For the last two days, I have had the pleasure of staying at the home of Stu Rhodes and Dee Taylor, in Indianapolis. They have taken good care of me, and I felt rested for today's ride to Richmond, Indiana.
Two things of special note happened: First, I was able to get a replacement pair of glasses made. Dr. Jim Schrader emailed my lense prescription to the company in Indy, so that was a big relief.
Secondly, a group of my fraternity brothers gathered Tuesday evening, using my visit as a pretext to see each other. It was great to see everyone again, and to catch up on each others' lives.
Today's trip seemed fairly simple once I got out of Indianapolis. Highway 40 went directly from Indianapolis to Richmond. Stu did a good job of putting together an exit route. I left Stu and Dee at 7:45 AM. Two hours and 15 miles later, I found myself finally out of the city.
Highway 40 was a major east/west four lane highway once. Then Interstate 70 was built, and most of the traffic shifted there. I was told that it had nice 8' shoulders, and it did for a short while, but then went back to the typical 1-2 foot shoulders I have ever seen so much in this state. However, with 4 lanes of traffic, and the fact that there was not a lot of people using this highway, the narrow shoulders did not matter.
I did run out of water, so sure was I that the next little town would have a convenience store. Rather than ride to the another town, I stopped by a lady that was mowing her yard, and asked if I could fill up my water bottle from an outside spigot. She took the bottle and filled it up indoors. When she returned with it, I drank half of it before I was out of town. At the next town, I purchased two bottles of Powerade, one for immediate use, one as a spare.
The most challenging part of the day happened when I arrived at Richmond. I deliberately booked a motel room on the east side of town, because it was near the highway I would be taking into Ohio in the morning. The ride through Richmond was congested, with no extra space for bicycles. Several times when traffic started to pile up behind me, I pulled off the road, or onto the sidewalk, to let the lane clear.
Finally, over nine hours, and 81 miles, after leaving this morning, I checked into my motel. It ended up being over 20 miles more than I originally expected, but I suppose if you add in the 15 miles to get out of Indy, and the long ride through Richmond, the difference could be explained.
Tomorrow, Ohio.
Blessings to you all.
