As with previous US cycle trips we’ve been splitting our accommodation between Warm Showers (WS) – the network of touring cyclist and friends of touring cyclists (some hosts are not even riders) and hotels/motels. The WS hosts have been great without fail, we’ve met some lovely people. The hotels on the other hand have been hit and miss. The first hotel in Rochester was OK, fairly basic but clean. Their laundry room closed at 10 pm for some inexplicable reason. The only exception to the cleanliness was the advertised pool, which clearly had a serious problem with the filtration system. Hotel number two in Muncie was actually nice. Unfortunately, hotel number three really bummed. The Dayton Grand sounded so promising, I had visions of an old downtown hotel in a traditional style. What we got instead with a lot of faded grandeur with dodgy pipes, (they had to move us to another room with hot water), Wi-fi that kept cutting out, no in-hotel laundry and no soya milk. The staff were equally hopeless sending us on a wild goose chase to find a laundry that we never found. The problem with booking hotels online in advance is that the pictures can look nice, but the reality is sometimes far removed. On things for sure my TripAdvisor comments on the Dayton Grand will not be positive!

Ohio is the seventh most populous state in the union with 11.5 million people living here.

Ohio’s population growth lags that of the entire United States, and Caucasians are found in a greater density than the United States average.
The largest ancestry groups (which the Census defines as not including racial terms) in the state are: 26.5% German, 14.1 Irish, 9.0% English, 6.4% Italian
7.6% from the other Slavic countries.
It has a Republican Governor, 1 Democrat and 1 Republican senator and 8 of 12 congressman are Republican.

The state capital and largest city are Columbus – where we’ll cycle to today.
Ohio is known for its status as both a swing-state and a bellwether in national elections – hence you may see a lot of TV reports from Ohio during US presidential election campaigns.

The manufacturing and financial activities sectors each compose 18.3% of Ohio’s GDP, making them Ohio’s largest industries.
The headquarters of Procter & Gamble, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, AK Steel, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Wendy’s (national restaurant chain) are all based in Ohio.

The state bird of Ohio is also the Cardinal.

Famous Ohioans include Orville and Wilbur Wright (aeroplane inventors), Neil Armstrong, Dorris Day (worth knowing as I cycle along singing ‘Secret Love’!), Paul Newman and Rob Lowe.

There is a familiar phrase that is heard in our house – a phrase uttered almost exclusively by Michael. It goes something like this ‘you’re always glued to your iPad/iPhone’. It’s a fair-cop, I admit it. I cannot sit still without having something to do – these devices give me the perfect opportunity to multi-task. However, I think that the next time this phrase is used on me I will be whipping out the holiday snaps I’ve been taking. So much for quiet moments together sharing our thoughts of the days ride. No chance. Every opportunity he has, Mike is blogging – recording in meticulous detail the events of out trip. I hope the attention to detail is appreciated by you, dear reader, and perhaps by some Hollywood scout on the hunt for the next road trip movie idea!

Riding at around 15 miles an hour is the perfect speed to take in not just the scenery but also the wildlife – and there has been lots of it! On our first ride of this trip (just after the incident with the chasing dog) we passed a stream besides a wood. The light was dimming, but stood in the water, it’s silhouette clearly contrasting with the water was a beautiful deer. A little further along the road we saw another deer, this time leaping through the corn fields. Today we have seen a lot of wildlife – some of it with a death wish. Not long after setting off from our hotel this morning we came to a six lane highway interchange where a family of ducklings (no mum or dad to be seen) we’re waddling their way through the traffic. Most of the cars were slowing down but it was terrifying to watch. We contemplated for a moment whether we should intervene – but though we’d probably make things worse. We crossed our fingers for the ducklings and pedalled off. Once on the Cardinal Greenway we were surrounded by nature. First there was the startling red Cardinal birds (the state bird of Indiana) that kept darting along the path in front of us. Next there was the chipmunks who seemed to be playing a game of chicken with us as they hurled themselves across the path in front of our wheels. We didn’t get any, but it was a close run thing. Then there was the thin black snake coiled up on the edge of the trail, (it moved out of the way quickly), followed shortly after by a turkey that strolled across in front of us. However, the most extraordinary wildlife event of the day was our close encounter with a Beaver. I say a Beaver, we’re pretty sure it was but as neither of us have much experience in the Beaver dept, we could be wrong. It could be a muskrat. Anyway, as we approached we first thought that there was a rock on the path, as we got closer the rock started to move – but not to the side into the undergrowth but straight on. Before we knew it we had formed a Peleton with a Beaver. Mike on one side, me on the other and our gnawing friend in the middle. Thankfully we soon outpaced him and left him to chew on some logs . Hopefully we won’t encounter any more kamikaze animals on this trip.

In a country with a serious weight problem building in ‘active travel’ solution (as we call them in the UK) is a ‘no brainer’. Good quality walking and cycle routes, close to where people live is a good way to get people exercising, which is why it’s good to see so many fantastic rail to trail routes. Yesterday’s Nickel Plate Trail and today’s Cardinal Greenway are just two examples of hundreds of miles of well maintained Tarmac routes in Indiana alone. What is completely shocking though is that these treasures are virtually hidden from local people. On all the trails we’ve ridden so far we have barely seen a handful of other people using them. On the Cardinal Greenway today we saw 10 people in 35 miles and two of them were maintaining the path – not cycling! Until you actually reach the trails over here there is absolutely no signage telling people they are there. In the UK most long distance cycle routes will have signed directions from nearby streets – but not here. We only found out about most of the routes we’re riding thanks to the marvellous Google Maps cycle route planner, (although it’s annoying that they don’t pay their taxes). When we’ve been a bit uncertain about where the trails start we’ve occasionally asked a passer-by, even though they’re local, none of them (without exception) knew there even was a cycle trail! A serious lesson in signage is needed – I feel a letter coming onto several US city Mayors, maybe I’ll take to the top and write to the state governor. It’s a shame that these routes are barely known about and used.

This e-mail message came in from Bonnie this morning:

Visiting Chicago

Great to hear from you and am glad you made it to Rochester safely. Frank and I enjoyed having you both as our guests and regretted that the visit was so short. Please come back.

The camping was really great. It was sponsored by the Chicago Park District and we had brand new North Face tents to use. We all got to practice archery and fishing … fish were actually caught (and thrown back) which my four grandsons enjoyed immensely. They had never fished before. There was also a storyteller, S’mores, and the campfire with the city skyline in the background.

Thanks so much for the generous gift, the coasters. I did share them with Frank, and you are right…they match my new tile beautifully. So glad you made it to the Robie House. Stay safe and I will be checking in on the blog periodically.

Bonnie and Frank

That’s really sweet. I’m glad the coasters were shared with Frank, I was even going to suggest sharing them in my card, but that seemed a bit presumptuous. Camping out that night must have been amazing – it was warm and there was a huge ‘super’ moon casting a silver light everywhere. When we came back from the concert in Millennium Park we heard fireworks going off from somewhere behind the apartment building – we wondered if that was happening at the campsite. It was around 10 I think.

Thanks again to Bonnie and Frank who were exemplary, kind, generous, considerate, informative Warm Showers hosts. You both go up there among the very best – and that’s an increasingly competitive place to be!

Breakfast in the USA, like almost every other meal seems to be dominated by sweet things. Cereals, waffles, muffins, pastries and (a little bit of) fruit are in abundance. Now I like a fruity bun in the morning as much as the next guy – but the relentless sweet-fest first thing in the morning is becoming a bit of a bore. I can’t wait to get back to the UK for a nice slice of Marmite on toast – the uniquely British salty savoury breakfast condiment. They say you either love or hate Marmite, I’m definitely in the love camp. It’s not just breakfasts that are sweet here – when you go into the supermarket and start reading the ingredients on packets you’d be hard pushed to find anything that doesn’t contain corn-syrup. It’s really not surprising that there are so many fat people in the US, bad food combined to an obsession with driving everywhere has resulted in an obesity epidemic, It’s a worrying trend we’re also starting to see in the UK. I think the Americans could do with weening off their sweet tooth, and ‘my mate, Marmite’ could be just the thing to do it!

Estimated mileage: 92 actual: 87.58

Avg. speed: 13.9 mph

Cumulative distance: 214.08 miles

Woke up feeling a bit stiff and sore
That was a long day in the saddle yesterday! I have had quite a sore back in the weeks leading up to our holiday – I think caused by too much sitting down and marking! My physiotherapist has advised that I stretch every half hour or so when I’m’ riding, which I’ve been trying to do. In a headwind on a bicycle though, the temptation is to hunch down as low as possible and for as long as possible – causing my back to scream in pain. I hate this because I’ve cycled all my life and it’s never hurt – cycling shouldn’t hurt at all. It doesn’t distract me too much from enjoying the trip, but I fervently wish it wasn’t this way. I’m taking anti-inflamatories and I hope that as we head further east there’ll be less of a headwind and therefore less demand for taking up a back-breakingly low position on the bike.

By the time we’d eaten last night, we realised that the Comfort Inn’s hotel laundry had closed, why I’ll never understand – it’s not as if it was staffed! We had to get up early to wash our kit and then left everything to dry in our room with the heating turned up while we had breakfast.

The Comfort Inn was proving to be very adroit at not giving much comfort. The buffet breakfast had almost nothing that I would eat and I was really glad that we picked up that soya milk last night.

We left Rochester really late at 11.30. It took ages to dry our cycling gear and then as we were about to go I couldn’t find my sunglasses – expensive Oakley’s and this is my third pair! I’ve managed to lose the last two! I was sure that I’d left them on the table in our room. Out at reception Matthew was calling Janet, he said that he didn’t have my sunglasses and hadn’t picked them up. He suggested that maybe I’d packed them in my bag. I knew that I hadn’t – why would I do that if I wanted to wear them? Also they have a little case to stop them getting squished in my bag and I still had that – it was empty. I went back to our room and turned it upside down – the sunglasses were not there. This was becoming annoyingly puzzling. Back in the lobby I had no choice but to begin to unpack my bag. Matthew was still speaking to Janet. No glasses in my bag. By the time he came off the phone I’m near boiling point with frustration. He must have picked them up. I insisted that he check his bag. He (rather too languidly for my liking) went over to his bike to start checking his bag. Before he’d even opened his bag he found that my sunglasses were nestled inside his helmet, which was hanging from his handle bars. “Here they are,” he said – and handed over my sunglasses to me. I was stunned. (Almost) speechless. “Aren’t you going to say sorry?” I asked. “I’ll say sorry, if it’ll make you happy”, he replied. I said “I don’t want you to say sorry if it makes me happy, I want you to say sorry because you are sorry”. *fume*. The receptionist was pottering about and I asked her if there’d ever been a murder committed in the hotel – amazingly, apparently not.

This wasn’t the best start to the day. But what is the best thing to lift a frayed temperament? A lovely long bike ride through beautiful countryside, of course. Guess what? Matthew had discovered something called The Nickel Plate Trail, (www.nickelplatetrail.org). It runs along the route of a disused railway line. The Nickel Plate Trail cycleway started in Rochester and runs for 40 miles or so to Kokomo. We were going along for about 20 miles as far as Peru. It was absolutely stunning. Mile after mile of flat, gently curving, well-surfaced road. Along the route we saw some beautiful wildlife: little yellow birds and slightly bigger dark red birds. also lots of little squirrel-type critters, but with thinner tails and mustard coloured stripes on their back. They’re a bit like chipmunks. They seemed to be playing chicken with us – they would often scamper out from the undergrowth on one side of the track to the other. It was a bit disconcerting. The scenery was fantastic and the trees offered lots of shade. The track was really quiet, though, which was puzzling. We saw four other cyclists in 20 miles. If this was in western Europe it’d be rammed with cyclists I’m sure! The Nickel Plate Trail gets the Magic Moment of the Day award and it really perked me up. We were being quite civil to each other after a few miles!

On the Nickel Plate Trail: puncture #2 Matthew rear, (again). Grrr … we replaced the inner tube but when we reflated it the tyre was not sitting properly on the rim. An annoying bulbous area caused his bicycle to bump up and down constantly. This is not ideal, of course. So the tyre and inner tube were taken out an refitted again. Same problem. Grrr … We let some air out if the tyre, which reduced the problem somewhat, but he could not go on like this for long. We were losing quite a bit of time by now and I thought that there was likely to be a bicycle shop in Peru – so we set off – with Matthew’s bottom lifting on the air slightly with every revolution of his back wheel!

In central Peru there was a big classical stone town hall, which looked fantastic on its lawn with its pretty flower beds surrounding it. Elsewhere there were some nice grand buildings, but everywhere apart from the town hall looked a little bit run down.

At the crossroads by the town hall I spotted a young man on a bicycle. I shouted over to him to ask if there was a bicycle store nearby? He stared at me, shrugged his shoulders and kept riding. I saw that he was wearing earphones, so I suspect that he didn’t hear me!

The gods of cycling were smiling on us today though. We took a wrong turn then stopped to check our maps. By sheer, joyful coincidence we happened to find ourselves outside
Breakaway Bikes in Peru, (www.breakawaybike.com).

They had some really nice jerseys and hired bikes too – a couple were just leaving the store on hired Raleighs – very nice!

Zac and Shannon ran Breakaway Bikes and Tony was wrenching. I explained the problem with Matthew’s bike and said that I wanted a new rear tyre,(preferably one that wouldn’t puncture twice in two days or cause the wheel to deform. Zac really kindly fitted the new tyre and patiently made it fit perfectly on the rim, (we decided to go for a 25mm wide rather than a 23mm which was on, these should be more stable and will offer better cornering grip – hopefully more resistance to punctures, too!).

Zac said that the only time they’d been to Europe was when they’d been to Finland for his brother’s wedding. We talked about cycling in Europe. I’d love to ride to Helsinki and visit Sibelius’ house.

There was an amusing conversation in the bike shop – he was admiring our bikes, while she was admiring our shoes. This is almost the perfect conversation to have with us – I’m obsessed with bikes and Matthew has something of a shoe fixation – I sometimes call him the Imelda Marcos of Southville!

We had to get on our way, so we paid and left. There was some lovely rolling countryside, but it was very hot. As we turned south, ferocious headwinds blew at us – really slowing us down and bringing our average speed right down. On this final leg today we were starting to wish we’d planned a trip from Washington DC to Chicago!

A high point was passing through the little hamlet of Matthews. We had to stop and get a picture next to the sign – although some dogs in an adjacent garden were going absolutely crazy at the time and we were a little anxious in case they escaped.

Just past Gaston we came across an access on to the Cardinal Greenway – another cycle and walking route that gave us a lovely end to the day – only about 6 miles, but we were protected from the wind and on a lovely flat surface.

We arrived at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Muncie at 8:30 – later than we’d hoped, but we’d set off late and that darned wind had really taken its toll.

In the UK we have seen over the past 15 years the creation of the National Cycle Network, often bringing disused railways back into use as walking and cycle paths. Many people back in the UK might be surprised to find out that the USA has quite a few old railway cycle paths as well and many of them run for miles. The start of our route today from Rochester (Indiana) took is along one such trail for about 20 miles. The Nickel Plate Trail runs for about 36 miles in total (although there are plans to extend it). We covered the northerly section today that links Rochester with Peru, via a few other places with familiar names including Birmingham, Denver and Lovers Lane! The scheme in the US is called rails to trails, it has successfully used the Federal Railbank Programme to secure many old railway routes for walking and cycling. Tomorrow we’ll head out of Muncie on another of these trails, the Cardinal Greenway, which at almost 60 miles is the longest greenway in Indiana. Although the name sounds religious the trail actually takes its name from the last passenger train to regularly travel the route (Chicago-Cincinnati-Washington): the Cardinal. The train service in turn derived its name from the state bird of all five states which it traversed. With just over 80 miles to cover in total, I hope we’ll be as quick as a bird and get to Dayton, Ohio in good time.

Estimated mileage: 122, actual: 126.5

Avg. speed: 15.5mph

We expected that today would be the longest ride of the whole trip, so we wanted to set off early. Perhaps inevitably then, we faffed about for ages packing our bags and fine-tuning our bikes, (all the sort of thing that we should have done last night). So it was about 8:00 am when we set off. There’s a bike path running for 26 miles along the Lake Michigan shore and we planned to follow it to its end at South Shore then south south east to Calumet City, south through Burnham, Lansing (past Lansing airport) and to join the east-west US 30 east, ‘Lincoln highway’ just outside Dyer. From there we headed east through Merrillville, Valparaiso, Wanatah turn south on 421 through La Crosse, San Pierre and Medayville, then turned east again on 14 to Winamac and into Rochester. The reason that we couldn’t just head south east to Rochester because the US grid system of roads means lots of right angles.

A cycle track from just behind Bonnie’s apartment block connected with the Lakeshore cycleway. Even before we arrived at the path we knew that the beginning of our journey was not going to be as straightforward as we hoped. We could hear loud music and cheering and clapping as we rounded a corner on to the cycle way we saw lots of people running – all running in the same direction and with numbers pinned to their jerseys. It was obviously some sort of race. I love running and was happy to watch them all go by, but there were so many if them and they were all coming from the direction that we wanted to go in. Some other cyclists travelling in the same direction were cycling against the tide and it was obvious that we were going to have to do that too.

We turned into the flow of runners and I knew how a cycling salmon might feel – riding against the current! After a minute or two I noticed that there were no men running. At first I thought that perhaps this was the tail-end of the race, but even then I’d expect to see at least some men. It eventually dawned on me that this was a women’s race. My suspicions were confirmed when I noticed that a large number of the participants were also wearing Women’s Half Marathon jerseys. Sometimes it seems I’m just not that observant!

Riding along the Lakeshore path with a steady stream of runners coming towards us wasn’t as challenging as we feared. The path was good and wide. Runners tended to keep right – so it was only when other cyclists, forced to ride on the left, were coming towards us too that we had to brake and dodge and weave about a bit. But any inconvenience was more than offset by the fantastic atmosphere and support that the runners were getting and giving each other. There was music and drink stalls and fine sprays of cooling water along the route. I thought my sisters: Lisa, Lynn and Jane who all run and sometimes run half-marathons together, they’d adore doing this one.

It was bright and getting warmer – the sky was deep blue and the lake shimmered. All along the shore were other runners and people walking their dogs. I glanced behind me experienced a shock as I took in the incredible view of the Chicago skyline and the lake. A women runner (not wearing a race number, so therefore not part of the competition) was sitting on a bench nearby. I asked her to take some pictures of us because I thought that they would look fantastic on the blog, maybe even as a new banner picture! She was happy to help us.

At the end of the track we paused by the entrance to the South Shore Country Club – it wasn’t obvious which way we should go next. Garmin was suggesting straight ahead on the main road, but we’d seen some cyclists turn left and under the arched entrance of the Country Club, so we wondered if a cycling path continued along the lake. We were checking maps and had more-or-less concluded that we should go on the road when a couple of cyclists out for a fast spin stopped at the lights. I asked them about getting further around the lake and they said that if we went along with them, they’d show us the way. I was a little uncertain – one had tri-bars on his bike and we’d be certain to slow them up. However, they’d offered and needs must, so we set of with them.

Chris and Dave were absolutely brilliant – they took us through South Chicago and Calumet quickly and along quiet roads. There were so many turns and roadworks that we’d never have managed this easily on our own. They saved us lots of time and trouble – thank you both: cycling gold stars for assistance.

We chatted as we rode, Chris works with IT for a small finance broker in downtown Chicago. They weren’t exposed in all the debt-swapping or easy credit shenanigans, so they’re doing ok. He competes in triathlons, which is something that I’d love to try, (geddit?!), so we talked about that for quite a while. I told him about my recent conversion to running over the last two years and about how much I love it. I do wonder why on earth I didn’t do it sooner. Dave used to work in public policy but now has a job in a small business – I never found out quite what he or the business does, he didn’t volunteer to tell me and I didn’t quite feel able to ask. If you’re reading this, Dave, perhaps you can let us know. Dave pointed out the painted marks on the roads that mark cycle ways or the routes of cycling events – he pointed out that they might be worth following when we’re routing as they’re likely to be on quiet roads.

We were really making good progress and Chris asked me if I knew the film The Blues Brothers? I said of course, did I remember the bridge jump? No – I saw that film in about 1982. Well apparently there was a famous bridge jump scene and were about to cross That. Bridge.

Now any of you who have been following us on previous trips and read through the USA West Coast cycle ride blog will know that I am a nervous and have some trepidation about crossing bridges on a bicycle in the United States. This is because (a) I really don’t like heights – and some of the bridges are really high!
(b) Many bridges are narrower than the roads that feed into them – so the cycle lane is often narrow, too, or even non-existent. In any case cyclists often are squeezed up close to the parapet – which means that it’s hard to avoid seeing over the edge and down from the corner of your eye – even if you’re staring resolutely ahead.
(c) The parapets in most of the bridges that I’ve crossed in the US are absurdly low. I suspect that they were never really built with the intention that they’d be crossed so close to the edge by people walking or on bicycles. I often experience an irrational fear that I’ll fall off and over the edge.

Some Super-Scary-Bridges really make me sweat and get my heart pounding, so I approached the East 95th Street Bridge in Calumet with some trepidation. Perhaps sensing my nervousness, Chris chatted about that award-winning smoked fish restaurant by the bridge – how was he to know that I’m vegan and that this wouldn’t help?! We rolled onto the hulking black metal bridge and I discovered a new horror – the bridge surface was a metal grid – it was possible to see through it and all the way down to the brown fast-flowing water below. Not. A. Nice. Bridge. – even if it is a movie star.

Shortly after crossing the East 95th Street bridge we parted ways with Chris and Dave – they pointed us down a cycle track that would take us to the trail to Burnham and Lansing and skirt south of Gary – which was our intended route. We must have slowed them down – they were really kind to help us out. I was reminded about something Bonnie said to us: “Cyclists are good people” – I’ve almost always found that to be true.

We arrived at ‘historic Lincoln highway US30’ quickly and turned east. Lincoln highway was one of the first waymarked roads for cars to cross the US – it was opened in 1913 and runs from San Francisco to Times Square, New York. Much of the original route has been by-passed or widened now – but some original sections remain and there’s an association dedicated to preserving and promoting it as a historic artefact. This year is the centenary year of the Lincoln Highway.

We left Illinois and came into Indiana after about 30 miles of cycling. then through Dyer, which I thought was a nice pretty little town until I saw a monument outside a church – a white crucifix, maybe 6′ tall, with a bright red ‘bleeding heart’ on it and the message: ‘In memory if aborted babies’ Ugh, how disgusting and disgraceful – how low will these kind of people go? Sanctimonious bastards. I’ll not be visiting Dyer again maybe I should let the local tourist office know why.

We were hungry and it was almost lunch time, we were a bit worried that we’d soon be getting into very rural Indiana farm towns where I might struggle to find anything vegan to eat, so we stopped at a sandwich restaurant called Panera in Merrillville. After we’d eaten we were chatting to a couple with a beautiful rescue puppy. How can people just abandon dogs? They were heading off to the beach. We talked about out trip – he was into running, so we talked about that too. We’d been thinking about coming off US30 east as it was getting quite busy, but they assured us that this was just because we were at the junction with a major north-south route: 65. The road would quieten down in a mile or so, so we decided to risk it.

Not far from Merrillville, puncture #1 (Matthew, rear). We pulled into an opening off the road and set about repairing the puncture on what was effectively someone’s front lawn. That someone turned out to be mother and son Sean and Linda. They were the second couple who deserve a gold star for helping cyclists out. they came out to see if we were ok and I asked if they minded us pitching up on their lawn. “Not at all”, they said. And they asked if there was anything they could do and they kindly refilled our water bottles. I chatted with them, while Matthew fixed his puncture. Lynda’s dad was a prof at Valporaiso University – so we laughed about academic neurosis. I suggested that they put my cycling wanderlust down to that. Sean was a man after my own heart – he liked trains – real and model. Linda said that there was a good railway museum that we should visit – was it in Pittsburg or Baltimore? If you’re reading this Linda, leave a comment to remind me (turns out it’s in Baltimore – the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Museum). We gave her our blog address, so hopefully they’ll be able to remind me, (I’m getting old and forgetful now – 52!). I talked about the world’s largest model railway that we saw I’m Berlin at Alexanderplatz:
http://www.visitberlin.de/en/spot/loxx-miniature-worlds-berlin

I said that they should come to the UK to visit railway museum at York:
http://www.nrm.org.uk/

Sean and Linda – if you want to make a trip to the UK – you’d be very welcome to stay with us and be happy to go to York to see the railway museum again, we could go on a steam train ride too – we do that with Matthew’s father and aunt quite often – it’s great fun. I reckon that visitors all the way from the US would have a good chance of having a go on the footplate!

On to Wanatah – billed on the town entrance sign as ‘The crossroads of Indiana’, and it certainly was for us because here we turned left off the Lincoln Highway to head south. Just over 60 miles to go.

As we turned south, it immediately became apparent that this leg of the journey was going to be tough. There was a southerly wind blowing – it was relentless and we were on a dead straight north-south road through open fields for about 30 miles. Inevitably our average speed dropped markedly. There was hardly any respite, the only trees were in the little towns on the route – they were really little And there was only about three of them along the road: La Crosse, San Pierre and Medaryville. The wind has a tendency to make me a bit cranky … (Matthew thinks: “How could we tell the difference?!”), so I just got as low as I could on the drops, gritted my teeth and got on with it. I had to stop every 8 miles or so to stretch my back, but it wasn’t too bad. We’d ridden through the heat of the day and the one thing that the wind was good for was blowing incredible sweet scents in our direction: mint and bergamot. That was a real treat.

Inane conversations on a bicycle, part n of nn, (where n is a huge number and nn is significantly larger)

So we’re pedalling along side-by-side and I have a thought that leads to a conversation that goes something like this:

Me: Did you check that the hotel we’re in tonight stocks soya milk or if they can get some in for me?
Him: No, I forgot. I did check that they would be able to store our bicycles though.
Me: harrumph.
Me: (feeling a bit optimistic): Perhaps there’ll be a grocery store there that will still be open where we can buy some.
Him: It’s possible. Richmond will be biggest place we’ve been to today, after Chicago.
Me: Richmond?
Him: Yes.
Me: Richmond?
Him: Yes.
Me: What do you mean Richmond?
Him: Rochester.
Me: Thank goodness for that. Richmond’s in Yorkshire and Rochester’s in Kent. We’d be seriously out of our way if we were heading to Richmond.

The last 30 miles were beautiful. We turned east after Medaryville and so we no longer had the wind coming at us. It was blowing less strongly and coming from our right – it helped to cool us. Having ridden through the heat of the day, the temperature was starting to fall. The road was quiet, with hardly any cars, the sky was huge, the sun was behind us casting longer and longer shadows out in front of us and bathing everything in a soft golden light. Birds were singing and swooping back an forth. It was the Magic Moment of the Day – a perfect end even though we were tired.

While we were on this road a huge dog called Barwell who’d been resting in his garden caught sight of Matthew and chased after him, loloping and bouncing along – not at all in a aggressive way, but in a “Hello there friend, please play with me, can I come along with you for a while?” kind of way. He was beautiful and looked a bit sad to see us go.

We arrived in Rochester – and guess what? A 24 hour grocery store sold us some soya milk! Very happy about that.

I enjoy cooking, and I’ve always been a fan-oven user, (and I’ve never been disappointed with the results), but I have never considered combining my love of baking with my love of biking – until now. Cycling yesterday from Chicago, Illinois to Rochester, Indiana was absolutely roasting. We set off fairly early (about 8.30 am) but even at that time of day the heat was already tipping 70F. Riding the first section along Lake Michigan was a relief as the breeze off the water kept things more bearable. Unfortunately as we turned eastwards inland the dial on the thermometer just kept rising. For most of the day the temperature was in the 80s and extremely humid. As we headed south east we were riding most of the 126 miles into a headwind (bar the last 35). Headwinds are normally pretty soul destroying for the cyclist, this one was to a degree, but heaven knows how hot we would have been without the breeze. The ride felt a bit like cycling through a giant fan oven. We had to drink lots of liquids to keep us going, some with energy powders to replace the salts we lost through sweat and all (wherever possible) with ice. I am beginning to seriously appreciate the value of ice machines! One thing is for sure, cycling 12hrs at 80 degrees certainly results in firm buns and a golden finish!

Indiana has a population of 6 million – and from what I’ve seen so far they mostly live in the middle of nowhere, (although this isn’t actually the case – 77.7% of Indiana residents lived in metropolitan counties, 16.5% lived in micropolitan counties and 5.9% lived in non-core county). Indiana is a very Republican state (a Republican governor and 7 of 9 US congressmen are Republican). There are a lot of churches, most seem to be in the middle of nowhere and often have a white cross stuck in the ground with a broken red heart on it and the phrase ‘In memory of aborted children’.

The roads are long and very flat – which makes it a bit dull to cycle on, (I’ve started counting telegraph poles – about 20 makes a mile).

German is the largest ancestry reported in Indiana, with 22.7% of the population reporting that ancestry in the Census. This might account to what appears to be a very meat-based diet! Although that seems to be the case in most parts of the US.
Indiana is located within the U.S. corn belt and grain belt. The state has a feedlot-style system raising corn to fatten hogs and cattle. I think we saw most of the corn on our 126 mile ride yesterday – and there is a lot of it! They also grow mint too, we saw (and smelled) several fields if that too – very refreshing on a long ride.

Indiana is crossed by the Lincoln Highway – one of the first transcontinental highways for automobiles across the United States of America, (it runs from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco). Constructed in 1913 it was the first interstate highway to have numbered intersections and was also the first national monument to Abraham Lincoln – pre dating the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. We rode on a long stretch of it today and I’m sure Lincoln will be delighted to be remembers with a long strip on road continuously populated by McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Taco Bells, Dairy Queen and numerous other fine dining opportunities. Most significantly, the Lincoln Highway inspired the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, which was championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, influenced by his experiences as a young soldier crossing the country in the 1919 Army Convoy on the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway was also the scene of our first puncture of the trip – not that this is something to be remembered by.

So there you have it, Indiana a state of corn, cars and churches. Roll on Pennsylvania!

We’re having a short break on the first cycling stage of our trip. Professional cyclists eat on the go, but there are no musette bags for us! It is mighty hot today – about 80F/27C, so for once I’m quite glad there is a headwind. There’ll be a full update in Mike’s ‘daily summary’, (they’re always very informative, even if his definition of ‘summary’ is perhaps stretching things somewhat!!). In the meantime I can report that we have crossed the state line and are now in Indiana. I know very little about Indiana – but I’ll try to change that today, so I can fill in back later. Until later it’s back in the saddle for us, 40 miles down – 85 to go!

Today our friends Ed and Pete were married. Warmest best wishes to them both! We were really sorry that we weren’t able to be there. They told us of their wedding plans about a week after we had booked our flights to the United States. Matthew did get involved in the wedding preparations though and he made their wedding cake. A three tiered affair with two grooms on the top! He didn’t want to post a picture of it on line because he didn’t want to spoil the surprise for everyone. It was really spectacular, though, so now that it’s after the event, the picture can be shown! By all accounts everyone liked it. We’re really looking forward to hearing about how the day went and catching up with Ed and Pete when we get back.

For us, today was more sedate and there’s less to report (phew!). We needed to get the bicycle bags off to Mike’s in Columbia, Maryland. I needed to replace my damaged helmet. We also wanted to go and look at a Frank Lloyd-Wright building at the University of Chicago and Matthew wanted to fantasize about being Sandra Bullock by riding the elevated Loop metro train (he’ll explain, I’m sure). Then we might still have time to go to the open air concert tonight at 7:30 in Millennium Park.

After breakfast we headed over to the post office to send the bike bags. There were some other people in the lift as we came down from Bonnie’s seventh floor condo. As usual, they asked us “What’s in the bag?” They didn’t look convinced when we told them that they were our bicycle bags. I think that perhaps they imagined we were smuggling a body out of the building!

We wheeled the bike bag (one is folded up and packed inside the other), to the post office which was a couple of blocks around the corner. Despite having called in yesterday to check that they’d be likely to be able to handle the shipping, when they actually saw it they said “no”, *fume*. We asked where the nearest courier’s might be and they just didn’t really know, (which to be honest, I found a little unconvincing). The woman at the counter thought that there might be a Fed Ex along the street, but it was “quite a way”. When I asked her how long it might take to walk, she said “About 15 minutes.” I said “we’re cycling to Washington DC, I think that we can walk for 15 minutes!”

We decided to try the bicycle store next – we figured that we’d get more sense out if them. They were in the same direction as the Fed Ex store in any case. We also wanted to ask some advice about the route out of Chicago.

We walked to the bike store, still trundling the bike bag behind us. Matthew had two more enquiries about what they were! The Cycle Store was a real treat – lovely, helpful staff, a very friendly old dog and the whole place really had the feel of a down to earth, honest bike store – staffed with people who cared about cycling and cyclists and busy doing repairs and giving good service. It’s on South Michigan Avenue, between 14th and 16th street if you ever need a bicycle store in Chicago. I told them I needed to replace my helmet and we looked at the ones they stocked. Unfortunately, many of them had what I regarded as rather garish designs on them and/or were too brightly coloured and/or had big designs or even text all over them … Aargh! These Just Would Not Do. There was one that I would have just about coped with – in any case it was the least awful, but just like any good bike shop should, the guy I was speaking to suggested I visit the Trek store down the road. He thought that they might have more choice. Despite my not buying a cycle helmet from them, they were perfectly happy to go through potential routes out of Chicago for us, even going so far as to call up various options on the computer screen and talk us through them. Also of course, they knew exactly where the nearest courier was. It wasn’t a Fed Ex it was a UPS store, and we were given clear directions to that.

The UPS store were really efficient – the man on the desk said that he’d wrap the bags in cellophane before they were shipped and also promised to tie through the zippers to keep the bag sealed. I was a little nervous when I noticed a big notice informing everyone that valid identity would be required before sending anything because we’d not brought our passports. But we must have appeared honest to him – there were no conversations about bodies. We weren’t asked to prove our identity, but we were asked for $130. So the bags are on their way to Columbia near Baltimore and should arrive there on Wednesday. Mike (McLoughlin) please note!

A little further down the street was the other bike store – it used to be a Trek Store, but now it’s called On The Route – it’s not at all like The Cycle Store, it’s obviously quite high-end and kitted out in a way that makes me feel that they were way more interested in selling stuff than caring about bicycles and bicyclists. They sell expensive Bianchi as well as Trek. They did have a replacement for my helmet, but in grey, rather than red and black. But I could live with that. The helmet cost $300 – this was turning into quite an expensive day and it wasn’t even lunch time. Hopefully, Virgin or our travel insurers will help to defray the cost.

Back at Bonnie’s we met her son-in-law, Gary and her two grandchildren. They’re all off camping on Northerly Island, which is now a public park, but was Meigs Field Airport until the mayor of Chicago controversially ordered that the runways be bulldozed in 2003.

We wouldn’t be seeing Bonnie and Frank again before we left, so we took some photos. We asked the grandchildren to take some pictures of all of us – one was too shy, the other wasn’t – so you can see the result below!

We set off for the University of Chicago campus, further south, to look at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie house. It was warm and humid so we decided to use the three-day travel passes that we had bought at O’Hare rather than cycle there. But we thought that we could take a bus from Lakeshore Drive where it runs just behind Bonnie’s apartment block. We wandered over there, but couldn’t find any bus stops and eventually realised that the particular buses we needed don’t stop between 11th and 43rd streets. No matter, we could easily walk down to 11th Street – it was just past the Natural History Museum that we had cycled past the day before.

There were loads of people cycling and running in all directions and we saw a cycling accident at a junction. It was one of those curious incidents where having seen absolutely everything right in front of us, we were still both slightly confused about what quite had happened. Cyclists were coming from both left and right and where the cycle path crossed over the road cyclists coming from both directions had to stop to give way to any cars that might be passing. On our right the cycleway curved around to the junction, so any cyclist approaching the junction and travelling quite quickly would not have much time to stop. A guy on a racing bike coming from our right stopped rather suddenly at the junction, and immediately in front of us. Another cyclist travelling more sedately from our left braked briefly at the road and carried on over the junction. He had obviously seen the speeding cyclist that was coming towards him, but I think that he must have expected the faster guy to go around him – but the first cyclist wasn’t going to do that – he’d stopped to give way. So the second cyclist rode on into the first: colliding head on with a stationary cyclist and then both ended up on the floor in a tangle of arms and legs and bicycles. The cyclist who actually crashed into the first hit the ground and scraped his arm, but quickly got up and back on his bike without really saying anything. What was so odd was that the stationary cyclist kept apologising and saying how sorry he was. But we didn’t think that he’d done anything wrong! They both continued on their way. Anyway, we hope that’s the only cycling incident that we’ll witness on this trip.

We got to the bus and headed up to the university. The bus dropped us off by the Museum of Science and Industry – a vast, beautiful classical building of pale stone and copper domes. The university is in a lovely area – wide leafy streets with lots if detached houses that have been taken over for university use. The main part of the campus is very grand – it has a tall thin Gothic tower that’s very ornate at the top. There were a couple of quite English-looking church buildings, quadrangles, halls of residence and lots of rather imposing Victorian-style halls. Further away some less faux-Oxbridge and more interestingly original modern buildings.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House is close to the main older-looking buildings and really stands out among its surroundings. It was built between 1908 and 1910, (before any of the other stuff around it – much of which is made to look older). The house has three stories, is cantilevered out at one end and is low-roofed, long and thin in brick and glass and concrete. The colour palette is kept minimal – red brick and tiles, grey concrete in bands, black window-frames and light stone. It’s considered the best example of Wright’s ‘prairie style’ – the first architectural style considered uniquely American. the house is stunning and it still looks fresh and original and harmonious.

We were just in time for the 3pm tour and the volunteer tour guide was fantastic. The building is still in the process of being restored, so it wasn’t possible to see it all. What we did see exceeded my expectations – the way that everything was designed to look good together, the spare uncluttered interiors, lots of light, lots of glass with brick and stone made the upstairs feel very light and spacious – even though it’s a fairly modest house.

It was interesting to learn about the people who have lived in the house: the Robie’s had financial problems and marital difficulties, so they and their two children only lived there for fourteen months. The house changed hands a couple of times before being bought by the Chicago Theological Seminary, who used it as a student dormitory and dining hall. So, perhaps inevitably, it was knocked about and damaged quite a bit, (trust the bloody church – they always seem to think that they can do exactly what they like). Worse, the seminary only really bought the house so they could demolish it and redevelop the site – so they didn’t ever really care about the building. Three times the seminary tried to redevelop the site – the onset if WWII put those plans on hold and after the war when they tried to demolish the house again there were international campaigns to save it. The seminary were offered alternative (and more) space up the street – so agreed to move out. The building passed to the University of Chicago who gave it to the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust in 1997. the house is still being restored to its original appearance in 1910.

The Robie House had a beautiful shop, with some lovely books on Wright and his buildings … also some Lego models of some of his buildings (they might well end up on my Christmas wants list!). We saw some lovely matte ceramic coasters, that we thought might sort of compliment a tile from the Glessner House Museum front door that Bonnie has, so we they might make a good thank you gift.

We were taking pictures outside a woman who was passing offered to take one of both of us. Her son had just graduated and she’d sold the condo that she’d bought for him while he was studying at university. I’m always amazed when I come across this sort of thing – parents with so much that they can buy their children flats near college. I can’t help thinking that however well-intentioned it stifles hard work and fosters a sense of entitlement in the recipient. Anyway, she was kind and we were glad to get the pictures.

We made a little tour of the campus. What seems odd and immediately obvious to someone from the UK on a US campus is the number of privately-funded institutions, buildings and departments. It’s rarely the Department of Sociology, it’s very likely to be something like the Ellen Degeners Institute for Social Research and the Louis B Meyer Department For Film and Media. In the socialist utopia that is UK HE the Jane and John Doe Centre for the Study of People With Too Much Money And Reactionary Opinions That They Believe Everyone Else Should Share is, thankfully, still quite rare. But we’re headed that way – there’s a Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication at Oxford – I wondered how anyone with any integrity could possibly accept such a post, then I noticed that the current post is held by someone called Deborah Cameron – this kind of stuff couldn’t be made up! I wondered if the Co-op Academic Bookstore building up the road was THAT seminary building. The library – sorry, The Joseph Regenstein Library with The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library Extension – is fascinating – a very tall blocky concrete central structure with a soaring curved glass canopy over a big hole in the ground for the adjacent extension. This latter looked like a smaller version of the beautiful National Botanical Gardens of Wales glasshouse (see here: http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/). Next to the library a monument commemorating the splitting of the atom – the monument was great, but I I’m not entirely certain that on balance this particular scientific endeavour requires such uncritical celebration.

We headed back to the metro through Hyde Park, a lovely expanse of green with lots of people enjoying the sunshine, families eating out having made quite elaborate arrangements – big dining tables, chairs, lights, sound systems outdoor games – the whole works – looked to be great fun. The area around the 51st Street station was run down – I’m amazed at these sorts of stark juxtapositions between very wealthy (university area) and adjacent poverty (the South Side), that are so common in the US. I suspect its necessary to be an outsider to even notice the glaring unjust inequality in such short distances. We got on the train and Matthew had his take a ride on the elevated Loop.

We disembarked at Madison/Wabash station to get to Millenium Park in time for the concert. We were a bit early, so having secured our spot I scooted over the road to take a close look at the Aqua building that I’d only seen from a distance yesterday. As I suspected the building really does benefit from closer inspection, from below the whole thing ripples and undulates up into the sky – it’s a marvelous effect. I attracted some attention staring up and photographing the building – so by way of explanation I said “This is the tallest building designed by a woman.” A man replied “That must explain all those curves.” This was very annoying, sexist rubbish. Why is so much that women are and do and achieve linked so easily and lazily linked to their bodies and their biology? This just does not happen to men. I wanted to smack him for being so stupid – but that would probably have proven his biologically determinist view of the world!

A happier experience next door at the Aon Building. I was taking some pictures from outside the main entrance and a man came out of the building carrying a huge folder. I asked him if this used to be the Standard Oil Building and he confined that it was. When it was completed in 1974 it was the tallest building in Chicago and the fourth-tallest in the world. As it was built for Standard Oil Indiana, it was nicknamed Big Stan.

The man introduced himself as James and we chatted a bit about the building, about what it was like to work there and who occupied it. He was with Aon on the 14th floor. The upper part of the building is KPMG :(. James was really enthusiastic about Chicago and seemed delighted that I was interested in it and the buildings. He asked me if I was going to the concert in Millennium Park and I said that I was. He wasn’t going because he had work to do! I suggested that he probably wasn’t paid enough to be working at 7 o’clock on a warm summer Saturday evening! I started to head back over to Millennium Park and I heard someone running behind me. I turned around and it was James! He’d walked on after our meeting, had an idea and then run back after me. He was out of breath and he said (rather ruefully) that he shouldn’t run! (He was carrying a bit more weight than strictly necessary!). Anyway, he said that as I was interested in the Aon building, that he had some time to spare and that he would take me up to the 14th floor and then up to the top floor to see inside and take some photographs. What a sweet man. I was really tempted, but (a) I really don’t like heights, and (b) the concert would be starting in a few minutes and I was worried that I might not get back in. I politely declined and thanked him. I regret that now – because I realise that I could easily have gone back into the concert area at any time and the first half was pretty uninspiring – so missing the start Wouldn’t have been much of a loss and it would have been a wonderful opportunity to see inside Big Stan.

It was wonderful to go to the concert in Millennium Park. The atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly. Lots of people having picnics and children were playing and running about. I thought that the program was rather challenging for a free public open air concert . Quite a few people left in the first half! But the children really enjoyed it a piece modeled on Peking opera and classical music and concerned with the different facets of womanhood. The second half was more predictable: Fauré and Ravel. I chatted with our neighbours who Belonged to a choir that had talked extensively. Including to Coventry and they knew and loved Coventry Cathedral very well. He told me about it tapestry that had been created for a concert that they were involved in, the tapestry was in two parts and all of the members of the orchestra and choir had signed the tapestry and one part and gone to Dresden and the other to Coventry. I wondered where it is now. They’re about to start rehearsing Handle’s Jeptha – a piece that I really love. They’ll be performing it in Dublin in the autumn.

After the concert we wandered back towards the Cloud Gate sculpture, which looked lovely in the moonlight With all the buildings eliminated around it. We took some photographs and then went down to the Crown Fountain, which was as popular and as busy as ever with children and adjusts alike enjoying it.

We caught the bus back to Bonnie’s from outside the Symphony Centre (sigh), did some laundry and went to bed. Another lovely day in Chicago.

Sadly, we bid farewell to Chicago today. As Dorris Day would say: ‘It might not have what we got’ but it certainly has a lot else. We had a fabulous visit and would love to come back again. We’ll be departing along the lakeside path, so that should be a really nice exit to the city.

To mark our final evening we headed back to Millennium Park to hear the free summer concert performed by the Grant Park Orchestra, (we’d heard them rehearsing yesterday). We were treated to some contemporary Chinese classical music first from the composer Qigang Chen. I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t exactly Mike’s cup of tea! The second half was more to his liking though: Fauré’s Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80 and Ravel’s La Valse. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying the concert – from young families with children to older people. It was a beautiful evening for picnicking under the stars, too, warm and balmy. The Frank Geary designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion looked superb as dusk descended and the city skyline lit up behind it. Before we left the park we bid our farewells to the ‘Bean’ and the Crown Fountain – both looking equally stunning by night as they had by day.

Thank you Chicago – you’ve been great!

We’ve had a wonderful couple of days in Chicago – being given lots of insider tips and knowledge from Bonnie, which is a real bonus of staying with local people through the Warm Showers scheme. There was one real tourist thing I wanted to do: the downtown area of Chicago is encircled with an elevated railway line called the Loop (or L). The first part of the elevated railway was built in 1892 to help alleviate the increasingly congested streets. However, the real reason I wanted to have a trip on the Loop was because it features in the 1995 romantic comedy movie: ‘While You Were Sleeping’ staring Sandra Bullock! In the movie she works as Lucy an El station ticket collector. Lucy Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) is a lonely token collector on the Chicago Transit Authority who has a secret crush on a handsome commuter named Peter Callaghan, whose name Lucy does not know. On Christmas day, she rescues him from an oncoming train after a mugger pushes him onto the tracks (Randolph/Wabash Station was used in the film). He falls into a coma, and she accompanies him to the hospital, where a nurse overhears her musing aloud, “I was going to marry him.” Misinterpreting her, the nurse tells his family that she is his fiancée. At first she is too caught up in the panic to explain the truth. She winds up keeping the secret for a number of reasons: she is embarrassed, Elsie (Peter’s grandmother) has a heart condition, and she quickly comes to love being a part of Peter’s big and loving family. One night, thinking she is alone while visiting Peter, she confesses about her predicament. Saul (Peter’s godfather) overhears the truth and later confronts her, but tells her he will keep her secret, because the accident has brought the family closer.

Funny how a film about a women desperation for a man, (after all we know that all women need a good man – not!), who is in fact a stalker and compulsive liar can turn out to be such a warm-hearted rom-com. Anyway film or not, the views of downtown Chicago from the Loop are worth the ride – just be careful not to fall on the tracks in case Sandra Bullock is lurking!

I woke up very early – 4 am, (which would be 10 am in the UK as Chicago is six hours behind – so that has to count as something of a lie-in). I managed to snooze for another hour, but then had to get up. Bonnie had left out breakfast food and had bought soya milk – she’s an absolute superstar Warm Showers host), so I had some muesli and set about reassembling our bikes.

Bonnie got up and was dressed for going cycling, she was wearing a fantastic Chicago jersey with a picture of the Chicago skyline wrapped around her – the Willis (formerly Sears) tower front centre and the Hancock building centred on the back. Fantastic! We were going to get a guided cycle tour of Chicago.

Before heading into the city we wanted to find out about getting our bicycle bags to Mike in Columbia. So we looked up the address of the nearest courier and went to off to check where it was. I tried to put my cycle helmet on, but it wouldn’t fit on my head – very odd – I turned it over to adjust it and when I looked inside I saw the problem. My bike helmet was crushed and misshapen; further inspection revealed an enormous gaping crack in the styrofoam inner shell. The helmet was in the bag with my bike on the aeroplane, so it must have been crushed on the journey. I imagine that perhaps Richard Branson is getting his own back for the disparaging things I wrote about him yesterday. It’ll need to be replaced and it’s a good excuse to visit some bike shops in Chicago.

A defective helmet wasn’t going to be allowed to get in the way of us having a good day cycling in Chicago, so we set off in search of the nearest UPS or FedEx office.

We headed south past the huge Chicago convention centre in the Bronzeville neighbourhood, a relatively prosperous African-American part of the city. It was so good to be back on our bicycles after so long cooped up on trains and planes and buses. The weather was warm and there were plenty of others out on bicycles and running. In fact there were cyclists and runners and children playing everywhere we went all day – it was wonderful and made Chicago feel all the more welcoming.

At the Bronzeville neighbourhood boundary there was an enormous bronze statue of a man with a suitcase standing on a mound of shoe soles and striding purposefully forward. The statue was made up of pieces that also looked like the soles of shoes – some obviously worn through with holes. The statue was wonderful – looked at from a distance it had the appearance of a green man clothed in leaves, but of course they were shoe soles, not leaves. The monument is to the great northern migration of African American men and women after the civil war. Opposite the statue was a lovely Bronzeville rusted iron bench designed using the shapes of houses.

We couldn’t find the UPS office that we were searching for, so we went instead to the United States Postal Service, to see if they’d be able to ship the bags. They’d definitely be cheaper than a commercial courier. They weren’t sure without seeing the dimensions and weighing it – but they were very positive – we can give them a try as they’re open on Saturdays until 3:00.

We were back near Bonnie’s apartment around the historic neighbourhood of Prairie Avenue. Bonnie took us through the Women’s Park and Gardens – a peaceful space with some allotment-type planting and in the middle of the park, Chicago’s oldest house: the Henry B. Clarke house, which was built in 1836. Its a lovely wooden classical square structure, painted pale grey, with a pediment and a central tower (that was added later, Bonnie said). The tower reminded me of the corner towers of Osborne House – Queen Victoria’s house on the Isle of White. The Prairie District was where many of the wealthiest people in Chicago made their homes after the great Chicago fire in 1871. Prairie Avenue is tree-lined and contains some really imposing mansions, including the John J Glessner House, which is a museum that Bonnie volunteers at. The Glessner house was designed by the architect Henry Hobson Richardson who wanted to develop a particularly American architectural style – he succeeded and it became known as Richardsonian Romanesque – and he remains the only American architect to have had a style named after them. The house is solid and rectangular, the exterior has dressed stone and a huge arched doorway with very restrained decoration. Bonnie has a tile that shows the decoration from the front door, which are rectilinear – almost portcullis-like. The proportions of the house are lovely and the whole has a real harmonious feel to it.

We didn’t have time to visit – maybe tomorrow(!) We headed off towards downtown Chicago. At the end of Bonnie’s apartment building is a cycle route that goes to Lake and then either north to Downtown or south towards the University of Chicago. On the corner of the block by the start of the path is an area of grass with a commemorative sign – it was the site of the Battle of Fort Dearborn in August 1812. The sign makes it seem less dreadful than it really was, but basically the Potawatomi Indians, encouraged by the British, attacked the fort and burned it down – 50 soldiers and 41 civilians (including children) were evacuated from the fort and were attacked – 60 of them were killed and many more captured. It all sounded horrible. Britain was trying to prevent the westward expansion of the United States, while the native Indians were trying to preserve their lands. Trust the British to get involved – in a bad way – of course.

We rode on the cycle route – marvellous; really wide and well signed. On a railway bridge that afforded some stunning views of the city we stopped for some photographs – we were so preoccupied that we kept stepping in front of runners and other cyclists! That was a little bit embarrassing!

We passed Soldier’s Field stadium, where the Chicago Bears play. Then the Natural History Museum – solidly built, imposing and in classical style. The look of the stadium is rather spoiled by a modern extension that looks as though a flying saucer has landed on top of it.

The cycleway went into Grant Park – sometimes known as ‘Chicago’s front yard’. The park is part of a long stretch of open space on the shore of Lake Michigan that’s remained largely undeveloped and open to to the public since the nineteenth century. Bonnie told us that preventing the land from being built on has historically been something of a challenge. In the early twentieth century Aaron Montgomery Ward, (who first developed mail-order catalogue shopping – and became very wealthy as a result) fought a number of legal battles (and made some powerful enemies in the process), to stop development of the waterfront area and maintain the rights of all of Chicago’s people to access it. He’s something of a local hero as a consequence. Ward’s office was high up a building that overlooks Grant Park – Bonnie said that this was so that he could keep an eye on the park to make sure no inappropriate developments were going on!

We paused at an enormous and elaborate fountain – like something from Versailles, the Buckingham Fountain was built with money donated by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence.

There were some young women in graduation robes and mortar boards having their pictures taken in front of the fountain – they looked to be very happy and we congratulated them. It was a lovely reminder of graduation to come in Bath when I get back home – that’s always a good day.

In Grant Park there was also a beautiful rose garden where a couple were getting married. The garden was set up with chairs for the guests and the couple were standing in front of a big rose arch. We were passing just as he was making his vows. We paused to watch for a while – who knows, it might be us getting married in a year or two!

On the other side of the street, Bonnie pointed out the Blackstone Hotel – where apparently the saying ‘smoke-filled rooms’ to refer to political plotting and scheming was first applied! That’s not surprising that such a saying comes from Chicago!

Ever since we decided on coming to Chicago, Matthew had wanted to go to Millennium Park. So when Bonnie asked us if we should go there next, of course he said yes! The park has an amazing garden – lots of grasses, with purple planting arranged in drifts. There were volunteer guides at the garden and while Matthew explored, Bonnie and I chatted to them. I said that I was visiting Chicago and when a volunteer asked me where I was from, I suggested that she might be able to guess. “The Netherlands or Germany”, she said! What is it with me and Americans not being able to hear that I’m English? When we were in California, a man we met there thought that I was “Goddam French”! When she learned that I was British she said that she’d had been on a tour of English gardens in the 1980s: Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Hidcote. All lovely gardens that we know well. She also told us that she’d managed to get a spare ticket to the Chelsea Flower Show from a friend – a very generous friend, obviously. I imagine that even back then, Chelsea tickets were really expensive and difficult to get hold of.

It was good to admire the skyline from the gardens and Bonnie pointed out some of the beautiful buildings around us. At the Standard Oil building (now Aon), apparently the wife of the company ceo insisted that the building should be clad in Carerra marble – so it was – but apparently the marble soon started to drop off! The building does look better without it I think – rather finely austere, tall and graceful with lots of narrow vertical lines that serve to accentuate the height. Close by and just to the west was an unusual tower – Aqua – the tallest building designed by a woman, Jeanne Gang. It had shimmering bulbous and flatter sections and semi-circular balconies projecting by different amounts all the way up, Which makes it look as though the facade is undulating. Its 82 stories high – and it’s stunning.

The concert area in Millenium Park was next – with the orchestra rehearsing for that night’s performance. A real treat to listen to some Ravel and if there’s time we might get to go to the actual concert. It’s thrilling that there are free outdoor classical music concerts in Chicago.

We saw the ‘bean’ (Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate sculpture). It was beautiful – highly polished and shimmering – impossible to find a seam or a join anywhere on it. There was a security guard keeping watch and I asked her why she needed to be there – to stop people writing on it apparently. She said that the sculpture was inspired by a drop of mercury. We took lots if pictures – including of the adjacent historic Chicago Monument: the row of benches and tables where Bonnie met Frank!

On next to the Crown Fountain – a pair of amusing rectangular columns with water cascading off the top and down three sides. The fourth side display huge moving images of faces and every 15 minutes a jet of water looked like it was coming out of a person’s mouth. The pool at the base of the fountain was overflowing with children splashing about, whooping and yelling and just having a wonderful time. All around the edge their carers relaxed and chatted. When the spouts started the children went crazy and congregated under them – getting absolutely soaked. We were beginning to get soaked too, because it had begun to rain quite heavily, so we headed into Toni’s, a little French café around the corner for some lunch.

After lunch we went to the Chicago Cultural building, which was opposite the café. It used to be the main library and the headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic. Incredibly it was threatened with demolition, it has the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world, which has been recently restored. Beautiful smooth marble walls inlaid with borders of mosaic tile in different shades of green – some in the shape of stylised tulips, others with geometric designs. Inside a (rather loud) gospel music festival was just finishing, also a fantastic exhibition of architects and designers Alfonso and Margaret Ianelli. Beautiful work that Matthew has already blogged about.

Bonnie took us to the Chicago River, not dyed green at the moment as it’s not near St Patrick’s day! But seeing the size of the river made me think that getting it to be green must be an incredibly big task. We saw the amazing Marina City twin towers. These are locally known as the ‘Corncobs’. Seeing them in real life was thrilling. But they were not as high as I’d expected them to be. Nonetheless, they look more graceful in real life than I thought they’d be. The concrete floors hardly seem deep enough to take the weight of all the cars parked on them. Next door the elegant, tall black IBM building (as was – they’re no longer there) – the first of an amazing collection of towers in Chicago that were designed by Mies van de Rohe.

I’d been hoping to get my haircut before leaving the UK. But there hadn’t been time. So I asked a street cleaner where the nearest barber shop was, (they always seem to know where everything is). He directed me to the Illinois Centre – an odd, 1980s rounded building. I had my haircut while Bonnie and Matthew had some tea in a nearby café. The woman cutting my hair was Mexican and was interested in running. She said that when she went running it hurt. So we talked about how maybe she needed to run for less time or not so far and gradually build up distance. I also said that she could try having a shoe fitting to see if that would help.

Our day of sightseeing in central Chicago was almost done. We saw some more incredible Mies van de Rohe towers – the Federal Center – breathtaking: sleek and dark and generously proportioned. Really dignified buildings. I loved them.

At the base of the Chase building we saw an extraordinary Marc Chagal mosaic mural of the four seasons.

During the day Frank tracked down a vegan restaurant. What a sweet man. So we headed off to meet up for dinner. Native Foods had a cycling promotion poster on the wall (always a good sign), the food was good and there was lots of it. There was so much in fact that on this rare occasion that I was in a restaurant where I would eat desert, when it came to it I was too full!

The ride back to Bonnie’s was wonderful. Dusk was falling and the was warm and the air was sweetly scented. Bonnie took us through some parks and attractive new residential developments.

Once we arrived home Matthew fell asleep almost immediately. I stayed up and to talk to Frank for a little while – mostly about the changes in Apple iOS 7!

That was a good day.

I love visiting different climate zones and seeing what sort of plants grow there. I kind of expected to see lots of grasses, echinacea (cone flowers) and other prairie-style plants in Chicago, but what has surprised me is the number and range of hostas there are. Everywhere we go – be it in planters in front of office buildings, in front gardens or in public parks – they appear to thrive. Every size and colour of hosta, from the tiniest ones with leaves live mouses ears to the huge ones that have leaves that are the size of giant dinner plates. Clearly the long cold winters that they get here in Chicago are too severe for the dreaded slugs that attach our hostas in the UK. The wonderful hostas in Chicago are completely hole free.

I feel a bad case of plant envy coming on. I love hostas (something I think that I must have inherited from my mum), but my attempts at growing them has been dismal. Despite every conceivable deterrent I have tried: slug pellets, coffee grinds, crushed egg shells, garlic liquid applied to the leaves, sheep’s wool pellets, beer baths – the slugs still manage to get through and munch away until the plants look like lace! This year in a final attempt the one hosta I have remaining has been elevated in a pot onto a table – but I’m not holding out much hope that by the time I get home the little critters won’t have defeated me again.

It isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone who knows us that we love bicycles! Why else would we choose to spend our holidays cycling nearly 900 miles across the USA, when most people would take a plane, train, bus or drive a car? The bicycle is wonderful on so many levels, so it’s great to meet people who also think so, too, and to see the best form of transportation represented in their home decor.

Bonnie has a little selection of bike books and guides, held up by a lovely pair of bicycle bookends. The splendid meal she and Frank prepared for us on our first night was accompanied by equally delightful table napkins adorned with bicycles. Best of all though, was the lovely bike pendant that Bonnie wears – given to her by Frank for Christmas. When someone gives you a bike, (in whatever form) you know it has to be love!

After dinner last night Bonnie took us up to the 23rd floor of her apartment building (Museum Place) to see the residents’ gym, community room and open-air rooftop pool – all with fantastic views across the city downtown skyline and Lake Michigan. You’ll note from the picture that one of the office buildings has the supportive message ‘Lets go Hawks’. The Hawks in question are the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey team. Currently they are head-to-head in the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins. Obviously, my knowledge of USA Ice Hockey is pretty limited, but from what I can work out the finals appear to comprise a series of matches alternating between the competing teams’ home stadiums. The next round of this battle takes place in Chicago this evening – hence the message on the skyscraper. I wonder if similar encouraging Bristolian messages would improve our local football teams performances back in Bristol? Perhaps ‘Come on my babbas’ or ‘You’re gurt lush City’ might look good on the side of the Colston Tower or former Bristol and West building? The way they’re going anything is worth a try!

The Cloud Gate artwork in Millennium Park is amazing – beautifully simple, but it attracts and engages people with modern art in a way I’ve never seen before. The polished steel creates a superb reflective surface that not only captures to beautiful Chicago skyline but also is great fun to play around with your own reflection – a bit like those ‘hall of mirror’ attractions you used to find in old fairgrounds. We had fun not only with our own reflections but also with our bikes – why should they be left out of the party?! The locals have affectionately renamed the work designed by British sculptor Anish Kapoor ‘The Bean’, at $23 million to create, it certainly didn’t come cheap – but from what we saw in our brief visit it was money well spent.

The Crown Fountain in Millenium Park is such fun – you can see from this short film just how popular it is with kids and adults alike – no ‘keep out of the fountain’ signs here! The work designed by designed by Catalan conceptual artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects. The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed between a pair of transparent glass brick towers. The towers are 50 feet (15 m) tall, and use light-emitting diodes behind the bricks to display randomly selected digital videos of the faces of almost a thousand Chicago residents. The faces change every 15 minutes, so you’d have to wait quite a while to see them all – but do watch to the end of the film to see the fountains amusing surprise revealed!

While plants and gardens are my passion, Mike loves classical music. We were really lucky to be in Millennium Park as the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra were rehearsing for a performance in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which was designed by Frank Ghery. This delightful piece (it was Rave’s La Valse he said), will feature in the concert later today – we’re hoping to go back to watch it. The Grant Park Festival is the USAs only remaining series of free municipally-supported outdoor classical music concerts – well done Chicago!

One of the major reasons that I wanted to come to Chicago was to visit the Millennium Park. Opened in 2004 – (four years late, so the Brits are not the only ones who can’t meet a deadline!), it’s on the site of the Illinois Central Rail yards and is now Chicago’s second most popular tourist destination after Navy Pier. It comprises gardens with beautiful planting, imaginative sculptures, fountains and performance spaces. For anyone who knows me, you’ll be unsurprised to find that it was the gardens and planting that particularly attracted me, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Lurie Garden, designed by designed by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf, and Robert Israel is simply delightful. The planting is very informal with drifts of prairie and herbaceous plants mixed with grasses in beautiful waves. Running through the centre of the garden is a stunning river of blue Salvias.

Understandably the garden is very popular, it even has its own volunteer greeting team who give out information about the plants and design. While I wandered around the garden Mike and Bonnie started a conversation with the volunteers and by the time I’d returned to them one of the greeters was telling Mike all about the gardens she’d visited in England. Human visitors were not the only ones attracted to the planting. As I snapped away with my camera, out of the planting popped a tiny bunny rabbit who hopped around on the path a while before jumping back into another planting bed – I wasn’t expecting that in downtown Chicago!

After a little longer enjoying the park, the humidity of the day gave way to a heavy summer storm. It was nearly lunchtime so we dived into a small French café and grabbed a bite to eat. The rain was still coming down when we’d finished so Bonnie took us across the road into the Chicago Cultural Centre, a beautiful building with marble and mosaic walls and stunning Tiffany glad dome. Originally built in 1897 as Chicago’s first public library, it was turned into venue for music performances and art exhibitions when the new public library was opened in 1991 – although shockingly it was under threat of demolition for some time before then. Our visit coincided with a gospel singing festival so we were treated to some fine (if very loud) music too.

We were also fortunate to stumble across a small free exhibition on the lives of Chicago modernist artists Alfonso and Margaret Ilanelli. The exhibition was a real treat, featuring their sculpture and graphic design work from the start of the twentieth century through to the 1960s. Amongst the work on the display was a pier capital for an Indiana elementary school designed by Alfonso and a wonderful children’s story book, (never published) by Margaret – both featured a rabbit, so it felt as though the bunny in the Millennium Park had been a foretaste of what was to come! By the time we’d finished wandering around the cultural centre the rain had stopped so we hopped on our bikes (get it!) and our tour of Chicago resumed.

It was a mammoth journey to get to Chicago from Bristol. We took a train from Bristol to Reading , but we couldn’t cycle to the railway station as we normally would because we’d had to pack our touring bicycles away in cases so they could travel with us on the plane. Our train left Bristol at 05:30 and we were a little uncertain about taking our packed bicycles in a taxi and in any case we wondered if a taxi would be reliable at that time of day. So Matthew hatched a plan to get us on our way. Our early morning alarm went off at 4:00 am and after a very quick shower and breakfast Matthew used one of his other (4) bicycles to go and pick up a van that’s part of our car club pool of vehicles – fortunately it’s parked near Bristol’s main railway station. Once there he put the bicycle he was using in the back of the van and drove back home. At the house, one bike came out of the van and the two packed bikes and their panniers went in. Along with a very bleary-eyed Mike! I spent the time while Matthew was away checking all the doors and windows of the house (again), switching everything off and pulling plugs out of sockets. It’s another of my OCD things.

We drove to the railway station and Matthew returned the van while I tried to collect the train tickets from the ‘Fast Ticket’ machine and get all the bags to the right platform. The Fast Ticket computer said “No” to issuing me with tickets – I didn’t have the right credit card apparently – even though the tickets were bought using a joint account credit card, the stupid machine wanted Matthew’s version, not mine. Bristol Temple Meads was surprisingly busy at 5:00 am, but of course there were not staff at the ticket counter at that time of day *fume*. I sent Matthew a text message about collecting the train tickets himself, hoped that he had the right credit card and made my way to the platform. Fortunately, Matthew was able to get the tickets and we boarded the train. The train manager wondered what was on the bags and why we wanted to store them in the cycle compartment! There were several other cyclists on the train – some in Lycra road racing gear, so I wondered if there was an event that they were going to – but I was too tired to ask them!

At Reading we changed to the RailAir coach – which is just a coach with a name that makes it sound more exciting than it actually is. Also waiting at the bus stop was a young man who was wearing a Nike T-shirt with ‘Running Sucks’ written across it in big letters – seeing as he was quite overweight I wondered if he’d ever done enough running to be able to make a proper assessment. He looked funny in any case!

Virgin Atlantic – the airline taking to Chicago and returning us from Washington is based in Heathrow terminal 3, which has undergone an amazing transformation since I was last there in the 1980s – then it was a 1960s white box with some horrid clashing and glaring 70s and 80s additions. Now it’s all sleek with high ceilings, tinted glass and marble floors.

Matthew had brought along a Sainsbury’s shopping bag with some breakfast food in it – in case we were hungry on the journey and I couldn’t find anything vegan to eat at the airport. So we brought a tub if hummus, some bread rolls, four small pots of soya yoghurt, some vegan biscuits with us. At the checking-in desk and oversize baggage handling I ended up carrying the food bag and it was with me as I went through security. This was a mistake. So, like a lamb to the slaughter I bundled my pannier bag, wallet, keys, iPhone, jacket, and That Bag of Food onto the conveyor belt and walked through the security gate. So far so good. I passed through the gate without incident. But as my stuff went through the adjacent x-ray machine I could hear a deafening alarm going off. “Just come over here for a minute please, sir”, said a member of the security staff … It turned out that the half eaten pot of hummus, (Matthew had had a go at it on the train) and the four pots of soya yoghurt were regarded as liquid and I stood accused of trying to smuggle prohibited items, onto the plane, threatening the lives of everyone on board in the process. I was required to wait at the other side of the security gate and endure a lecture about not bringing liquids on planes and wait for ages while the offending items were tested. If they were going to get chucked out anyway, I didn’t understand why they needed to be tested. Anyway, I was given a choice: did I want to keep the yoghurts and hummus and forgo getting on the flight, or give up the yoghurts and hummus and be allowed to fly? Meanwhile everyone else around me was passing through the security gates with apparent ease and I was feeling a little like a naughty schoolboy being given a talking to in front of the class. I thought that deploying my defence: “This isn’t actually my bag – I didn’t pack these things”, had the potential to get me into even more trouble, so I had to endure the humiliation. I did point out the difficulties usually encountered with getting food suitable for vegans in the kind of places that served food in airports. But he looked at me like I was mad, and said rather wearily “I wouldn’t know about that, sir. But there’s an information desk over there where you can ask.” Matthew, rather wisely under the circumstances, had gone through a separate gate some way off and was also (rather wisely), looking quizzically on from a distance. So the Great Yoghurt and Hummus Security Incident was resolved with my meekly promising that I wouldn’t try to to smuggle prohibited items on the plane ever again. Once in the departure lounge Eat had soya milk, so I could have some coffee and a little pot if fruit. I made Matthew go and fetch it.

Once we we had boarded the plane we passed three men sitting in a row, all wearing identical green polo shirts with a list if names printed on the back. Rich, Ade and Shaun (accompanied by their stuffed toy mascots), who were traveling to Chicago to begin a fund-raising motorbike ride along Route 66 – America’s old Main Street. They wanted to ride on old Harley Davidson motorbikes for 2,451 mi (3,945 km) from Chicago to Los Angeles to raise money for cancer care. The names on their backs were Rich’s parents – both parents had died from cancer in the last two years.

What a bunch of stars they were – and there are so many people doing good things like that. Cancer touches all our lives and I felt sad to think about all the people whose lives it affects but also happy about what they were doing to help others. We chatted about our trips – they were amazed to hear about our journey by bicycle, we are going to be doing it the hard way they told us. We wished each other luck and I went to my seat. By the window! Fab!!

For any geeks out there (well me and Matthew’s dad only probably – possibly Paul will be interested), we’re on a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-300. A beautiful wide bodied plane, which has four engines. There are 235 passengers and 11 crew on board. The estimated flight time is eight hours. The journey takes us out of Heathrow and across Wales and central Ireland then along 59 degrees latitude coming into N. America over Goose Bay, Ontario the Great Lakes and into Chicago.

I have to admit that I wasn’t all that keen on flying Virgin – I dislike Richard Branson, I think the company is vulgar and their marketing is misogynist. I also think that Virgin take a lot of public money to deliver overpriced and poorly performing services, while still managing to pay their shareholders fat (tax-supported) dividends and afford Mr B a wasteful and excessive lifestyle. Virgin happened to fly into Chicago and back from Washington at times that suited us best, so we didn’t really have much choice (despite what all the low tax, free market capitalists would have us believe). The flight cabin of the plane was boiling hot when we boarded – a faulty auxiliary power unit, apparently. Everyone in upper class and business class were getting cold drinks as we waited to take off, the rest of us in steerage just had to put up with the sweltering heat. Once we were on our way it cooled down and to their credit, Virgin served some nice vegan food – mild vegetable curry with coconut basmati rice for lunch, and chickpea pâté sandwiches (don’t mention the hummus), for tea.

Coming in over Lake Michigan to land at O’Hare airport was fantastic – it’s bright, sunny and very warm in Chicago – but unfortunately there was too much mist to make out much of the Downtown area as we made our descent.

The man at US immigration was funny when I told him that we were cycling to Washington. Apparently everyone who drives in America is either drunk or sending text messages on their cell (mobile) phones – so we should take extra care. The bicycle bags attracted lots of the usual sort of attention as we headed to Bonnie’s apartment in Chicago. She’s our first WarmShowers host of our journey.

A metro and a bus took us to Bonnie’s apartment block. The concierge was expecting us and was really welcoming. Bonnie is lovely and had arranged with her friend, Frank, to have dinner prepared for us. We had a lovely vegan dinner. Did lots of talking about our travels and our families. But I was so tired it was difficult to concentrate – we went to bed at about 8:30 pm local time (about 2am UK time). We’d been on the move for about 22 hours by that time, (on top of only a few hours sleep the night before) – so off to bed and some very much-needed sleep.

As previously mentioned on this blog, the bike bags attract attention wherever we go. Our arrival in Chicago has been no exception. It was a great relief to see the bags both appear on the over-sized luggage carousel shortly after we passed through customs. No sooner had I picked them off the belt did I find myself surrounded by a crowd of Korean air stewards, (most of whom were barely taller than the bike bags), all very interested to know was was in the bags. They were most impressed when I told them we were cycling to Washington, one said “That’s why you’re so thin!”

The airport transit monorail and the subway train ride to central Chicago attracted similar comments. When we arrived Downtown we had to find a 29 bus stop to take us towards Bonnie’s. As Mike checked out the stops I waited on the pavement/sidewalk and before too long a man handing out ‘do you believe in Jesus?’ leaflets was beside me asking me about the bags. He was so impressed that he offered me two free Starbucks drinks vouchers that he normally gives to homeless people. I wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret this offer, but as we’re a bit off Starbucks due to their dodgy UK tax arrangements, I politely declined. Traveling on the bendy-bus with two bike bags was a novel experience, too. Mike was asked whether he had a harp in his bag!

However, the most surreal moment of the day came shortly after we disembarked from the bus. As we waited for the crossing to change the street was suddenly filled by the sound of a police car tannoy booming out and a female America police officer’s voice: “Gentlemen with the bags — what’s in the large bags?”. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be concerned I might be about to be tazered, but opted for the former. So in my best British accent, as loud as I could replied “Bicycles’, with an accompanied mime of a cyclist – just to make clear we we’re not pulling along any terrorist devices. Fortunately the police tannoy responded with a chuckle and the response “I thought so.” I resisted retorting with “Why did you ask, then?’ as I thought spending our first night in a Downtown Chicago police cell probably wouldn’t be appreciated by Michael.

The Windy City in question, is of course Chicago – and as the song goes ‘It’s mighty pretty’. Well, from what we’ve seen of it so far. It isn’t actually that windy, (fortunately), and the title originates from the nickname given the city when it was not too shy of promoting itself as part of the 1833 World’s Fair, (also the term is possibly related to the reputation of Chicago’s politicians for talking a lot!). We won’t get to explore properly until tomorrow when our host Bonnie has promised to take us on a cycling tour.

Bonnie’s apartment is located just south of the city centre and a stone’s throw from the shore of Lake Michigan, a bridge over the railway line and underpass below the freeway and you’re on the Lakeside Cycle Trail – 18 miles of traffic-free route. We’re about to have dinner with Bonnie and her friend Frank, who is kindly cooking us a vegan meal. After dinner I think it will certainly be bedtime, we’ve been awake since 4 am. Although it’s 20.15 here in Chicago, it’s actually about 2.30am in the UK – well past my bedtime (for the second day in a row!).

Today we’re setting off for Chicago and it’s also my Mum’s birthday. I’d better not write how old, as I’d be in trouble if that particular number was broadcast very far! I’m a little sad that we won’t get to see her, because she’s had a torrid year – battling cancer and dealing with all the many and various manifestations of pain and discomfort associated with her treatment. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy have all continued for months and months. She’s suffered dreadfully and it’s upsetting to witness all that happening to her. For a while, we all feared that her cancer might be terminal. She’s getting better and better though – looking wonderful and now has hair again! That’s got to be good!!

We’ve seen something of a different part of Mum’s character, especially since her treatment began. She’s always been quite self-effacing, saying things like “don’t worry about me”, “I’ll be fine”, “you do want you want”, “I just want you to be happy” – all the while, (of course), doing what she wants or working to make sure that things turn out as she would like! Mum’s steely determination reminds me of Grandma – her mother – who I adored and who was an extraordinary powerful matriarch. But Mam’s been steadfastly brave – pushing herself to get well and extraordinarily forthright about “Beating this bastard”, as she puts it!

Mam’s been quite businesslike about it all, but of course it’s necessary to accept help and curiously it’s often harder to accept help than to give it. But also Mam’s illness has been responsible for bringing lots of people closer together and that’s been the best part of the last 16 months or so. I’ve been going over to see her and have really enjoyed staying with my sister Lisa and brother-in-law Stuart and my niece, Sadie. Lisa is a crazy runner, too. Come to think of it, our family seems full of individuals who really don’t do anything by halves! Even with cancer, Mam managed to achieve the unusual and have two different kinds of cancer simultaneously!

I’ve really enjoyed getting out and about running around Potters Bar with Lisa and sometimes some of her running buddies. Mam’s had amazing support from Lisa and Stuart and Sadie – who’s 12 now and who was with Mam when the cancer diagnosis came. Many other family members have been wonderful, too – Jane’s been going through the final year of her degree while all this has been going on and still managed to pull off a first! incredible!! My middle sister Lynn has a young son to bring up as a single mum, while holding down a demanding job but gets to bring Mam to Portsmouth from Hertfordshire to do her bit. Nina our cousin has lobbied clinicians and kept us informed about Mam’s prognosis in the early days. Cousin Catherine visited Mum in hospital and even gave us a private guided tour of Westminster Abbey as a bit of relief from the hospital! Mam’s friend Michelle and Catherine and young Ella have always been there and played a vital role in persuading Mam to face down her tech fears and learn to use an iPad! Now Mam makes FaceTime calls, sends Facebook messages, emails and even sends output to an air printer! It’s been rather wonderful that so many of our older relatives and friends are getting themselves connected and embracing new technology. There’s hope for all of us!

So, the best I can do today is say “Happy birthday Mam”, with a FaceTime call and a blog post. I miss you all. We’re looking forward to reading your comments on our blog and to treating you when we return.Mam on her birthday, with Lisa, Sadie, Lynn and Jimmy

There are several reasons why we were so late getting to bed last night, (it was 2:30 am – and we were catching a 5:30 am train!). Loathe though I am to admit it, but Matthew is right with his observations about my inability to decide what to take to wear and my dithering over what to include given my determination to travel as lightly-loaded as possible. However, I am also just coming out of a protracted bout of lower back pain – possibly not unrelated to having also just about come to the end of the academic year. I’ve been through a groaning mountain of marking and reading.

This year I took up two new external examiner positions – meaning even more assignments and examination scripts and dissertations to read. As the positions were both new it’s also been a case of reading through degree programme details, module outlines, learning outcomes, assessment weightings and checking through all the grades. It’s always more onerous with the first set of work with an unfamiliar institution. I’ve had meetings to attend in Bournemouth and London, too. I only finished reading through and commenting on everything yesterday and sent my report to London at about 6:30 last evening. So that’s when I felt like I could begin packing for our trip!

Being an external examiner is a bit of a thankless task – but it’s always interesting – good to meet other academic colleagues and learn about what they’re doing. Timing is dreadful though – all their students’ work is ready to check just as I’ve finished working on my own students’ assignments. I was worn out and really looking forward to the holiday, even though I’d done very little planning for this one, (Matthew’s been brilliant and done almost all if it – route planning, accommodation, packing and much more – even though he’s just started a new job himself). So imagine my delight when this arrived in my inbox at 8:00!

Mike, as my 14 year old would say, ‘wow’! That is the best external comments I have ever read in 20 years of dealing with really good externals! There is a great deal to think about across the board, really useful and thoughtful insights. You pick up on a number of issues that we continually grapple with, your voice is a welcome one to help us with these struggles. Thank you very much for your hard work. Enjoy your cycling and I look forward to discussing these points with you in July, best regards, Stuart

That gave me a real lift and so even though we’re both dog-tired, I’m feeling really optimistic and excited about the trip and the ride ahead!

As is customary on our holidays, the night before is a tiring and fraught experience. Who would want to spend the time relaxing or ‘chilling out’, when instead we can spend half an hour debating such thing as whether or not Mike should take one shirt or one t-shirt on holiday, (certainly not both) and another half an hour determining if one USA travel-adapter is a nano-gram lighter than another one?

I fear this sort of pre-vacation experience will follow me through life. As a child my dad would be climbing the walls the night before we went away, checking lists, then double checking and no sooner had we gone to bed and it was time to get up and depart. We usually set off at some ungodly hour in the middle of the night to ‘get through London avoiding the rush hour’ (this was pre-M25 days of course). Our destination was usually Dover, (this was also pre-Chanel Tunnel days). So a nocturnal whiz through central London was en-route. In the 1970s nobody batted an eyelid at taking your eight-year old on holiday in the boot of a Maxi – social services would be calling round now. This wasn’t of course me in a dark hole like some kind of kidnap victim, but rather with the boot shelf removed and the space kitted out as a little den complete with pillows, blankets and books. From my ‘boot den’ the illuminated landmarks of London flew past – Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament. Everyone else was usually asleep apart from my dad who was driving, and the streets were pretty deserted – so London seemed like it was all mine! Alas, no nocturnal sights of the capital for us tomorrow – just an early bus ride in Reading, ho-hum.

Packing my bag for our cycling holiday is a very quick affair. The ‘luggage limit’ imposed not by Virgin Atlantic, but by Mike might even be considered mean by Ryanair! One small front Ortlieb pannier is all that is permitted. Fortunately, I’ve become pretty adept at choosing a range of garments that can be ‘mixed and matched’ to produce a very compact, yet flattering – I wouldn’t go as far as to say stylish – holiday wardrobe. So like a Cindy doll, I have an outfit for every occasion: cycling, running, beach, (yes, Chicago has several), shopping, sightseeing, eating out and visiting museums. My capsule pieces can do it all. Gok Wan, eat your heart out!

We’re expecting to cycle just under 900 miles from Chicago to Washington DC.

Our route takes into six US states: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. We’ll visit Dayton, Columbus and Pittsburgh. Our friend Mike is joining us in Pittsburgh and then we’ll travel together on to Ohiopyle, (where we’re going to Fallingwater – a US national monument built in 1935 and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). We’ll go to Columbia and stay at Mike’s house, then we should be in Washington DC for the 4th July Independence Day celebrations!

Here’s a map of our proposed journey (you can click on it to make it bigger):

Three days to go before we set off on our latest cycling adventure. No matter how many time I promise to be very, very organised, there always seems to be a long ‘to do’ list of things to finish off right up to the last-minute (holiday insurance, email our those hosting us, cat feeding rota etc). At least this time I’ve packed my bike into its traveling case with at least two whole days spare.

On our last trip to the USA I recall us doing this into the late hours the night before we flew. It’s actually quite fun traveling through the airport with these unusual shaped bags, you get lots of funny looks and the odd inquiry. I recall at Heathrow a little child was staring at our case and imagined what was going through her mind – perhaps she though we were taking a thin baby elephant on holiday with us! The heart pounding moment comes when you have to hand your precious cargo into the over-sized luggage check in. Just for a moment the ‘will I ever see my beloved bike again’ thought flashes across your mind. Fingers crossed (actually cross everything) our bikes have made it there and back again before so I hope they will again. With a fair wind we’ll be putting them back together again in Chicago before we know it.