Back Home in Indiana sung by Straight for No Chaser
Just a reminder, you can check out our “where are we “section of our blog for a daily update. We will most likely be finishing the trip this Thursday, but will still be posting a few more times after we finish. Our longer blog post provide more photos and insights to our trip. And sorry if this one is a bit longer as it is about our two favorite states.
Some people ask where the heartland of America is. We would both say home is where the heart is which is why we were excited to be back in Indiana and Ohio!
It is interesting that you can usually tell you are enjoying a new state by the change in pavement. Such was the case entering Indiana as there is a lot more chip and seal pavement, as you also find in Ohio. So while there wasn’t a sign to welcome us as you would find on the interstate, the pavement let us know that we were finally in the Hoosier state, which is Nick’s home state.
We were thankful to have warm and dry beds to stay in as it rained that evening and into the morning.
From Rochester we took the Nickel Plate Trail south through the state. We passed many small towns that Nick new from visiting family in northern Indiana before coming to his aunt and uncle’s house just north of Peru. Mary and Mark with barely a quarter of a mile from the trail and were outside to greet us. Additional relatives were in town for the Peru circus parade, and even stayed around to greet us!
One thing that inspired Nick to take this bicycling trip was his grandma and grandpa Bullock’s love of travel. They ventured out often from Peru Indiana to explore the world whether South Africa, Hong Kong, Europe, or just the community around them. One such place was East End Double Dip ice cream. This was one of Nick’s grandma’s favorite places to visit and so he was very excited to make a stop with family in her memory. The ice cream hit the spot as did the time with his aunt and uncles. Of course we both still had plenty of room for a wonderful dinner, which included spaghetti sauce made with tomatoes from the garden. We were truly blessed by Nick’s relatives in northern Indiana… such great Hoosier Hospitality!
We picked back up with the nickel plate trail to head south the next morning. We often see many other riders on rail to trails, in that morning we met Jay, a former teacher who is out for his morning ride on his recumbent bike. It was great getting to hear about his experience living throughout the country and his thoughts on education.
Friends and family have asked us if we have had any injuries during our trip. Other than being sore or stiff we have had very few problems. However, at some point in any cyclists life, their clip in shoes become a hindrance and not help. Previously on the trip, both of us had fallen over while stopped after becoming unbalanced and unable to unclip are peddles. Just that morning, Nick had stated that if one of us fell again, the other had permission to take a photo as long as there were no injuries. There must’ve been some good foreshadowing because just an hour later, Nick lost his balance as he slowed to cross a road and hit a post in the middle of the rail to trail. Thankfully he was going very slow and bounce into the grass. After groaning came laughter, and then an opportunity for photographic evidence.
As we journeyed to Indianapolis, we were joined by Nick’s friend Josh for a portion of the ride. Josh and Nick were roommates in college and both developed enjoyment of cycling through bike commuting to work. The day’s ride seems to go fast thanks to the conversation and company. Of course a slight tailwind helped as well. We biked much of the day sandwiched between storms, but thankfully never managed to be truly rained on during our trip. Josh was picked up on the north side of Indianapolis by another of Nick’s friend, Sarah. Although brief it was great seeing her as well.
As we continued on through the northern suburbs, a man standing on the sidewalk flagged us down. He asked where we were going and what our route was for the day. After telling him, he informed us that we could save some time and headache by taking a shortcut to connect with the Monon bike trail. The man had done a lot of cycling himself and had specifically stopped his car to tell us about a better route. So typical of a Midwestern to stop to help a stranger!
Our route eventually connected with the canal towpath, leading us towards Butler University where Nick’s friends, Jeremy and Sara live. Although they were gone for the weekend, they were gracious to open up their home to us. We were also able to grab dinner and visit with some of Nick’s other friends, Tim and Katie, and Jason. We took a rest day in Indianapolis to run some errands, do some laundry, and meet up with other friends who have been following our trip. This included a trip to Graeters ice cream. Kids outnumbered adults but everyone definitely enjoyed their ice cream! Jeremy and Sara had arrived back home with their wonderful kids, and we were able to have dinner and share a great evening of fellowship together.
We had originally planned on riding the nearly 100 miles to Oxford in one day. However after looking at the forecast as well as the rolling hills near Oxford, we decided to split up the ride into two days. We were able to eat lunch at The Mug, A drive-in we ate at the day we flew out of Indiana to begin the trip. Breaking up the ride also allowed us to ride with another one of Nick’s roommates from college, Tim S. again, it was wonderful having another person to join us on the ride. As we approach Oxford, we began cycling on roads that we had been biking on four years. The change of pavement notified us of a change in state. We were once again in Ohio.
Even though Oxford is pretty far south of the officially Northern Tier, we had decided long ago that we wanted to bike through to visit with friends. We took another zero day to try and visit with as many people as possible (sorry if we weren’t able to see you when we passed through!) Nick was hosted by Brian and Jackie and Spencer was hosted by Glenn and Cathy. Special thanks to both for being so flexible and hospitable! On the day off, Nick was able to stop by and surprise his coworkers from the business school during their lunch hour. Later that evening, we met up with friends from church at Graeters for more ice cream…can you ever really have enough ice cream on a bike trip? Although the time was short, it was a blessing to be able to connect with people during the busy summer schedule.
We took off Friday morning and were fortunate to be escorting through town by our friend Steve on his way to work. It was a little surreal biking through campus and we both remarked how it still felt like we were just on vacation. We had a detour on the east side of town but were able to make our way to Trenton, OH and connect with the Great Miami River Recreation Trail, part of a great trail system in Ohio. The paths were smooth as we wound our way along the river and through the communities of southwestern Ohio. We looked for a place to eat lunch on Yelp and saw a place called One Bistro in Miamisburg. Nick recalled he had heard about their mission at a conference; they are a nonprofit restaurant run primarily by volunteers. Patrons pay what they can and if they can’t pay, they have the opportunity to volunteer at the restaurant. Menu items have a suggested price, but you can also “pay if forward” and add on extra to help cover the cost of someone else’s meal. Not only do they have a great mission, but their food was some of the best of the trip, including a toasted goat cheese salad and grilled chicken pesto sandwich.
We made our way through Dayton and hoped off the bike trial near the University of Dayton to save some time. This led us through the neighborhood where Spencer used to teach high school students. We connected back with the trail on the east side of Dayton and made our way to Beavercreek Community Park. Another great park which allows bicycle tourists to stay free of charge. We were also blessed to be able to meet up with Eric, a former Miami student who attended our church who is now in medical school at Wright State University. It was great catching up with him and listening to his stories about med school.
We had planned on eating items we had packed for lunch, but as we passed through London, OH, we noticed a sign at a pizza/sub shop that said bicycles get 10% off their meal. How could we pass that up! We turned around and had quite a deal of a meal. The trail continued on and we hopped off near Columbus to connect with a different trail that would take us to Spencer’s sister’s house for the evening. We arrived at Lacy’s house to a welcoming sign and dinner already cooking. We were blessed to have Spencer’s sister Kim join us, including Ben (husband) and Henry (son), and our friend James, a former student from Miami. We had a wonderful time sharing food and fellowship together.
We took another zero day to run some needed errands and also visit with Spencer’s family. We were definitely starting to feel spoiled sleeping under a roof most nights and having home cooked meals every day! Of course, we would be blessed one more time by family as we left Columbus and had a short ride to Spencer’s parents home in Waldo. On the way we were able to stop and visit with his Papaw in Prospect. He and Grandma Carol were very enthusiastic about our trip and were excited to hear about our journey. We continued on for another hour before arriving at Spencer’s home to be greeted by his parents. Another amazing meal awaited us, pot roast, and we enjoyed the evening admiring the garden and playing Dutch Blitz together (a voonderful card game). The next morning a breakfast of sourdough waffles, we headed north towards Cleveland. Spencer’s mom is a PE teacher and was more than happy to join us for a the first hour of our ride…again, wonderful to have someone else to help pass the time!
The day was spent riding on back country roads with very little traffic. We were able to knock out 80+ miles and camp at Findley State Park thanks to all of the shorter days and great food we had the previous week. The following day we continued toward Cleveland and eventually reconnected with the Norther Tier west of town. While most of the official route stays away from cities, the route takes you right through downtown Cleveland. As we stopped at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, another cyclist, Dave, began asking us about our trip. He was out for a ride that day with some friends. It turned out that he was from Perry, OH, the exact place we were camping that evening. Dave said he would enjoy hearing more about our trip and would stop by the campground later that evening.
We continued along Lake Erie and the eastern side of Cleveland. The east side is notorious for getting a lot more snow that the west side. Although it was summer, we can confirm this as the roads were some for the roughest we rode on the entire trip. It seemed as though the jarring of our bikes and teeth went on for ever, but we eventually made it to the Perry Community Park right on the lake. The park was having a concert that evening and the concession stand was open, which meant we indulged ourselves in some fine fried food. The park host was very gracious and excited about our trip as well. To cap the evening off, we enjoyed a wonderful sunset and conversation with Dave, his son, and their puppy.
The next morning we packed up our things and said goodbye to the Midwest as we cross crossing into Pennsylvania, our tenth state. We were so blessed by so many people, friends, family, and even strangers, confirming what we already knew…the Midwest is pretty special.
A Slight Detour 