Author: msuding

Goodbye Marseilles. We rode to Utica for our second breakfast. There are several Uticas in the world but the first was an ancient city in North Africa built by the Phonecians. Utica, Illinois seems to have tailored itself for tourists … Read the rest

Since it was raining this morning we hid in our tents for a few hours until I couldn’t stand it. We took a slight break in the rain and rode across the river to Marseilles Family restaurant for breakfast, Tina … Read the rest

Janae and Conrad rode to our campground with another one of their club members, Goldie, to join us on our “escorted” ride west on the I&M canal path (Illinois & Michigan canal). We rode to the town of Morris and … Read the rest

We left the worst Motel 6 ever and rode into the train station to get there before 6am. The light traffic and cool temperature was nice. After hearing that the last stop before Chicago was Dyer, Indiana we decided to … Read the rest

We woke up early trying to beat the heat and get to the hardware store by noon. The route through Indianapolis was long and confusing. At one point , google maps routed us to the Nickel Plate trail which seemingly … Read the rest

We decided to go visit some of my relatives at the Suding Hardware Store in Indianapolis so I called the store to make arrangements. My dad’s uncle Henry started the store I think in the 1930s. My dad even worked … Read the rest

It was a treat not to have to pack up being in a hotel last night. Hotel waffles were tasty.

My rear wheel made a “ting” sound. I thought it was the kickstand but when I pulled over, I discovered … Read the rest

As I was looking at the map of the day ahead I noticed “Model T Museum”. I couldn’t resist. We saw about 40 of them in all sorts of varieties like trucks, tractors, snow plows, taxis, etc. Ford sold about … Read the rest

Lynne served us a good breakfast at Debbie’s Restaurant. We rode over to the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This place is huge so we only got a taste of it. Hundreds of airplanes and rockets … Read the rest

After hearing two recommendations for biscuits & gravy at M&M cafe, we gave it a try. It’s still an acquired taste for me.

Some locals showed up on the bike trail for their rides including a fellow named “Speedy“ who … Read the rest

Lauren at Scrambles gave us a good breakfast and wished us well on our ride. A local rider (also named Steve) escorted us on his new bike that he got at his employer, Roll Bicycles. He was proud to say … Read the rest

Our plan of camping on the trail worked out – we had no visitors. Our first stop was Mount Vernon. I had fun riding a residential red brick road for several blocks. It was quite wavy. We ate on the … Read the rest

After a good long chat and coffee with Tim, we pedaled to Fredericksburg and ate pizza for breakfast. We met several bikers that said the trail was blocked by some blown over trees. Clearing the first 50 branches and trees … Read the rest

Dick and Linda made us a delicious pancake breakfast and said a prayer for our safety and we said our goodbyes.

Canal Fulton was our lunch stop and a tasty custard dessert. I found someone’s cell phone and was able … Read the rest

I think the saying goes “a stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet.“

We left Hopedale in the light rain and sat under a restaurant awning for about an hour of rain before riding into Jewett to get … Read the rest