It’s day five of the first of this summer’s two trips to complete my attempt to ride in all 50 states. I’ve taken two rides so far, although neither has been in a state that reduces the number needed to reach 50. And after arriving in Council Bluffs, Iowa this evening and getting ready to ride a ride to get two new states, a series of pretty heavy showers rolled through. They aren’t going away for a few hours so I’ve decided to delay my two state ride until early tomorrow morning (when no rain is forecast) and then head back east. So this blog will give you a quick rundown of my trip so far, but it will be the next entry that will detail the still to be taken 25 mile Iowa/Nebraska ride.
Thursday, August 24
This was a day when I neither cycled, nor went to a ballpark so seven bike states still remain and five ballparks. Today consisted of a drive to Wexford,PA northwest of Pittsburgh to visit with my wife’s cousin. I was able to fix her computer printer which was not responding and then went out to dinner with her and two of her neighbors who have been very helpful to her as she deals with mobility and health issues. Her neighbors are rock and roll fans who go on several cruises a year that feature old rock and roll groups on board. We spent dinner throwing out the names of old songs and singers. A fun, musical nostalgia dinner.
Friday, August 25
More nostalgia as I met a former Amtrak colleague in Akron,
OH and we rode the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad through the valley of the
same name. It was a trip down memory
lane for Frank and I as the train we rode was made up of several old rail cars
that were operated by Amtrak during its early years.
As we walked through the train from our seats
in the round end observation car (which unfortunately was not good for looking
out at the tracks because it had locomotives and a power car attached behind
it), we passed through coaches that had run on Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains
in the early 70’s before being sold to MARC (the Maryland commuter rail
service), and a car that had been Le Pub on the Montrealer during that same
time period. The seats in the coaches
were the same as they had been the last time I saw these cars, so we felt like
we were walking back in time. At the stop
adjacent to the railroad’s shops we saw some of the line’s rehabilitated Alco
locomotives, a favorite with railfans, and some cars from the original
California Zephyr that they use for special excursions.
The ride through the park was very scenic, some people boarded or detrained at intermediate stops along the route which ran northward for about 25 miles through
the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to the Rockside Station near Independence Ohio. Volunteer train crew members provided interesting narrative as we went along. There is also a paved bike trail through the park that I could have had the option of going one way by train, putting my bike in the baggage car, and then riding back via the path. But Frank is not a cyclist, so I just had to settle for looking out enviously at those riding the path through the park.
Saturday, June 26
After staying the night at the Microtel in Delphos, Ohio on
the western edge of the state, I went out and took a 15 mile ride through the
town and the farms nearby. This town sat
on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s New York-Chicago mainline and saw many trains
pass through every day including the famous Broadway Limited. Today, the railroad is operated by a short
line operator and only sees an occasional freight train. One of the two tracks has been torn up, but
crossing signals still warn of the approach of a slow moving freight.
As I approached a crossing on my bike, the crossing lights began to flash and I got up hopes of seeing a train come by, but alas, there was nothing to be seen on the rails. It turned out that a technician was making an adjustment to the electronics that control the gate. So I pedaled on into a strong southerly wind. But as much as I struggled against the wind going south, it helped me northbound and I was able to cruise along in the 20-25 mph range without much effort. A nice ride, but not a new state. I’ve ridden in Ohio before.
Then a drive to Chicago and passage through a torrential rain on the south side of Lake Michigan. I visited the wine shop run by another former Amtrak colleague in the Rogers Park neighborhood before going to Des Plaines (everytime I hear the name of that town I think of Tattoo from the old TV show Fantasy Island, shouting “Da Plane. Da Plane” when the aircraft arrived with those coming to live their fantasy). For the next three nights I stayed with my friend Paul and his wife Wendy. I met Paul when he was on the cross-country tour that I joined in 2016 but did not finish when I came down with bronchitis.
Sunday, June 27
By the time the game started the roof was open, but even with a clear view of the sky this massive ballpark with great concessions, good sight lines, and a crowd of about 25,000 just didn’t have the charm of a PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Camden Yards in Baltimore or the latest iteration of Busch Stadium in St. Louis. We did see the famous racing sausages between innings during the middle of the game. But we were very disappointed when Bernie Brewer, who slides down a huge slide high above left center field after each Brewer home run, no longer splashed down into a tank of water. What an anti-climactic landing!
The Brewers won and after the game they had “kids run the bases”. There must have been 10,000 kids among the 25,000 fans at the game. Almost none of the fans were wearing masks. And I now have reached 26 of the 30 current major league ballparks.
Monday, June 28
Another bike ride, this time 25 miles with Paul on the paved
path through a nearby park. Despite a
forecast of rain all day we didn’t have a drop.
A nice easy ride, but not a new state for me. I’ve previously ridden in Illinois.
We planned to go see the Minnesota Twins (my favorite team) versus the Chicago White Sox (Paul’s favorite team even though he lives in the northwest suburbs which is Chicago Cubs territory). But around 4 o’clock the game was postponed due to “rain”. Maybe it rained at the ballpark on the south side of Chicago,but there was nary a drop in Des Plaines. Pretty disappointing!
Today, June 29
An all-day drive of 450 miles with the hope of picking up two new bicycle states this evening. But it rained so I hope the forecast of no rain tomorrow is correct so I can ride early before checking out. The agent at the front desk of the Harrah’s hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa where I am staying gave me an extra hour for checkout to make sure I'll have enough time for my ride tomorrow morning.
The highlight today was a stop at the Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa about 20 miles after crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois. It’s not your typical truck stop. There were about eight fast food outlets, a restaurant, an entire building selling just about everything you could want (and many things I can’t imagine anyone wanting). There’s a repair facility for trucks, a couple of different gas stations. They claim to be the world’s largest truck stop. Far be it from me to argue with that claim!
Tomorrow
A 25-mile morning ride from Harrah’s along the Missouri River, cross the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian/Bicycle bridge into Omaha and a ride through town, cross another bridge back into Iowa, ride around a lake, and then return to the hotel with the number of states left to ride standing at five (North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Utah and Nevada). Those will be part of a three week journey in August.
Tomorrow I’ll head back east and hopefully have an Iowa/Nebraska ride to write about tomorrow night.
Bruce
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