Ryan- Sweet home Chicago: And farewell

I know this is a little late to write about Chicago, but since we've been averaging about 100 miles a day in rainy weather across the midwest, I figure its better late than never...

Chicago was a great place to stop for a couple days. Our fund raiser was stellar and everybody got to see their family and friends.

(Just a suggestion, when you go on a cross country bike trip, move entirely out of your apartment first so that you don't have to spend hours and hours cleaning and moving when you're passing through your hometown).

It was so nice to feel support for this trip and this film from all the people I care about, yet there can never be enough time, so before I knew it we were on the road again.

Luckily, the few people who got word that we wanted to ride out with friends all showed up to the train station on Monday morning and 7 other people got to experience a typical day on the road (for about 10 or 15 miles). It started slow, we left about 30 minutes after said time, Matt rolled up with a flat that needed to be pumped, we went four blocks in about 10 minutes (lots of little stops), we went the wrong way down a one way, Stu endangered his own life, and then we finally got moving. Mid way through the trip Jimmy Robin got a flat tire, so we got to give him a crash course on flat fixin' on the road. About ten miles out most people turned back and a winner appeared- Dave Safford (my hero)... who stuck it out long enough to get the true pay off of riding: Ice Cream. Dave also fell into the Scott trap (where you try and keep up and Scott just keeps riding faster and faster. Needless to say, by the time we got ice cream, we were all ready for a little break).

It was so nice that people took the time to ride and to see us off. So to our fellow riders: Brian Morrison, Elliot Tagtmeier, Dave Safford, Jimmy Robin, Andy Junk, Rich Sandford, Larry Gress, Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the ride.

On a side note... I finally believe Andy is quitting. I told him I wouldn't believe it until he rode with us and turned back. And sure enough he turned back. Bummer. (I don't know why he stopped blogging though- I'm still curious as to what he's up to).

The midwest was flat and awesome. We've met several farmers, while Matt or I change our flat tires (which have grown exponentially since Chicago), who have held fun conversations or offered us water on the side of the road. Other points I could touch on are:

* Drinking welch's grape juice from a farm that grows the grapes,
* Eating fresh apples from Apple Trees
* Days of misery- Wet and cold- The trip is finally legitimate (what's an adventure without misery?)
* Our longest day yet (and first real night ride) 128 miles
* Camping in people's yards- we have yet to be turned away, people are pretty incredible.
* Camping outside a motel, and outside a Mall (movie theatre).
* There's so much more, but there's some stuff you can ask us about if you wanna hear a story... Nighty night for now.

Sincerely,

Ryan C. Kolegas