To see the day's Map and Elevation Graph look here: Cycling map and data link (hover on 'Map' button in the upper left corner and click on Terrain).
We start riding at 9:10am CDT and it's a very sunny day with a light wind out of the east. We head east out of Mishawaka on the first of many long straight roads. The roads today are better than yesterday, which is a welcome sight. We take a couple of long straight roads to the city of Elkhart. Here we take a quick tour of their main street and a nice park by the river. We notice that the name of the newspaper here is The Elkhart Truth, and wonder if they also do fake news.
An Elkhart Elk in City Center Park
We leave Elkhart on roads designated as the Quaker Trace Trail that follows the Saint Joseph River.
Saint Joseph River on east side of Elkhart
It's a little disappointing that there are so few views of the river. All of the river front is private property.
Since it follows the river, the Quaker Trace Trail is not a straight line but it is smooth. Also, because of the river, these roads don't have many intersections. This makes for some easy fun riding. The Quaker Trace Trail is a work-in-progress and will eventually be a completed bike/multi-use trail from Elkhart to Bristol to Middlebury.
Eventually we come to the town of Middlebury and stop by the Krider Worlds Fair Garden for a break. The gardens were originally designed for display in the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair.
The Quilt Garden
Toadstool Sculpture
We decide to have lunch in Middlebury too. There is a bicycle shop nearby that has an interesting mural.
Bicycle Mural
This mural on a bike shop wall is by the Pumpkin Vine Trail that we ride from Middlebury to Shipsewana. The proposed Quaker Trace Trail will eventually link up to the Pumpkin Vine. We see several other riders enjoying this trail as we ride the 7 miles of pavement to Shipsewana. This is Amish country and we see several Amish buggies and some Amish people riding bicycles, There are also the telltale signs of horse droppings on the road. We even see an Amish bike shop. Personal observation is that the bicycle riders we see look fit and trim while the others look overweight.
Amish Woman on a Bike pulling her child in a bike trailer
See how fit and trim she looks riding along and saying hello to me.
From this point on the vast majority of the miles we ride are on straight flat roads. There is mostly very little traffic and not that many intersections either.
We stop in Mongo for some Gatorade and talk to the guy running the convenience store. He tells us that the sandy soil in this area is due to the Mongo River. He also tells us that in nearby Ohio the soil is clay and this has been a major problem for farmers as all the rain prevented them from planting fields. The next part of the ride travels through the 12,000-acre Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area and farm country.
Straight flat road that goes for miles
The last stretch is on US 20 which has some gradual hills and a nice wide shoulder. The biggest problem with riding on a highway like this is all the debris that collects on the shoulder. It's also a busy noisy road but gets us to our destination around 5:45pm EDT.
We don't mention the places we stay because they're typically standard and uninteresting hotels. However tonight we stay at the University Inn Hotel in Angola. It's a far more interesting place, but for the wrong reasons. We picked this place because there is a restaurant nearby and it's on our route. The others are either farther away or there is no good food within walking distance.
The motel office is closed on Tuesdays. However, it appears there are people renting by the week or month. They give you a real metal key that seems insecure because you can get copies made, and it has a plastic dongle with the room number on it. Although Jim stayed here 4 years ago with his bike, they tell us bikes are not allowed in the rooms. I manage to get an exception to this rule by explaining that our bikes are way too valuable (especially Jim's) and we did not bring a lock that is secure enough to be used overnight. The room is spartan: no hangers, unusable Wifi, cigarette burns in numerous places, no clock, and the motel office closes at 8:00pm, and there is no ice machine. The entire place is left unsupervised from 8:00pm at night until the next morning. I guess it is interesting and worked for the night, but never again.