Madison to Columbus

The Pancakes this morning where a complete failure.  I've never seen pancakes made so poorly; a pathetic excuse for what has the potential to be the best breakfast ever.  I bought some just-add-water pancake mix a while back and this morning, the morning I would ride into Madison, would be the perfect opportunity to cook them on my camp stove.  Step one, Add the water.  This went pretty well.  I measured out the correct amount of water, added it to the mix and stirred.  I was feeling good!  Pancakes! Yea!  Unfortunately  it would all go downhill from here.  I didn't have any butter for the pan, but I did have some olive oil.  That might work, right?  sure why not!  Olive oil in the pan, I poured out the first cake.  Within seconds it had burned to the bottom-- quick flip it!  yea right- if by flip, I mean mangle, then I was successful!  The end result: burned on the outside, completely raw on the inside and the entire cake permeated with olive oil, which, by the way, doesn't  prevent it from sticking it just makes it taste weird. I know what you're thinking, use less heat, right?  Impossible!  I was using as little heat as possible on my cookstove and still getting the same result.  The pan was just too thin.  But I was hungry and I sure as hell wasn't going to let that mix go to waste, so I ended up with a short stack of GregCakes - raw pancake mix, lightly fried in olive oil!

Madison

After my questionable breakfast, I had a mostly uneventful ride into Madison, where I stayed with my friend Nick B.  He was a great host and I had a blast biking around town seeing the sights.  Madison is a groovy city, lots of bikes, breweries, bakeries.  I was also able to meet a few couchsurfers for coffees and lunches;  all cool people, of course. I left with an excellent impression of the city, and I would consider living there, if I wasn't boycotting winter right now.  (BTW, Im boycotting winter-- I hate it, worst season ever!)  Anyways, it was a beautiful city full of good people.  But I couldn't stay forever, so I headed out to Milwaukee.

Nick and I

In Milwaukee I stayed at the Bayview Eco-village, sort of like a co-op house.  My hosts were very nice and gave me a comfortable bed and some tasty food.  I even stayed an extra day and got to go sailing on lake Michigan with Eric, one of the people at the village.  It was really fun!  Now I want to quit my job and be a sailor.  Well I guess I don't have a job now, but I will get one, then quit it and become a sailor!

Our vessel, white cap #3

The next day I rode into Chicago.  Pretty easy ride, until getting closer to the city.  I was planning on riding some bike paths as far as I could into the city, but I ended up meeting a cyclist on the path who took me on a much more scenic route through some beautiful neighborhoods and along the lake.  He rode with me for a while and pretty much took me to my friend Yost's apartment where I would be staying.  I managed to get to Yost's place with out being killed, which I was pleased with because Chicago drivers are nuts, and I enjoy living.

Taking a break on the way out of Milwaukee

Chi-town!

I had a good time in Chicago.  Yost showed me around downtown and a few neighborhoods, including an excellent doughnut shop and a kick-ass music store called Chicago Music Exchange.  I could've spent all day in there.  But I didn't.  We had a few afternoon beers, and in the evening went to the Green Mill and saw an excellent Organ Trio called Deep Blue. (Not the shitty chain Green Mill, the prohibition era jazz bar in chicago)  It was great! $5 cover for four hours of funky Hammond B3, I had a blast!  I also made it to the Art Institute of Chicago and took in some classic pieces.

Wooo!

Gettin ready for a night of good music!

Then I flew from Chicago to Fargo.  I know I know, its going backwards, but I really wanted to make it to the wedding of my good friends Jessica and Matt.  I got a ride up to Grand Forks for the bachelor party, then to Bemidji for the wedding.  It was a lot of fun seeing some old friends and dancing it up at the reception.  Then a quick flight back to Chicago to continue riding.

After a little more time in Chi town it was time to ride on.  I had been warned of the bad neighborhoods in south Chicago and the heavy industrial traffic, so I was a little apprehensive, but I managed to navigate a route that wasn't too bad.  That first day out I was able to get back into the rural farmlands of Indiana, and camped at an airport South east of Gary.  I got rained on all night and the next day was foggy and drizzly.  Pretty awful, but that's what I get for wasting so much time up until now.  I managed to stay dry most of the morning, which was nice, but by the end of the day I was pretty soaked.  I made it to Fort Wayne Indiana, and I was only a couple miles from my warmshowers host's house when I got a flat!  And right as the sun was going down, too.  I stopped under the awning of a Subway to fix it, and as soon as I got under the shelter, it started pouring rain.  I fixed my tire, and right as I finished, the rain stopped.  If it wasn't for that flat, I would've gotten soaked!  Weird, huh? Jenny N was a great host- very accommodating, and the next morning she bought me a coffee before heading out.

Jenny and I

In the next two days I was able to ride to Columbus.  The wind was very strong, but it was mostly out of the West so I was able to get a good tailwind most of the time.  One day I was able to ride almost 70 miles in about 4 hours.  Columbus is a cool town.  I had a few beers at a few bars and met a few locals. Today I explored the campus a bit - it is beautiful.  The library is incredible.  You could spend hours in there before picking up a book of which there are millions to choose from.  Now its 70ish degrees, sunny and Im drinking a locally brewed IPA.  Who says summer is over?

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