7.16.18. - Chicago to South Bend (108 miles)

Riding solo no more: my good friend Garrett joined me for a few days of riding, starting today as we pedaled away from Chicago. Garrett was a source of inspiration for me, because he rode his bike coast-to-coast during the previous summer. I joined him for about two-thirds of his trip before I concluded riding in Dixon. Garrett's company was great, because he knows the ins and outs of touring. Our ride was predominately along the Lake Shore Trail, which was fairly busy with runners, walkers, and cyclists. Today's route was one the flattest of ther entire trip. A rising sun along the lake sometimes drew my attention away from the trail. Fortunately, this happened more often as we were further and further away from the downtown area. As we continued south, the cityscape slowly gave way to factories, warehouses, and heavy industry. Based on outward appearance alone, it was at times difficult to discern which structures were in operation or abandoned. Crossing into Indiana was pretty lackluster. Not that I was expecting anything truly remarkable, but a sign would have been nice, right? We had to settle on Google informing us that we had crossed into a different state. Much of thre next 30 miles or so were on an old railroad bed, and this provided a lot of shade. Eventually, riding on trails concluded, and we continued riding along county roads; all of which were paved. This was a great change compared to the west: county roads that weren't gravel. We gradually zigged-zagged our way towards South Bend. On this evening, we were hosted by a couple that live on a quiet street along the St. Joseph River in South Bend. We had arrived shortly before our hosts had, so sitting on a picnic table across the street made fora for unwind. After cleaning up, Rory prepared an outstanding porkchop dinner for us. The dry rub was really, really unique: decaffeinated coffee along with a few other spices. This paired really well with baked potatoes along with corn on the cob and made for a superb meal after riding over one hundred miles today. I'll never forget Rory's hospitality. She was a most pleasant person to converse with. Shortly after dinner, Garrett and I were both spent from today's ride. In addition, my legs had not recovered from a weekend of playing ultimate frisbee on Montrose beach in Chicago. We would be on the road early tomorrow and onward to Ohio.