Take away rain; that wasn’t in the picture. Now think about all the other possible conditions that could make riding a bike long distance feel like hell. Let’s see, there’s headwind, heavy traffic, high-speed passing cars, terrible roads, bad smells, heat, no shoulder. Oh yeah, and add in high mileage and sleeping outside for less than seven hours the night before. So that was yesterday, at least part of it.

The day started decently. I woke up at seven outside an elementary school. It was the only place I could find the night before that seemed safe, quiet, and lacking mosquitoes. I didn’t get there until after midnight. I knew people would be around in the morning, so I set my alarm to get up and out early. I didn’t waste any time, just got up, packed up my sleeping bag and started riding. The wind was at my back, and I rode for over an hour before stopping at a park to eat breakfast. I took my time and relaxed, knowing I was going to reach Chicago that evening and have a place to stay. Plus, I was tired.

I passed into Indiana with no problems, and it was quite peaceful for a bit, with little traffic and plenty of trees. I took a long lunch break at a state park. A little after that, as I made my way into Gary, Indiana, conditions really turned to shit. The area is very industrial, with all sorts of chemical and coal and who knows what else plants along the bottom of Lake Michigan. The wind comes in off the lake, so that puts all those nasty smells right in the way of my nose. But I pressed on because there is nothing else I can do. Gradually, the shoulder narrowed until it was pretty much nonexistent. I was forced to move into the right lane. The road was terrible, with potholes and loose concrete and debris. A bumpy ride, for sure. On top of all this, the highway was now a fairly busy thoroughfare and the traffic, and speed of the traffic, increased significantly.

I must have made a wrong turn at some point, as I ended up on a freeway for a mile or so. Here there was a wide shoulder, but it was completely littered with some pretty harsh debris. By the time I realized that it was a full-on freeway, however, I had gone too far to turn back, so I pushed on. I had to wait for three exits until I finally found an off-ramp that would take me back to the highway 12 I was on before. In the meantime, a very thoughtful and concerned citizen traveling the opposite direction, was kind enough to lean his head out his window and yell at me that what I was doing wasn’t legal. Thanks for the compassion.

Made my way back onto highway 12 to pass through some even nastier industrial areas, as the wind now became a direct headwind. Finally, I reached Illinois, although I never saw a sign for it, and Chicago. I thought I was just about there. I found that there is a bike path that runs along the lake, so I hopped on that, thinking it would just be a few minutes to my cousin’s place. Soon, however, I found out that she lives on the complete north end of the city, and I was still about 10 miles away. Suck! The wind was fierce, and I was thoroughly exhausted, having already covered 90 miles, but the end was in sight, and I was tired of being on my bike. I put my head down and set my pistons to overdrive. It was a rush making my way through the busy path, past bikers and joggers and rollerbladers. I had a real feeling of power and strength, easily passing all these fitness and racing cyclists with 100 pounds of gear on my clunky old steel frame. Just an ego trip, but it helped me to keep my pace up, setting targets of people to pass.

Before not too long, I finally made it, absolutely pooped. Jessica and Henry have a nice third-story apartment in what seems like a nice part of town, near Lincoln Square. Last night we went out to eat and had a beer. After six very long days on the road, I am definitely ready for a break for a few days. I don’t have any real plans for the city yet, but today the three of us are taking an architecture tour of the city by boat that goes up the river and out on the lake. That sounds pretty cool.

Earlier this morning I was taking a look at a map to see where I am going next. I realized that it is just over 400 miles to Minneapolis, but then another 1000 miles to Great Falls from there. Damn! I have already covered over 2000 miles now, but I still have so much more to do. My progress in the last few days, however, has really helped me realize what I am capable of. I have a feeling that much of the next couple weeks, traveling through states like South Dakota and Montana and Wyoming, are going to be more of the same idea: high miles, long days, days off only at my destinations.