Day 36, Valapraiso to Kendalville, 112 miles

Best: Ice cream at Humpty Dumptys at mile 101

Worst: Double detour day

Most Unexpected: Having to ride 3 miles on a brand new chip sealed road.

Last nights sleep was absolutely fabulous in the Dorm room as I was by myself.  The dorm looks a lot like Hogwarts.

The dinner at the dorm was adequate and unfotunately i ate too much for ice cream later.  I understand from the people who went there that it was the best ice cream ever.  Well of course it was.

Up in the dark for a 5:00 truck load and a 5:30 breakfast.  It was a 109 day so we wanted an early start.  The first 20 miles went fast as usual, and the next 25 miles flew by as we did a pace line and bombed down the road. 

At the lunch stop I made a decision to not stay with a pace line because I was not looking around, I was concentrated too much on the bike in front of me, or the road conditions.  I rode with Kevin and Jenn after lunch and unfortunately there really wasn't that much to see.  We had to detour around our route because of a road under construction, then we hit a second detour which didn't add miles, and then the piece de resistance was hitting a freshly chipsealed road with lots of rock still on top.  It was a very slow 3 miles on this piece of crud.  I guess it is a good thing that Indiana is actually trying to do something about its crappy roads.  

I wasn't really feeling it today and as a result it was a long day.  Temperatures were upper 80's and I was drinking lots of fluids, but it was not a banner day.  The first group into camp only arrived about 15 minutes before us so I am guessing everyone wasn't feeling it today.  The psychological impact of the double detour and not knowing how many additional miles they added to our already long 109 mile day, and the steady pounding of the roads damaged our psyches so we are all suing the American Lung Association.  In reality, the roads were better than yesterday, but the chip seal was not my favorite road surface. 

To repair my damaged psyche, we stopped at Humpty Dumpty ice cream at mile 101 and had ice cream, mine being salted caramel nut which was the best ice cream, not last nights foray by the other group.  

After arriving at our campground on the lake, setting up the tent, showering, and plugging in the electronics to charge, it was time for dinner served up by the Park and Rec staff for the City of Kendalville.  The Parks and Rec director was here and it turns out he only has a full time staff of four with all of them doing maintenance as well as programs.  He has to mow grass, run the department, and apparantly serve us dinner and breakfast in his spare time. 

This was the lunch stop where we all waited while they figured out the detour.

There is a really bad sign up on the right that you don't want to see on the bike.

Here is a closer look in case you missed it above.

This is a marking on the road showing that we are supposed to make a left turn at the intersection.  These are normally used only for detours although sometimes in a tricky situation you might see them as well.  Generally I would like to not see these on the road because it means extra miles. 

Very cool use of shingles.

Can you tell which one is the bull?

Our campground site.  My tent is not in the picture because it is behind me.  I remember a lot of mosquitos in this area so I am a little removed from this site.