Riding painlessly through Cook County. May 19

 I rode a little more than half of a 60 mile ride to Lamotte, Indiana, ferrying in the truck after lunch so that I could grocery shop and take my turn at cooking dinner.  I rode very nice trails in the morning and missed some fierce headwinds in the afternoon, so it seemed like a good deal all around.  We were south of Chicago but still in a very built-up area, riding quite seamlessly through a network of trails, mostly through parks.  We did have to stop for street crossings, but frequently cars courteously stopped when they saw us at a crossing.

For dinner I made a very simple chili, always well received, and the hit of the evening, instant chocolate pudding.  One would have thought I had served a Julia Child chocolate mousse for the accolades it received.

Jim had a flat, and the gentleman on his knees stopped, announced himself as the owner of a bike shop, and had the tire changed in record time.

Riding in to Indiana on the Pennsy Trail.  The other side of the sign says Indiana, but it was in shadows. 

                                           A very nice trailhead on the Erie Lackawanna trail

Sometimes following the route directions (cue sheets) Nancy prepares is a bit like a scavenger hunt. She wasn’t sure this trail entrance would be marked, so she told us to turn at the house that looks like a pile of rocks. We knew it when we saw it!  Many riders enter the directions in GPS devices, which does have certain advantages, but I have resisted so far, as I love my cue sheets and I’m too lazy to figure out the technology.