July 31, 1998 - Milwaukee - Chicago

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 108.3 Miles

TIME: 9 Hours 15 Minutes

AVERAGE SPEED: 16.7 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Warm and sunny all day. Perfect weather for biking especially because of the 15 mile an hour tailwind.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Good bike paths but the roads had cracks every 10 feet and became worse as we approached north Chicago. The roads consisted of many potholes and had lots of traffic at the time that we passed through.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Mostly flat terrain and along with the tailwind, it was a fairly easy ride although long.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I woke up at 8:30 and found out that we were all going to leave as a group at 9:00. I figured that we wouldn't be leaving on time since only about half of the people were ready. After packing up my sleeping gear that was on the couch that everyone want to sit on, I got a bagel for breakfast along with some orange juice and lemonade. After eating, I got ready for the day and we finally left around 10:00 with David leading us out of Milwaukee. It was great to be able to just follow someone else instead of looking at our directions every ¼ of a mile. We made many turns that would have been very confusing if he was not with us. Also he took us to a bike path that we were not planning on taking. It took us by a park that would give us our last view of the city. It was perfect for a picture with the lake and the city in the background. Around 11:30, after riding 19 miles, it was time for David to head back since he still had to go to work for the day. After riding through this area together as a group of 10 people, we all split up in less than a mile. Matt and I went ahead, determined to get in early. We came to the Illinois border and took a picture(Picture81) and then continued on. A little while later we stopped for lunch where I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After eating, we biked for a little longer and then stopped again where I got a Fruitopia and a Charleston Chew. We continued on again and saw a bike shop where we stopped so that Matt could have his bike fixed. After talking for a little while, we rode on until we met up with Heather and Abigail who were sitting in a park eating their lunch. We were going to continue on after stopping to say "hi" but we saw a place across the street that sold ice cream. I stopped in and bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's Raspberry Passion Sorbet. It was very refreshing and I could have easily eaten more! We decided to go on and a little while later we met up with Liz Gilbert, a 29-year-old woman who was training for the Canadian Ironman Triathlon which was to be held on August 30th. She had a Trek 2100 and rode with us for about 15 miles. She took us along the roads showing us better ways to get to where we were going. We went onto a bike trail which took us along the shoreline of Lake Michigan and through the campus of Northwestern University.(Picture82) It was too late to stop so we continued on and a little while later left Liz to go on to Chicago. We rode on the roads right through the city at 5:30 on a Friday! The traffic was horrible and from all of the weaving around the cars, I felt like a bike messenger. We finally found the road that we were looking for and got onto another bike path that was to take us about one mile from our destination. We rode on it for about 20 miles weaving past runners, walkers, rollerbladers, and other bikers. It was a wide path but with the quantity of people, it was very tricky to go at a good speed. At some times, while going along the lake, the path would cut down so low that the waves would be covering the path in water. It was a very fun trail even though it took a lot of concentration to be aware of everyone else. We passed by the fountain that is shown at the beginning of married with children and walked up to take a picture with the lake in the background.(Picture83) We continued on and around 7:00 we came to our destination. However there was a sign on the door that told us that we were to go to another place to stay for the night. So we continued on for a little while and finally arrived at 7:15. We were the first ones other than Brad and Pinky. Brad had driven and Pinky had arrived on the bus. We ate dinner which was a great potluck where I had lasagna, chicken, snow peas and mushrooms, and fresh bread. After eating, we talked for a little while until Heather and Abigail arrived around 8:30. We all talked for a while before going to our assigned host for the night. We had home stays but since the person whom I was supposed to stay with was out of town, she had left the keys along with a note that said that we were welcome to stay in her apartment and make ourselves at home. I went up to the apartment with Matt with all of our gear and we claimed the two rooms with beds. A little later, we found out that Anthony was also going to be staying with us. I went into my room after getting some food to watch some TV by myself and get onto the Internet for a while. It was great to be alone for a while. I finally felt like I was at home again since it was so quiet. I fed the cats that were in the apartment and then got into bed. About ten minutes later Tami called and I found out that she was still about 25 miles away and it was already 11:00. She had gotten three flats and had been trying to reach us since about 7:00. She was at Northwestern University and since she had lost the sheet with the SAG number on it when she pulled out some spare tubes during the day, she couldn't call the cell phone. I gave it to her and she then called Brad. Because of the bike trail, we couldn't go and look for anyone. The only way to know if people needed it was for them to call us. Brad couldn't find her for a while and finally got her at 1:00 AM in the morning. They got back to where we were staying around 4:00 and went to bed immediately. I had previously gotten to bed around 11:15.

TRIP ROUTE: