Day 41: Indiana Beach to Huntington, Ind.

Despite the new time zone, we were able to get on the road early today. Having just entered the western part of this time zone, that also meant that the sun had just risen after we started biking. We enjoyed a few hours of excellent low sun, relatively cool temperatures, and minor cloud cover as we made our way east our of Indiana Beach. We were again “off route” today which meant less certainty about the roads were on. We’ve learned in Indiana, at least, that even when one of our farm roads turns to gravel, if you can hang for a few miles, it may become paved again. Or, if you head a mile north or south, that road might be paved. We followed that philosophy through the day and ended up with 81 miles of excellent, quiet, straight, flat, mostly paved roads.

We had two stops to day. The first was slightly out of the way, but a necessary stop for breakfast in Royal Center, where we cleared out the breakfast options and enjoyed a few minutes of air conditioning before continuing east. Our second stop was in Denver, Indiana. We paused briefly in the town and were beginning to look for lunch options. We thought we were stopped in front of a tanning salon, but when Ed wen to ask someone entering the salon if there were any restaurants that served lunch, she said ‘uh, yeah, here.” As it turned out, it was a tanning salon and a restaurant. As we sat waiting for our sandwiches, someone came into the restaurant to introduce himself to us. He worked at the local newspaper and saw our bikes parked outside. He was a cyclist himself, and was curious how we ended up in Denver. We showed him our maps and talked briefly about our trip. It turned out that he’d lived in Seattle and his wife went to Interlake High School. It was nice to catch up with a local about the touring routes in Indiana.

After lunch, it was a long, quick ride through some very quiet paved farm roads. The wind had been at our back the whole day, but after lunch it picked up strength, and we found ourselves moving very quickly toward Huntington. The scenery did seem to change slightly, as we passed through a few small groves and enjoyed the shade in the afternoon’s sun.

Once we arrived in Huntington, we walked into town and found the local brewery, where the bartender made some good dinner recommendations. We enjoyed a tasty dinner, and a nice walk through town.

Tomorrow we will head east to Defiance, Ohio before we turn north to visit my aunt, Ed’s sister, in Adrian, Michigan.

By the numbers:

Miles traveled: 81
Total climbing: 1424 ft.
Average Pace: 14 mph
Average temperature: 79
Miles before our first cornfields: 3
Beehives we rested our bikes on: 1
Pop tarts consumed: 2
Donuts consumed: 2

Sunrise over Indiana Beach this morning.

 Somewhere around mile 60 one on of our quiet farm roads.

 This morning riding through toward the sunrise.

 On a brief stretch of bike trail north of Royal Center.

Saints Peter and Paul church in Huntington.

Ed in front of the Courthouse in Huntington.

Ed riding toward the sunrise.