Day 33 - Wednesday, June 13th - Rest Day in Champaign

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Sixteen days until Boston. It doesn't seem possible. It is tantalizingly close and the mood of the group is clearly sensing the end. The final push from our final rest day in Erie is still nine days out and that last week leading up to the beach will feature three of the toughest climbing days in the tour as we go through New York,Vermont and New Hampshire...but I am getting ahead of myself.

 To get to that final push we still need to get to Erie, PA. The next riding week is seven days and covers nearly 600 miles. It includes the last century and three other days of 90+ miles. 
The group will clear out of Illinois tomorrow as they enter Indiana and the eastern time zone and go from Indiana to Ohio on Sunday. Over the course of this riding week the group will endure over 16,000 feet of elevation gain, including 98 miles and nearly 4500 feet the day after the last century as they go to Wooster, OH from Marysville. Another challenging week to be sure. 

 The tour stops and other milestones for the coming week are:
  • Thursday, 80 miles to Crawfordsville, IN - Eighth state line crossing.
  • Friday, 55 miles to Indianapolis, IN. 
  • Saturday, 73 miles to Richmond, IN - 968 miles to go.
  • Sunday, 105 miles to Marysville, OH - pass the 2500 mile mark, ninth st line crossing. 
  • Monday, 98 miles to Wooster, OH - pass the three quarter mark at mile 8
  • Tuesday, 94 miles to Niles, OH
  • Wednesday, 90 miles to Erie, PA - 581 miles to go. Tenth state line crossing.
My plan right now is to pick up a rental car in the morning and drive to Indianapolis. I am reasonably optimistic that a bike will get to a shop there on Friday afternoon and I will be set to go Saturday morning for the ride to Richmond. Even in the midst of this mini crisis I caught a couple of breaks (no pun intended). The bike shop is within walking distance of the hotel and is open until 8 pm. The rental car return is a couple of blocks away from the bike shop. At times like this I really appreciate being somewhere as opposed to the middle of nowhere. Right now the ball is the hands of Fedex.

Sneak Peek At Tomorrow

80 Miles to Crawfordsville, IN that I won't get to ride. I'll have to be on the lookout for the welcome to Indiana sign on the interstate and see if I can get a picture.

Crawfordsville is a city of about 16,000, the county seat of Montgomery County and the home to Wabash College. Wabash College was founded in 1832 as the Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College. Today it is one of three all male liberal arts colleges in the country with a student population of 900.

Major Ambrose Whitlock laid out the town in March of 1823 and it was named in honor of Colonel William H. Crawford, a native Virginian who was the cabinet officer who had issued Whitlock’s commission as the Receiver of Public Lands.

Lewis Wallace was a citizen of Crawfordsville and in addition to being a lawyer, a general in the Union Army, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician and diplomat he was also the author of the historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ. Published in 1880 it was considered the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century and surpassed Uncle Tom’s Cabin in sales.
Location: Champaign, IL, USA

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 14, 2018 at 11:04 AM

    Why do you have to drive yourself to Indianapolis? Can't the tour group carry you in their van/trucks? You have already payed for your room and food and they will have you there on Friday night in time to get your new bike, no?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike RuaneJune 23, 2018 at 9:44 PM

    I could have opted to ride in the support van but it makes for a really long day as you are in effect part of the support team an get to the hotel towards the back of the pack as the last riders come in. Rather then do that for two days I elected to rent a car and go straight to Indianapolis at my expense.

    ReplyDelete

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