Day 11 - ending at Warsaw, IN - Northern Indiana on the Open Road

September 9, 2011

Day 11 - ending at Warsaw, IN

rode on St. Marys Pathway

Posted via email Sat Sep 10 06:17:02 2011 PDT

Up at 7:47am. Checked the Weather Channel and the BlackBerry - no rain in the area. Had some Pop Tarts and packed. Took bike outside and checked the tires with my new gauge. They were higher than the recommended 58-psi, or my gauge is not accurate. I went ahead and let some air out.

At 10:17am I was ready to leave. Headed into Fort Wayne on Route 27 with hopes of hooking up with one of their bike trails. Turned left on Tillman Road and saw a place to eat - The Renaissance Restaurant. I stopped there at 10:45am and had two eggs, two bacon, two pancakes, one sausage, large orange juice, and coffee.

Left at 11:24am, and connected with the St. Mary's Pathway a short time later. What a great way through a large town! At one section the trail was as wide as a two-lane road. Saw the most substantial picnic pavilion I've ever seen. The trail had some street sections, but was well marked. I was sad to leave it when I got on Illinois Road (Route 14) heading west. Made it out of town, then turned north on CR-700E to get to US-30.

Just before Highway 30 (on CR-600E) I came upon a group of picketers - members of UAW Local 2049. They'd been out since June. They knew of the Caterpillar strike (that I'd been in), saying, "That was a long one." They were mostly woman workers who were out. I wished them well and proceeded to US-30.

This busy highway is good because it's the straightest way to where I'm going, has a good wide shoulder, and passes lots of places to eat. The bad aspects are, it's noisy, it's not 'out-in-the-country scenery', and bits of truck tire retreads are waiting to poke holes in my tires. Sure enough, one bit stuck in my front tire. I pulled it out amazed I didn't have a flat. Maybe my heavy-duty tube saved me.

At 3:55pm I stopped at Swifty Gas in Larwill for a Coke, and to call my friend Jim. He was curious how the used pedals I have on the bike are working. So far, they seem to be the best set I've had on the bike.

From Larwill I took off north and west for some relief from the traffic noise. Along the way I passed a llama or alpaca, or something like that. Connected back up with Highway 30 at Pierceton.

Later there was road construction at a bridge. After I got though, there was a section of road I had all to myself.

It looked like rain to the north. The BlackBerry weather radar image showed it in the same county as I, but the animation showed it was headed away from me.

Near 7:00pm I arrived at my destination: Hoffman Lake Campground. Checked-in and was directed to the primitive camping area, where no one else is set up. It's right by the lake shore.

Set up, had some ginger snaps, and took a shower.

It's hard for me to believe - I'm ten feet from the lake and half a mile from the highway, but highway noise is what I'm mostly hearing. However, it's a beautiful night, with moonlight reflecting off the water.

Best day for riding so far this trip - forgot to mention the wind was at my back.

Spent: $9.81 + $2 (breakfast), $1.25 (Coke), $23.54 (campsite fee).

Went: 61 miles.

Jeff

Day 11 - Fort Wayne, IN to Warsaw, IN

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+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +