Ann Arbor to Chicago

We arrived in Evanston today via Chicago, from Westville, Indiana. Biking into Chicago was nothing short of beautiful--a bike path winds into the city along the south shore of Lake Michigan; it was a clear and warm day, and the water was a tropical teal color. Roads in Indiana generally left something to be desired (namely, maintenance and a shoulder for biking), so the bike path was a welcome change. We stopped at a beach about ten miles from our destination and took a fun break (one that also got sand in our gears and rendered some of them dysfunctional). The gang of us in yellow jerseys and spandex shorts is something of a spectacle, but I think most of us feel like our outfits are second skins by now...

Since Ann Arbor, we have been in Battle Creek and St. Joseph in Michigan, and last night was spent in Westville, Indiana. The ride between Ann Arbor and Battle Creek was our longest yet--most of our odometers clocked in between 95 and 100 miles--but it was another beautiful ride of rolling green hills, a cool breeze, and two lunches, one at 35 miles and one at 70 miles. We sailed through it, and all of us arrived before 5pm. I had no idea Michigan was so pretty.

One of our riders, Kate Belski, was in an accident with a car in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Monday morning, on our way from Battle Creek to St. Joseph, and will not be continuing with us for the rest of the trip. Kate was crossing an intersection, and an oncoming car didn't see her while it was turning left, and hit her on her left side. Kate suffered a fractured and dislocated shoulder in addition to a badly broken leg, and was in surgery on Tuesday to set the bones. Kate was one of the most positive and conscientious bikers on the trip, and she is an overall awesome person, so we will miss her terribly. Kate, we love you!!!

Many of us are very shaken after Kate's accident, and there is a lot of serious thinking going on within the group about safety issues and intentions to continue or not continue on the trip. One of the troubling things about the accident is that the collision was entirely the fault of the car--Kate was abiding by rules of both traffic and general safety when it happened.

I want to also take this blogging opportunity to thank our hosts. As a rider, I am so grateful for their hospitality and generosity. So, a shout out to the Habitat for Humanity of Battle Creek, the Women's Community Association in St. Joseph, the United Methodist Church in Westville, and St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Evanston. It is so amazing to be welcomed into a warm and dry place in the evening for a hot meal and a place to sleep. There is no way we'd be able to do this trip without our hosts.

On other, lighter notes: we are sick of Cliff bars, we are getting smart and augmenting our lunch diets with spinach and eggs and fruit snacks, we have hilarious tan lines, we are getting used to waking up at 5am, we like cool cities like Ann Arbor and Chicago, and every day, is, well, a biking day. Tomorrow is an anomalous day off, and we have big plans to go to the aquarium, a baseball game, a blues bar, a sketch comedy show, etc. etc.

--Laura Hess