Sunday, July 12, 2009

Champaign to Crawfordsville 81.7 miles - 2,759.6 miles cum
















Today was a bright sunshiny day! We loaded our luggage at 6:15AM and then rode up to the Bob Evans restaurant for breakfast. It was a little confusing at breakfast as the waitress was not too well organized. She had everybody fill out a slip for the breakfast order but did not keep track of who ordered what. She came out and said "Who ordered pancakes at table 4"? I asked her which table was table for 4 and she said she didn't know!! It was pretty funny and eventually everybody got their breakfast and we were on our way. I rode with a large group until the first Sag stop. We had Bob, Chris, Chuck, Meiri, Carol, Bruce, Leigh, Han and I all in a pelaton. We were riding back country roads with no traffic on a bright sunny Sunday morning, cruising along at 15 to 18 mph for about 30 miles, it doesn't get any better than that!!!
After the Sag, the group began to split up as we rode to the Indiana state line. Yes, we have entered another state, Indiana!! We took our customary pictures and got back on the road. By now Meiri and I were riding together. As we neared the 2nd Sag stop, we came upon the county fair. We went in to see what was going on and found a 4H horse show going on with the riders showing what their horses can do. A very nice lady came up and told us what was going on. She said she was glad we had stopped by as this was what Mid-west farming was all about. We left and went over to see the animals. As I have said, Meiri is a city girl who has some interesting thoughts about farm life and animals are all about. We started talking to a very nice woman who was with two steers. She told us what the 4H project was all about. The kids pick out a calf and raise it for six months before they take it to the farm show. She said one of the Steers had won the best weight gain and was auctioned off. She then said the other one would be in her freezer this fall. Meiri was appalled! The woman said "we don't make pets out of the animals". Meiri wanted to milk a cow but their were no dairy cows at the show. We then went over to look at the goats and she asked a couple of woman if she could milk a goat. The ladies were polite but it was clear nobody was going to let her near their goats. Funny stuff! We left the fair and went on to the 2ND Sag stop where we had some watermelon. We were now only 23 miles from the motel assuming we didn't get lost again like yesterday. We stopped at a store to get something to drink. The clerk asked me if we were riding from San Francisco. I said you must have had some other riders come in. He said yes, an oriental guy and an old guy. I knew the oriental guy was Zero but didn't know who he was riding with. After I got in and started talking to Bruce, he said he was in a store with Zero where the clerk wanted to know all about the ride. I told him what the clerk said about the old guy. He laughed!
One more day before our rest day in Indianapolis. We have a short ride in but some interesting side trips. More tomorrow.

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