Day 23

Today, we got well into "small town America."  Out west, we sometimes went 60 miles without seeing civilization and even in Illinois there were some long stretches where we didn't see much more than the ever present grain elevator and a few houses.  Comparably, when we crossed into Indiana, there were many stretches where all you could see was flat terrain with corn sprouting out of the rich, black soil of the "Corn Belt," but if you don't stumble into a small town about every 5-10 miles, you are going in circles in the Hoosier state.  Some of them are a bit run down but they are still the center of things in this rural state.  Family values are paramount and community pride is ever present in all but a few of these small towns.  Many homes had little signs in their front yard that said, "We Stand For The 10 Commandments" or "Support Our Troops" or they'd be flying an American flag.  Yards everywhere were precisely manicured, fence rows were clean, and all the homes seemed to have a fresh coat of paint.  Every town we rode through would somewhere display the local high school's mascot with a spirit statement...that's life in the mid west and this sign coming into Hillsboro is a good example of the mid west sense of humor (below right).  You just don't see places like this everywhere...and the folks are really friendly too.  That's Hoosier hospitality at its finest.

As I said, early in the day we were on very rural roads but by mid ride we picked up state highway 150 through Danville into Indiana and highway 32 from Crawfordsville to Lebanon.  The traffic was light to moderate in spots and about 3/4 of the way had a small shoulder so the order of the afternoon was to ride single file and "git er done."

I got to ride from the first SAG to lunch...about 43 miles.  I rode with Andy and as we passed through Danville IL, I remembered there was a bike shop in town and Andy had a wheel bearing go out yesterday...maybe we could get it fixed.  We dropped by Cycle's Plus about 6 blocks off our route and their mechanic, Keith Gower, dropped everything and rooted through his axle drawer and dug out some axle cones that worked...I called Karen in the van to bring Andy's wheel to the shop...I love it when a plan comes together.  Thanks Cycle's Plus for your great support.  After a friendly visit and successful fix, we were back on the road, behind everyone by quite a way by this time, but we were moving again.

Yes, today we crossed into the Hoosier state...my home state, or at least where I grew up.  What's a Hoosier you ask?  According to my childhood Indiana history classes, the term Hoosier came from the phrase "Who's there."  A phrase used by early French frontier settlers to query visitors outside their lonely cabins.  Hey, that's the way I remember it...works for me.

The motel we are staying at, the Comfort Inn of Lebanon, is one of the most accommodating motels on our ride.  Since we are one of the big events in town during the year, last year the local newspaper did an article about us coming in and were there in the morning on our departure for a photo shoot...made us all feel like celebrities.  Doesn't take a whole lot to get them all excited in these parts.  We always enjoy our stay here...hate to leave.

Tomorrow we get up early and go tour the Roark bicycle factory before we get on the road.  We will see the bicycle building process from start to finish and see why Roark bicycles are a quality bike.  I think everyone is looking forward to a change in the routine and won't mind the late departure in the least.  Hopefully, the weather will stay dry until we get in even though we'll get a little later start than usual.  We're forecast to have a chance of thunder showers in the late afternoon so we'll ride fast.  See you tomorrow...thanks again for checking in with us.