Riding With DonCon is a Trip

(separated at birth?)

Besides being very generous with his music and biking knowledge/experience (not only does he bike 30 miles a day, he worked as a bike mechanic for a year) he is one very funny dude. I lost track of how many muscles I pulled laughing at 'The Three M's of Bike Touring' as told by John Lee Hooker.

Two days ago we cruised into La Porte to give a talk and play some music at the Temple News Agency (right next to Republican party headquarters). Brian (a.k.a. the new Mr. Schwinn for all the history of the bike he gave us) rode us into town and kept us from getting lost - again. Not that Brian has kept us from getting lost in the past, it's just that I have a gyroscope for an internal compass. We met a number of local folks and they were very impressed with Don's playing. Thanks to Kim for putting it together. I did have the best root beer float of the trip served up by Mike with great attention to detail. From there we made our way to South Bend and were hosted by the Catholic Workers there. A great dinner and warm hospitality were just what we needed. They are doing remarkable work with the local community and could use some support. You can email them at brennacussen@yahoo.com to find out the best way to lend a hand.

Yesterday featured the best picture I've never taken - about sixteen Mennonite teenagers playing volleyball in front of an idylic farm setting. As we were riding we got into a race with a one horsepower buggy and managed to outrun him. We camped near Lake Lewis on the Indiana (my new favorite state) border and Elle still served up another dinner that couldn't be beat while Alice was on about a 50 degree pitch.

Today was the best ride yet with perfect weather, no traffic, good roads (read: flat with smooth pavement) through some gorgeous farm country. It's wonderful to pedal through areas where there are truly family farms, the cows don't have plastic tags in their ears and the nearest McDonalds is a century away. Other than trying to avoid the road apples left behind by the buggy horses I can't think of a better area to bike. We had a rest stop in Montpelier, OH, where they have the best tasting water in the world. Not having tasted all the water in the world I can't argue. In West Liberty people remember the GPM well, but noted that the farmer that provided the campsite had passed away.

The day ended in Toledo where we handed Don off to his friend Tarek (a geography professor at the University of Michigan), but not before he introduced us to the 'best Lebanese restaurant in the world' - the Beirut. A wonderful dinner with some kick-ass baba ghannouj and some ara-yes (made with kafta, of course). We wish Dr. J a lot of luck keeping Mr. Conoscenti away from any and all of the genus capra on the lower peninsula.