DownTheTrail.com

hiking guides, gear, and journals

  • LATEST
  • GUIDES
    • COLORADO TRAIL
    • THE LONG TRAIL
      • LONG TRAIL SHELTERS
    • ARIZONA
    • UTAH
    • CALIFORNIA
    • HAWAII
    • ALASKA
  • GEAR
    • MY GEAR LIST
  • JOURNALS
    • GRAND CANYON
    • COLORADO TRAIL
    • LONG TRAIL
    • BICYCLING ACROSS AMERICA
    • APPALACHIAN TRAIL
    • DENALI
  • MORE
  • ABOUT

Day 20 – Louisville, KY to Bloomington, IN

updated: July 29, 2018

102 miles
June 15, 2006

The phone rang in my hotel room at 6am. I lifted it, said “thank you,” and hung up. It was 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 partially because I’m off of the official TransAmerica Trail. I just stuck to roads that would take me the best way to Bloomington, as far as I could see by the state road 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… and put 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 before I hit town that I couldn’t resist:

KFC ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET

So I had a great stop there – biscuits, gravy, mashed 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. Such a shame because I had it all planned out…

“I’m sorry sir, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave. You’ve had enough to eat.”

“Okay, but may I take your picture first? Try and look angry for me…”

The sun was high and the heat was full force by the time I pulled myself away from the buffet. 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 as I entered the Hoosier National Forest. I crossed Hoosier Lake, and finally made my way into Bloomington – and Andy’s house – at about 6:30pm. It was a 100-mile day, my first of the tour.

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 of hanging out and reminiscing of old times. We all went to bed by midnight – I was exhausted.

Life is good.

Salem, Indiana

green desert

boys and our bikes

<--- Day 19 (PREVIOUS)

Day 21 (NEXT) —>


View Larger Map

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

About Jamie Compos

I'm the guy behind DownTheTrail.com. I love the outdoors, and the Grand Canyon is my favorite destination. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter (at the bottom of the page), or else I'll slip a rock into your backpack when you're not looking.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

My Best Gear for 2023

Backpack

Day Pack

1-Person Tent

2-Person Tent

Sleeping Bag
(3 season)

Sleeping Bag
(summer)

Sleeping Pad
(inflatable)

Sleeping Pad
(foam)

Camp Pillow

Thru-Hiking Shoes

Sturdy Shoes
(Rugged/Off Trail)

Trail Running
(minimalist shoes)

Road Running
(minimalist shoes)

Socks

Water Filter

Water Treatment

Backpacking Stove

Headlamp

Power Bank

911 calls via GPS

Thru-Hiking App

Packraft

SEE MORE DETAILS
(my ultimate gear list)

 

(purchases through affiliate links earn commission)

 

chart your course

Copyright © 2023 Down The Trail - All Rights Reserved - legal statements - contact

This site feeds you cookies and is peppered with affiliate links. Recreating outdoors can be dangerous. Links to e-commerce sites earn commission. Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT