2002-09-24

Chicago, Illinois

It's terrific to see my Globerider buddies again! The photo shows Rick Wetzel (in the GS t-shirt) and John Shelton yesterday evening.

I rode 570 miles from Lincoln, Nebraska to John's hometown of Waukegan, Illinois on the north side of Chicago. John was the rider on the Globeriders trip who broke his neck in an accident on the second-to-last day of riding. He's doing fine, it was just a small fracture, and he's back on a bike and riding again. Rick Wetzel, my roommate from the Globeriders trip, is visiting John too. The Globeriders trip ended over two months ago and Rick hasn't even been home yet. He toured Europe alone for a few weeks and then flew to Montreal where he headed to New York to visit friends. Now he is gradually working his way west towards his home, and extraordinarily understanding wife, in Oregon.

Rick asked me why I took I-80 because there isn't much to see from the highway but I had to make good time if I wanted to catch up with them in Chicago. I did see at least one funny billboard along the way. It advertised the services of a local dog kennel: boarding and a pet cemetery.

Hey, there really is a town called Sleepy Hollow! I rode through it last night under a bright moon. The sign at the edge of town says, "Sleepy Hollow, population 3,600." I was tempted to mark out the 3,600 and replace it with 3,599.

I arrived in Waukegan exactly twelve hours after leaving Lincoln. Averaging 47.5 mph, including stops, is a good pace for the KLR.

John promised to take us to see "the house." We asked him what exactly is "the house" but he refused to explain it. He said we just had to see "the house." He was right. "The house" is a pyramid, complete with statues, hieroglyphics and even a fake palm tree! Amazing.