Day 17, Wednesday, May 7

Osgood, Indiana to North Vernon, Indiana

We had a relatively short day today, for a couple of reasons. I originally thought we would have zero days every so often, maybe once a week. But I think our bodies have adjusted to the grind so that a short day of 20 to 30 miles is easy enough, and making some progress is better than none.

The other reason for the short day was the lack of cheap places to stay in Indiana. There seem to be few Warm Showers hosts along our route, and no camping close to the route. Even cheap hotels are lacking. So when I found a county park with a campground 30 miles from Osgood and less than two miles off route, it seemed like a sign to take an easy day. We had biked 500 miles over nine consecutive days and felt we deserved a break.

We left Conrad's house around 7 AM. His shift started at 6, and when I asked if he needed to be on patrol he said they have a lot of flexibility, and besides, "I'm helping citizens." Which was true enough.

Unlike yesterday, the roads were much better. We were now following county roads, and those do not have nearly as much traffic as state roads. They do not typically have shoulders, but with so little traffic and such great sight lines, I felt safe enough.

This part of Indiana is full of rolling hills. Even though we ended the day at a lower elevation, we still had almost 1500 vertical feet of climbing. 

Unfortunately we did have to take over detour that cost us a few miles because the state of building a be bridge. I suppose it could have been worse. 

We got to North Vernon well before noon. John had to take a meeting so we were at a coffee shop for a while before we headed to the park. We set up camp, unloaded the bikes and went back into town for laundry, ice cream and dinner. I have so say, short days are quite nice.