Day #17 (5/23/24) – Bike Across America

Woke up still congested, but no sore throat. Skipped the hotel breakfast and just ate a few snacks. I was on the bike by 8:00. The weather was excellent – 60 degrees, sunny, and little wind.

I made my way to the Cardinal Greenway and was quickly out of town and out in the country.

After 10 miles, I entered the small town of Gaston, IN. This is where there is a break in the trail and you have to ride the country roads for a while. I saw a sign on the trail that advertised a local diner and I stopped in for a proper breakfast – big stack of pancakes.

While at the diner, I arranged to stay at an inn in downtown Peru. It was a little bit early for me to commit to a place, but I wanted to stay in the town and local places (B&Bs) are harder to make reservations with. So, it helps to do it earlier.

The country roads were nice with little traffic and a good surface. What little wind there was was behind me, so that was nice. I actually like riding on the country roads better than the trails, because there is more to see. There hasn’t been many cars, and all of them have been very courteous to me.

As I was biking on these roads, I noticed a biker with panniers going the opposite way. So, I stopped to talk with him. He stopped as well and that is how I met John Meiners. We chatted for a while about each other’s adventures. John is from Boulder, CO and is biking from Chicago to New York City. He had a long list of people and things that were on his agenda, including Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, MLB games, family and friends. He gave me a card that had information about his blog. So, I’ll follow him and John will follow me. I kinda like the card idea. I may put that together at one of my stops.

13 miles of country roads and I was back on the Cardinal Greenway. The Cardinal Greenway then turned into the Sweetser Switch Trail. After a couple of miles I was in the town of Sweetser where I stopped at the Sweetser Cafe for lunch. It was a good place – like stepping back in time. I sat at the counter, chatted with the workers and had a good lunch.

The Sweetser trail became the Converse Junction Trail. I passed a couple biking on the Junction Trail and said, “hello.” The Junction Trail ended in the town of Converse. I saw a Dollar General store right next to the trail and decided to go in to pick up some Claritin (I’m still congested and am thinking it is allergies). First time ever for me to shop at Dollar General. I was hoping for some fresh fruit, but no luck.

As I was leaving the store the man from the bike trail was entering. We got to talking for a while and I met his wife as well. Chris and Janet Vitale. I really enjoyed getting to know the two of them. Chris is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer and is in need of prayers. We talked about how his doctor thinks getting out on the bike is good for his treatment. He had biked 33 miles at that point. He has a great positive attitude – very contagious! They are going to follow my progress and I hope they keep me updated on Chris’ fight.

I was back on country roads for a while. Again, there was little traffic and the roads were good, until they turned to gravel. The temperature was approaching 80, but not didn’t feel that bad. The wind was also picking up a bit, but it was behind me today. 🙂

Eventually, I connected up with the Nickel Plate Trail and took it north for 8 miles into the town of Peru. Peru is a nice town with lots of old Victorian houses, older architecture buildings, and several local options to eat.

I’m staying at the Cole Porter Inn. Which honestly didn’t mean anything to me. I met the owner, Jill, who told me that Cole Porter wrote the music for several Hollywood musicals back in the 1910’s thru the 1950’s. Cole Porter was born in the house and the local historical society had renovated it. The house is huge – 5,000 square feet with 12 foot ceilings. Each of the four suites in the Inn has a theme from one of Cole Porter’s musicals. Mine is the “Anything Goes” suite, and has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room, living room, and office. It’s huge and filled with antique furniture. It’s also cheaper than the Best Western down the street.

I walked around downtown and got some dinner at a local restaurant. It was good and a nice evening for a walk.

For the day, I did 70 miles with 500 feet of climbing. Tomorrow looks to be another great day for biking. God willing, I’ll be staying with family tomorrow night. 🙂