Day 1 – Friday, August 30, 2013

Chicago – Milwaukee (93 Miles)

My chariot for the next 10 days

I woke up fairly early Friday morning after not sleeping very much the night before.  I was excited and nervous about the trip.  I got a cup of coffee and while watching the news saw that the temperature was going to be into the upper 90’s today.  Knowing what was in store I wanted to head out early to beat the heat.  I gathered the last of my gear and put the spare parts in a bin that Heather would take with her in the car.  I wouldn’t see her again until I got to Milwaukee that night.  When she left for work it was a strange feeling knowing that the only way for me to get to Milwaukee was on the bike.  It seemed a little overwhelming because at that point everything I needed for the trip I had to carry with me.

Picture of me leaving the house taken by my neighbor

I didn’t wait long after Heather left and after filling the camelback and bottles I stepped out into the morning sun.  Coming out of the air conditioning the heat hit me like a shock wave and I knew instantly it was going to be a real hard day.  In the front yard I was about to go knock on the neighbors door to ask him for a picture but he was already outside.  He knew about my ride from last year and was happy to take my picture again.  He still looked at me like I was crazy but told me to be safe and have a good trip.  With that, I hit “start” on the Garmin and headed down the street knowing I wouldn’t be back for another 10 days.

Entering Wisconsin

Immediately I found myself unsure about whether the computer was actually working and fumbled around trying to see what was going on with it.  I had to stop only a few hundred feet from the door to get it all sorted out.  Traffic was bad and I kept starting and stopping until I got onto Ridge Road going towards Highland Park.  Finally I was able to get a little breathing room and cruise at decent speed going north.  It was hot but not a bad ride up to the Wisconsin border but from then on it started getting really hot…  My feet started burning and my butt got incredibly sore.  By the time I reached Kenosha I needed a break so I stopped at Carthage College, which is situated perfectly at 50 miles from home, refilled the water and ate a bar.  I knew the afternoon was going to be even worse.

Leaving Kenosha I was unsure about the route and had to rely solely on my Garmin for directions.  Immediately the new computer failed me by rerouting me onto different roads that I knew were not right.  Every time I would make a turn it would reroute me to another road.  The bad part was the re-route calculation would take a few minutes and the computer had me doing U-Turns and loops trying to find the right track.  Thankfully, I had a faint memory of the route so I just got on a road that I knew would take me north and started riding regardless of what the Garmin said.  This was certainly not ideal, however, because the road was way too busy and dangerous to continue for long.

It was incredibly hot and humid and I was having a really hard time staying hydrated, as I felt worse and worse I started to question how I was possibly going to make it another 9 days if I felt this bad already.  I turned off the main road and onto the dreaded gravel path that went for about 20 miles under some power lines which offered not a single ounce of shade.  The path was sunken in a stagnate, bowl of trees and weeds which was unbearably hot with no breeze or shade of any kind.  I baked out there for an hour and finally when I couldn’t possibly take any more the path ended and I turned off onto a paved road.

Beautiful scenery to start the day riding along the lake

It was here that I realized that I had also forgotten a few miscellaneous items of varying importance at home… not least of which was my wallet!!!  Knowing I had no money for water, food, or even a train ticket should I need it was concerning.  I left a message for Heather to stop back at the house and pick up a few things in addition to the wallet.   The additional items I had her bring were: Magazines, a spare Garmin computer mount, spare bike, and leftover spaghetti from the night before.  Why in God’s name I chose those items I will never know.  Looking back on it but I think the heat was doing something to the circuit board in my head.

Just outside Milwaukee I totally agreed with the sign.

Surprisingly, when I turned off the road I ran into the exact same gas station where I had stopped last year when I felt equally horrible and needed a break.  It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert.  I knew I was getting close and after another hour of pedaling I entered the outskirts of Milwaukee.  I started seeing motorcycles everywhere and as I got into the downtown I realized why I hadn’t been able to find a hotel room for the night.  It was the 110^th Harley Davidson Rally in downtown Milwaukee.  There were bikes everywhere.  Roads were shut down and there were people literally walking out in the streets.  I weaved through it all and made my way through the ruckus north to the bike path that would take me to White Lake and the end of Day 1. 

Downtown Milwaukee bikers rally

Clouds rolling in over the Milwaukee skyline

Since I couldn’t find a hotel room I used a website called Airbnb to find a place to stay.  People rent rooms of their house for dirt cheap and I had found a place for only $40 a night.  It was a gamble but the place looked nice and with no other options I took it.  Dark clouds were moving in as it became late in the day and it was drizzling when I arrived at the quaint residential house in the northern suburbs of Milwaukee.  Sami was the host and she greeted me happily as I knocked on the door.  She showed me to my room which was really nice and we stowed the bike in the garage.  I was so dehydrated that I started chugging water and immediately took a cold shower to cool down.   I lay down for an hour to rest before going out to attend to the bike and proceeded to chug five bottles of water.

Very glad to be done with Day 1.  In front of my Airbnb rest stop.

After a while I felt a little better and I went out to oil the chain and check on the bike.  It was then that I found the rear rack had nearly fallen off during the day.  The metal piece, clamping the rack to the saddle rails, had bent and fallen loose from the saddle.  I took it apart using a Leatherman tool I had stashed in my bag and using the butt end of an axe I found in the garage hammered it flat and put it all back together.  It seemed to work for now but I’d have to keep an eye on it.  This was a critical piece of gear and if it failed I would be totally sunk.

Bent piece (Silver) on my rear rack

Heather arrived later in the evening and we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I was sore and tired from a long first day and in the back of my mind wondered how I was possibly going to make it another 9 days.  I had to keep telling myself to take it one day at a time.  Don’t look any further than today, just concentrate the road that is directly in front of you.