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The TransAmerica Trail – Indiana
Louisville, KY – Bloomington, IN
102 miles
June 15, 2006
The phone rang in my room at 6am, waking me. I lifted it, said “thank you,” and hung up. It was the the first time in my life I’d ever ordered a wake up call. I raided the continental breakfast, having at least one of everything, and was on the road by 8.
Riding today was mostly uneventful, again because I’m off route, sticking to the same roads that take me the best way to Bloomington, as far as I could see by the map. I knew I had a long ride ahead of me today, so I took advantage of the cool morning hours, forgiving terrain, and loads of coffee and sugar pumping through my veins – putting in 40 miles by noon. When I was ready for lunch, I came upon the town of Salem, Indiana, and saw a billboard two miles out that I couldn’t resist:
KFC All You Can Eat Buffet
So I had a great stop there – biscuits, gravy, mash potatoes, corn, baked beans… the works. I was hoping the manager would kick me out so I’d have a funny story to write here in the journal, but it never happened. What a shame ’cause I had it all planned out…
“I’m sorry sir, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave. You’ve had enought to eat.”
“Okay, but may I take your picture first? Try and look angry for me…”
By the time I left, the sun was high, the heat full force. I was now in the open Indiana farmland, with nothing to see and no shade, like a wide green desert. Good practice for riding through Kansas, I thought.
I started to dehydrate as the KFC buffet came back to haunt me. At Medora, the next town (A quaint little place), I drank two quarts of powerade – and made three separate trips to the gas station bathroom. A sign in there read, “We aim to please, so you aim too, please.” Cute.
Andy had previously sent me an email that said something like, “Be warned, Southern Indiana isn’t the flat, agrarian paradise of the north, and is actually quite hilly.” From Medora I sent him an email that said, “Nothing but flat, agrarian paradise so far.”
So of course it got hilly when I left town. And the heat climbed even more. The farms gave way to rolling woods, and the Hoosier National Forest. I crossed Hoosier Lake, and finally made my way into Bloomington – and Andy’s house – at about 6:30. It was a 100 mile day.
He was there waiting for me, and after a nice greeting, I immediately had myself a good shower. He had a lasagne in the oven, and his wife Katie arrived home from work just after it was ready. They treated me to a great dinner, apple pie for dessert, and a fun evening hanging out, reminiscing over old times. We moved it on upstairs so I could upload some pictures, and we all went to bed by midnight – I was exhausted.
Life is good.
Salem, Indiana
green desert
boys and our bikes
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