It was an amazing day for a ride. It was 77deg with a 9 mph South wind and 54% humidity for the ride. I missed out on the group ride leaving from my LBS GoodSpeed Cycles at 7am so I decided on a ride leaving at about 10am heading East from Homewood into Indiana. At the last moment I decided to make this a long ride and set the destination to Chesterton, Indiana which makes for a 72 mile round trip. There were primarily 3 trails ridden Prairie Duneland Trail, Oak Savannah Trail and Erie Lackwanna Trail.
The first 1/3 of the ride was primarily streets and the remainder was nicely paved trails. There was a dangerous spot on Main St. in Indiana. Basically there was no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic. There were several times drivers were within 2 feet of me cycling. I will try to find an alternate route but this is the most direct. The latter portion of the route including the Prairie Duneland Trail and Oak Savannah Trail included trees reaching high over the trail to provide an amazing canopy to ride under in spots. The Oak Savannah Trail lead into tunnels under busy streets. Bathrooms and water fountains were sprinkled along the Prairie Duneland Trail between Hobart and Chesterton, IN.
A the end of the Prairie Duneland Trail in Chesterton about 1 block East is a gas station where I purchased a gallon of cold water to refill my bottles and hydrate myself for the ride back. The gas station was also a fully stocked convenience store including a Godfathers Pizza in the corner.
I ended up taking a minor detour between Griffith and Hobart that proved to be interesting and not planned. Basically I took a wrong turn and ended up passing through part of Gary, In. Not too bad on a Sunday afternoon but I would not suggest this route. Stick to the path. Things get interesting quickly.
I did not ride alone. A new riding buddy joined me and made the trip more enjoyable. The pace was easy as I did not know what to expect. In the future I will feel comfortable picking up the pace on this trip now knowing there is food and water readily available at the end of the trail in Chesterton.
This route is part of a longer route I am exploring to eventually work up to a 110 mile round trip from Homewood, Il to New Buffalo, Mi. this summer.
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