I was interviewed by the Winnetka Talk, who wanted to pursue the fact that William Babcock lived here for the last 20 years of his life, and that his youngest son, Dick, lived nearby in Woodstock.
With the furnace rekindled I was ready to ride again. I had been puzzling at great length about how to get around the obstacle that the city of Chicago presents. One alternative was to take a ferry across Lake Michigan, and although it would fit in nicely with Babcock and Turner's boat ride to Michigan, I decided that it was too far to reach the ferry and it would take me too far afield. My sister-in-law kindly offered to take me some distance into Indiana as she had a business engagement in the small town of Attica. This took me well off the path of the 1896 cyclists, but into an area where I have spotted some curvy roads on the map, and I felt the need to investigate.
I was on the road by 10:30, in yet another state heading in a direction that would not get me directly to Boston, but I wanted to see what kind of bicycling Indiana had to offer, rather than just dash across it. It looks like, if one were a serious scorcher, one could get all the way across this state in a day. I propose to take three or four. In the northern region, there appears to be a dense grid of county (and lesser) roads, most of which are paved, but there is only sketchy indication of them on my map.
A few observations about cycling in these parts. As it has been for most of my trip so far, the predominant crop is still corn. Wherever there is flat terrain, there is corn, and north of Indianapolis, that is everywhere. Further south, the rule still holds, but the hills start to roll and the countryside is interrupted by streams and hollows which makes for very agreeable cycling. There is an abundance of dogs, and although they seem to be less vicious than those I encountered in Wisconsin, I employed the "Enforcer" on several occasions with outstanding effect.
I had lunch in Crawfordsville, which is where Wabash College is located, and dinner in another college town, Greencastle, where I toured the campus of De Pauw. Both places were just about to start their fall semester. I continue to be stunned at how colleges and universities admit younger and younger students every year. Have they no standards?
After their adventures in Chicago, Babcock and Turner were well rested and ready to finish the trip. They are pointing toward the Ariel Cycle Company in Goshen:
We left (Chicago) the next morning at 4 o'clock to avoid the heat of the day, and rode twenty-eight miles to South Bend for breakfast, where we were met by two Mishawaka wheelmen, who came out to escort us into Elkhart and Goshen. At the former place we remained two hours, and took in the Conn musical instrument manufactory. We have made it a rule to see all we can on our trip, and already feel that we know much more of our country than heretofore.
I did 74 miles today, but I am no closer to Boston. I am finding yet more wonderful cycling terrain on my circuitous route.
My legs like it better now that I'm back on the road.
Dennis