"Ditka vs. God?"

"Trick question - Ditka is God" - from SNL skit. (thanks to Elle for spot-on recreation)

Had the best ride of the trip so far going from Chicago to the Indiana Sand Dunes state park (yes, there are sand dunes in Indiana). First, it was a special event in Evanston not just because Don Conoscenti did such a great job with his music, but because it was a treat to spend some time with Jeff and Dori and their two beautiful children. Jeff joined the GPM in Philly after meeting with some marchers who volunteered on an election campaign he was working on. The event was a fundraiser to benefit the Nuclear Energy Information Service and Jeff spoke briefly about the organization and also about the 'orb' in his living room. The ball changes color based on the cost of electricity (higher cost during higher use times), so the idea is that people will notice the color and adjust their energy use behavior (do laundry/cook meals when the color indicates a lower use time). It was pretty cool. The kids enjoyed hanging out in and on Alice (remember Alice?) and whipped my butt at several rounds of go fish.

The ride into and out of Chicago was on the Lakefront Trail - a 20 mile stretch along Lake Michigan, ably assisted through a construction area by Cathy the Chicago Flagger. Don and I were joined by Paul (who has the coolest job in the world working at the Art Institute of Chicago) for the length of the trail. Chicago was rated the most bike-friendly city in the country (for its size) and it's easy to see why after spending a short time there. They really put their money where there mouth is when it comes to encouraging people to use bikes rather that cars around town.

Once we reached the end of that trail, Tracy picked us up and rode us along the Burnham Greenway and then navigated a series of bike paths in Indiana the rest of the way to the campground. Without his help it would have been impossible to link all the paths together and could have a pretty miserable ride through a heavy industrial area. We had a nice break at his brother Tim's house and we got to ride the Monkey Bike. Tracy [master electrician who has wired, among other things, the Northern Lights and Chicago] used to bike all the time on "wedgie bikes", but now swears by his recumbent. He could even outrace Don on a downhill. These are the trails we rode on:

http://www.geocities.com/huffmun/Region_Bike_Map_5.gif
http://www.indianatrails.org/Lakes_area.htm
http://members.csinet.net/lambc/NWI%20Trails%202.htm

The highlight of the ride had to have been coming across a couple of municipal workers in Gary who were drag racing their mower/tractors through one of the bike tunnels. You just never know what you're going to see...

Today there will be an afternoon event at the Temple News Agency in La Porte and then we will be hosted by the Catholic Workers in South Bend.