike and hung the bike up in the garage.  My wife fixed me a great dinner, and then I took a much needed shower.  We talked till past my bedtime, and then I started work on this blog.  So, here I sit after a month and a half and over 2,200 miles, thinking back to the days I was planning it.  If I had known how hard it would be, would I have started?  Now that I have finished, I am kind of amazed by it all.  Done at last!

 

 

Friday (continued) Got to Mike's and took a nice shower, then hung out for a while with his kids till Mike got home.  We had a good time talking & playing with the cat.  Mike said they were having pizza for supper but first he needed to go pick up his oldest son who was at his brother's house, so I went along and he reminisced about back when I first met him in the early '80s and all the crazy things he and his cross-country runner buddies used to do.  We hung around and talked with his brother, who said he remembered me from way back then!  We got back home and ate pizza, then took 3 kids to grandma's house on the way to hike at the state park, leaving Christian to earn some money as he finished mowing the lawn.  The sun was down by the time we started hiking.  Mike and Lynn carried flashlights as we quickly walked the nicely groomed hiking trail number 4.  Lots of ups and downs to keep it interesting, some good scenery and some autumn olive berries were beginning to ripen, but were still a bit sour.  It was soon dark enough that it was somewhat disconcerting to walk without the lights when passing through heavy woods.  The darkness had covered everything within a few minutes, and the brightness of the moon and stars added a bit of spark to the patches of evening sky above the canopy of branches and leaves.  The daytime warmth slowly became evening cool, making the hiking very pleasant by the time we returned to the car.  It was an enjoyable evening activity.  When we picked up the kids.  I took a quick shower to remove any possible ticks or chiggers that might have wanted me for supper, then watched as Mike and Lynn played golf on wii.  I went to bed about midnight, after talking with Mike some more.

 

Saturday, 9 August, day 70.  I can hardly believe it has been that long.  I awoke just before 7 and read Luke 17.  Mike got up shortly after that and offered me an array of various things for breakfast.  I took hot oatmeal and fixed it as Mike worked on a summer vacation picture book that he is making on-line.  We hung out and talked most of the morning as he worked on the book, then he took me out to look at his uncle's garden.  We ate some of the bountiful crop of blackberries.  Dave Hackel arrived shortly, and I went with him and Dian to get fried chicken and other stuff for the AMC FSA picnic, and then drive to Clark State Forest at Henryville.  Some were there when we arrived, and greeted us.  We all spent the next half hour as others arrived, talking about old times and catching up on what's happened since we saw each other and where everyone else is now.  Food was great, and it was a wonderful time.  We helped Leo Foley get his car started after the AAA guy didn't show up, then Dave drove me to Mike's and Mike brought me to the library.  If all goes as planned, we will go to a drive in tonight and watch a movie, then go to church tomorrow.  I plan on starting home Monday morning and if things go well, I should be in my own bed by Tuesday evening.  I am really ready to go home!

Thursday, 7 August, Day 68.  Got up, read Luke 15 cleaned up, packed and had a nice pancake breakfast that Les & his wife, Linda fixed.  Got on the road about 10 after the nice liesurely morning.  I headed out the rolling hills and followed the directions Les printed out from Google maps that we created using a combination of topographic (terrain), road and sattelite images.  I was about 10 miles out, expecting a nice fast descent down the hill (about 500 ft elevation change), when the road ended... I asked a delivery guy the best way to get down the hill, and he described a route taking me back about 2 miles along my just completed route.  and then down the hill on another road.  Then, since I had only the printout, I had to fly by the seat of my pants, which turned out ok.  I got to my friend, Steve's house about noon as expected, but nobody was home, as expected, and I left a note.  I rode on to more familiar territory, heading down roads I had frequented when I lived here 7 years in Jeffersonville before I moved in 1992.  No problems finding the house we had rented.  I stopped and talked to the current owner for a while, then rode on to the Bass Pro Shop that opened a few years back.  They let me park my bike in at the entrance where it would be under constant observation and nobody would bother it.  I walked around and looked at stuff.  I really liked their aquarium with huge fish, especially the bluegills that were bigger than my hand with my fingers extended all the way.  I would bet they weighed about a pound, maybe a pound and a half!  I rode on to Dave Hackel's house, where his wife, recovering from foot surgery a little less than 2 weeks ago was expecting me.  Dave got home a little later and we all had a good time talking.  Dave's wife, Dian, didn't want anything but jello from the refrigerator for supper, so Dave took me to a restaraunt and did some sightseeing.  One interesting point of interest is the flood wall, which has several murals painted by a local artist.  They depict various historical aspects of Jeffersonville.  We went back to his house and talked some more till it was pretty late, then went to bed.  It was really an easy day of about 38 miles even with the extra riding I did.

 

Friday, 8 August, Day 69.  Got up liesurely and had a big bowl of Cheerios for breakfast after my usual morning activities.  Dave & I combed their two really fuzzy cats as we talked, then looked at some stuff in his garage.  Dave has an amazing amount of World War II knowledge and interesting memorabilia.  He has pictures, books, clothing, awards, ammunition boxes and lots of other stuff, and he knows much of the history behind most of the things.  I finally packed my stuff and left for Charlestown about 10.  It was cool, with a bright blue sky and light northwest winds as I rode north across the rolling hills.  It was about ideal for riding a bicycle.  I stopped at the Charlestown library to update the blog before looking up people I wanted to visit while in town.  Dave and Dian plan on going to the AMC Field Safety Activity annual picnic in Henryville tomorrow, and have me go with them.  Sounds like a good plan, since I missed the last two years.  I am looking forward to it.

Wednesday, 6 August, Day 67.  Got up about 7, read Luke 14, ate hot oatmeal for breakfast, said goodbye to My daughter & grandkids and got on the road about 8:20.  It was overcast and cool.  Clouds looked somewhat threatening so I wanted to get as many miles in as possible in case rain slowed me down.  The road I took for the first 8 or 10 miles out of town was a bit flatter than the one I came into Elizabethtown on two months ago.  The extra mile or two ended up being well worth it.  I enjoyed the scenery as I rode the rolling hills heading north.  When I got to Brandenburg, the bypass was still under construction, but this time, the whole thing was partially paved, so I had about 4 miles of being protected by orange barrels.  Really nice!  Found a turtle as I rode that section.  I sent it on its way off the road.  Hopefully it didn't wander back on.  Saw a lot of stinking chicken trucks.  Not fun!  Finally, I arrived at the Indiana border, and the ride uphill from the Ohio River lay ahead.  Actually, after riding in the mountains of NC and a few other places, it wasn't as bad as I remembered.  A light sprinkly drizzle occasionally fell, keeping me pretty cool.  The clouds began to burn off as I approached Corydon, the first Indiana State Capitol.  When I saw the Tyson plant in Corydon, I realized where the chicken trucks had been going.  The last few miles to Les Morgan's house were rather hilly, but nothing long enough to be difficult.  I finished the 58 mile ride to his house at about 1:30.  Since he wasn't going to arrive home for a few hours, I took a little walk in the woods behind his house.  I encountered a box turtle in the ravine, but other than seeing a deer, that was all.  On the retaining wall behind his house, there was a tiny 5 lined skink that wouldn't allow me to get any closer than about 3 feet, but I got its picture.  I also saw a cicada killer wasp prowling around the back yard.  Les got home and grilled some really delicious chicken for supper and then we went out into the back yard and talked till about dark.  Tomorrow, I plan on riding to spend the night at Dave Hackel's home in Jeffersonville with a possible stop in New Albany to visit another friend.  The annual FSA (where I worked when I lived in the area) picnic is being held Saturday, so Dave wants me to attend with him and his wife, Diane.  We'll see how it works out.  All in all, it has been a really good day!