Day 23
The shortest distance between two points is under construction...and the rest of the area too.

Today's route is a new route we developed about 4 years ago.  Barb and I researched country roads to get around Indianapolis.  When we laid out this route, the roads were quiet and very scenic, but in the last couple years they have built 5 or 6 large housing areas along the route and have cleared several more areas to be constructed soon.  Today, we would be riding in a nice quiet area then we would be in a large construction area complete with trucks and graders.  At one point we were headed off about 2 blocks from our turn with no way to get through.  Several riders went by the detour but it took them the wrong way while others hiked through the construction and got back on route.  Everyone got through somehow...at least everyone showed up at lunch.  We haven't tallied up the bonus miles yet, but I'm sure several riders got a few today.  With all the construction in this area, we probably won't be able to come through here again...back to the drawing board for the next ride through here.  

But not all areas were too busy as we passed several beautiful horse ranches and some expensive homes on the outskirts of Indianapolis and Noblesville...a nice change from the never ending corn fields we'd pedaled past the last few days.  Our route finally connected to highway 40 in Knightstown where the movie Hoosiers was filmed.  From there we took highway 40 all the way to the motel about 500 yards from Ohio...we'll enter another state tomorrow.

Other than the construction, our other challenge today was the winds again.  Luckily, they were out of the SW most of the day but they picked up into the 20s again today.  Most of the day we got a little help as they were behind us, but there was a 10 mile stretch just before lunch that everyone put it in grunt mode to keep moving. 

Tonight we are expecting strong storms to cruise through the area.  I'm hoping the storms will be gone by tomorrow morning...it's going to cool off, but give us dry and we'll take it. 

We are closing in on our destination.  It won't be long before we will be dipping our wheels in the Atlantic.  But that's still 9 days away...right now, we just take it a day at a time and hope to stay safe.  Tomorrow's ride is a great one, but I'm taking bets that everyone will get lost at least once.  Ohio has lots of navigation with a turn at least every 2 miles...super ride in the country.  Now all we need are winds that come from the west.  See you tomorrow.