Here I offer a synopsized version of the days that preceded Don Loomis's entrance to Chicago so that you can see what the long distance bicycle road is like. It ends with Don's experience of The Windy City itself where he also met the man who had rowed his bicycle in from Columbus, OH, Hi Tech CEO, Victor Grinshtein. Soon Victor will be filing his report with us. If you want to see it, it will be in the rider blogs at NationalBicycleGreenway.com. We also have unicyclist, Patrick Thomas, on our radar. Heroically, he has pedaled all the way to Iowa and expects to be in New York City by the end of the summer. His web noted below is even now chock full of pictures...
The words below are taken from the wonderful reports that Faye Saunders has created for Don's ride, all of which can be found at the blog we keep for him (noted also in the end matter):
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[..] Biking into Tipton, the owner of the Dairy Queen bought Don's meal because Don was doing what the restaurant proprietor had wished he could do. And as he was leaving, Don met a man named Dick who, like so many others Don has met in this area, had ridden RAGBRAI. Somewhat familiar with Don's needs as a result, Dick recommended that Don camp at his granddad's memorial park, called affectionately, the Wally Wingert Memorial Park. Dick also called the local newspaper resulting in an article in the "Tipton Conservative" about Don's ride for the NBG. As a fitting end to a perfect day, when Don did fall asleep, it was to the sounds of crickets and frogs.
By the time he woke up the next morning, however, the sound of cows chewing their cud just outside of his tent seemed to warn what was ahead. A persistent head wind blew against him most of the day, making the biking a little more challenging. Perpetual optimist that he is, however, Don says the wind does does feel nice and cool.
He rode for a while on the Hoover Highway, named after the former president Herbert Hoover who was born in Iowa. After having breakfast in Lowden, Don enjoyed Beethoven's Symphony #4 which he feels is a lively piece, good for riding. He found it on the local radio station. You may recall that Don is still powering his radio, cell phone and computer with the solar collector he runs on top of the trailer he is towing.
In a convenience store in Calamus, he talked with a guy named Steve who used to commute 130 miles into the suburbs of Chicago. Steve was able to give Don some good recommendations on which roads to bike to get to the Chicago metropolitan area. Soon after, Don stopped at a roadside farm stand and ate an ear of raw corn-on-the-cob which he says was excellent. A short while later, he picked up some lunch meats which he ate a nearby park about 10 miles away from the Mississippi River in a town called Clinton, Iowa. He climbed up a couple of really long hills and found a nice campsite close enough to the river where this time he could hear the frogs croaking to the distant rumble of far away barges. All for only four dollars!
After settling in his tent for the night, he saw two eyes looking at him from the darkness. He went outside his tent to see who it was and found a raccoon sitting on the seat of his bike. The zipper of one of the panniers had been left open and a plastic bag full of maps was strewn about and a loaf of bread was completely missing.
Monday
The next morning he found a nice bike trail but was having difficulty finding a bridge to go over the Mississippi, when a cyclist named Terry took him to a crossing he could use. Many fellow bike riders have given Don escorts for which he has been very thankful.
Once he was in Illinois and was climbing from the river bottom, when he put the bike in the granny gear, the chain caught just like it had back at Rabbit Ear's Pass in Colorado. Hoping it was just a fluke, he continued on to Hwy 30 where there was a small shoulder he could ride, nice after not having had that in Iowa. Unfortunately the shoulder deteriorated soon after, and since there were a lot of trucks on this arterial, he decided to take another road he saw on his maps. On it, he came upon a store called the William & Mary Computer Center. As it turned out, Bill and Mary had opened the store together but were later divorced. Mary left and Bill didn't feel like hassling with owning the business so he sold it and stayed on as an employee. Much to Don's delight, he was able to get online and retrieve his email.
His joy continued when he rolled away on his bike - there was more Beethoven on the radio! He arrived in Rock Falls on a side road and wasn't sure where he was. A guy working in a car repair shop recommended Don take Hwy 38 all the way to Chicago. He ended up in Dixon on Hwy 38 not realizing at the time that Dixon is where 2002 NBG rider, Andrew Heckman, was seriously injured after being hit by a car.
Along the highway there are signs documenting some of the local kids sports accomplishments. Dixon, Illinois is also the place that Ronald Reagan considered his home town. Don saw his home along the road and decided to stop and take the tour. It has been restored and furnished to appear as it did during that period.
Some people Don met at a grocery store suggested he camp at Rochelle, which they thought was 40 miles away. On the way there, Don pulled off the road to watch a firefly show. Rochelle actually turned out to be only 25 miles away so he kept riding until he got to Franklin Grove. There he met a cyclist named Andrew who took him to his place for juice and candy bars and then directed Don to another park for camping. On the way, he met yet another bike rider, a fellow name Mike, on a recumbent. Mike pedaled with Don to a bike trail when all of sudden Don realized he was in Chicago. Abandoning the idea of camping at the park Andrew had suggested, he decided to get off the trail and camp in the woods. Wanting to keep a low profile, Don decided to forgo the tent and use DEET instead. But the insect repellent didn't deter the mosquitoes for long. He pulled the nylon mesh on the inside of his raincoat over his head and finally ended up getting a good night's sleep.
Tuesday
Don stopped at Walmart where he purchased socks, yogurt, jeans, and a candy bar. Back on another bike trail he met Jim, a bike rider who was collecting empty cans. Jim rode with Don for a while. He told Don how he had been involved when the county decided to remove the railroad track and it was he who had suggested they replace the tracks with what is now known as the Great Western Trail that connects Sycamore with the Fox River on the western edge of metro Chicago.
Don had arranged to hook up with his friend Gale, who used to live in San Jose and now lives in Chicago. They met along the Fox River Trail and biked to the end where her car was parked. However, they were unable to fit Don's bike in her car and he ended up riding through suburban Chicago to her house. There were no shoulders and lots of cars, forcing him to pull off until traffic subsided a few times. He found another bike trail, but it ended. At one point, he even had to lift his bike and trailer to get over a set of railroad tracks. When he did make it to Gale's house, her dog had challenged a skunk and the skunk won. By the time he was finally able to let his guard down, they went out for pizza. At the eatery, the walls were decorated with photos of customers. The waitress took a picture of Don to add to them.
Friday, July 30 Chicago Proclamation Ceremony
Don woke up early to a rainy day but it was too warm to wear his raincoat. On the way to the Chicago proclamation ceremony, he stopped to visit with Ruby's parents and children. Ruby is his friend from San Jose who saw Don off at the San Jose proclamation ceremony almost two months ago. He then made his way over to the Millennium Park Bike Station for the reception. There he met his brothers David and Gary as well as Mayor Daley's Chicago Bicycle Ambassador, Carlos Cuarta.
Don was very impressed with the new Bike Station and the fact that they had showers and offered bike repair services as well as bike rentals. As testimony to Mayor Daley's commitment to Chicago cycling, the recently dedicated facility, located in the center of downtown, was completely rebuilt from an old car parking garage. With secure parking for 300 two wheelers, this state of the art human powered haven is mostly underground and will work year round. During the weekdays, it will give employees at the many businesses located all around it a place to freshen up after their ride to work as well as a safe place to stow their cycles and on the weekends and weeknights it will offer secure bike parking for concert goers and art patrons at the beautiful Millennium Park. Adjacent to the lengthy Lake Shore Drive path, it will support cycling there as well.
At the street level entrance, Carlos read the Mayor's proclamation and presented it to Don and Victor. One of the cyclists at the reception then invited Don to join him on the Critical Mass ride that evening. After checking into the youth hostel, Don's brothers rented bikes from the Bike Station and they all made their way through the city to the start of the ride. Arriving a little late they had to hustle to catch up with the group.
This was Don's first Critical Mass ride and he was surprised to see around 1,000 bike riders participating. The bicyclists just take over the streets. When they go through a traffic light the group just keeps going until they are all through no matter whether the light has changed or not. He felt this was a great way to see the city with no worries about traffic.
He met many people at the Critical Mass ride including a redhead lady originally from Istanbul riding a high wheeler. She had met Jim Muellner when he came through Chicago on his 2003 NBG TransAm ride last year. Someone else in the crowd asked Don if he was a part of the NBG Mayors' Ride. Another man who goes by the name of XMan and makes videos of the Critical Mass rides for CAN (Chicago Area Network), interviewed Do. He promised Don a copy.
The ride ended at Foster Beach, about six miles north of downtown Chicago. It was 9:30 at night and the warm lake water was just too inviting for some to pass up, including Don. While Don was biking back, he met Fred, who was on a BikeE. Fred was with his mom, who was riding the trike he had purchased for her to help her with her osteoarthritis. She was riding more and more every day and had just completed the entire Critical Mass ride.
After dining with his brothers, Don got back to the youth hostel around 2:00 am. It had been a long, but fun day.
Report by
Faye Saunders
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For Don his trip will continue to Washington, DC but for us yet another Mayors' Ride season is complete. All of our riders have exemplified the same class and polish that has made us welcome both on the road as Don's ride has shown, and in Mayor's offices all across the US. As we close yet another successful Mayors' Ride campaign, I want to say THX to all of you who have made this exciting summer real.
From the riders, including those Mayors who biked with us, to the amazing Mayors' staffs we have had the privilege to work with, to the press that has promoted our effort with many many thousands of words, to our sponsors who kept the phone lines open, to our volunteers of which there are too many names to list, you guyz have all been awesome!! I thank, bless and honor each any every one of you -- I love you all!!
THX 4 U!!
- 2004 Mayors' Ride
- Don Loomis
- Don's blog
- Victor Grinshtein
- Andrew Heckman
- Millennium Park Bike Station
- Jim Muellner
- Patrick Thomas
- Rowbike