One hundred days on the road: a numerical retrospective

-2843.5 total miles ridden during 65 days of riding, for an average of 43.7 miles per day.
-2689.3 miles ridden loaded toward a new goal during 57 days of riding, for an average of 47.2 miles per day. The rest were unloaded miles ridden while sightseeing or running errands.
-12 consecutive nights sleeping outside
-61 total nights sleeping outside
-11 consecutive nights sleeping indoors
-40 nights I paid for lodging
-$721 spent on lodging
-9 consecutive days without showering
-58 consecutive days without seeing a single person I knew before the trip
-29 consecutive days without riding in a car or bus

Monday, 11 August: I was planning to leave today, but on Sunday night my cousin told me I should stay longer, and I said I would if she played hooky on Monday, so we spent one last day chillin' like Bob Dylan. If Bob liked to play Trivial Pursuit, sunbathe and swim in Lake Michigan, that is.

Tuesday, 12 August: I finally left Chicago. I already miss its well-labeled bike routes almost as much as I miss my cousin. She dropped me off by the Lakefront Trail kinda downtownish, near her work. I rode that trail to some well-marked connecting streets to another trail that took me almost all of the way to Indiana.

I crossed the border after 17 miles or so, but it wasn't labeled because I was on smaller streets. I had a route all planned out (thanks to a fantastic bike map of northwest Indiana that I found online) that would utilize three nearly connecting bike trails to go slightly south and then east, but it didn't quite work out that way. When I finally found the first trail, it was so completely unlabeled I wasn't positive I was not on a large sidewalk until a mile or two later when I saw a sign indicating it was a bike trail. Not which bike trail, just a trail, but it was heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, I didn't print out the bike map, and forgot that I was supposed to turn off the first trail and head for the second about 5 miles before the trail ended. I got to the end of the trail, and then decided to re-route on the fly instead of backtracking. I ended up on a road with no shoulder that was closed for construction after a few miles, and detoured onto a road with no shoulder that was in such bad condition that riding anywhere near the right side of the lane was like riding on a washboard. I made it through, however, and meandered back north and east to a road that I think will be a decent ride across the rest of the state. More on that tomorrow...

With all the re-routing, I ended up riding pretty late today. I got to a small town and asked about camping at a gas station, and the woman said she thought I could camp at the county park. In other states I've been in, that was not allowed, but it was too late to look for other alternatives, so I headed over there. I saw no signs that said camping was not allowed, and it's a huge park, so I was able to find a secluded spot. I am surrounded by woods and wetland, and the park is well outside town, so there are many good wildlife noises and hardly any lights. It's a great way to return to outdoor life. The only imperfect thing is the cloudiness hiding my stars. But I'm so sleepy it hardly matters...