We rode through Indianapolis in the hot, hot heat and humidity.
We made it through 30 miles of I-74 frontage road, corn fields, new housing developments, and rail trails to get to a bike shop where Jim bought a new saddle. He now has a Brooks C17 Cambium, which is identical to Max's.
The rail trail was the Pennsy, which runs east-west straight to the center of Indianapolis. I felt right at home on it.
Planets! ROFL.
Just down the street was this yummy Italian beef/hot dog stand.
It was great. Jim had his first Italian beef sandwich.
We left Indianapolis on the Monon Rail Trail, which goes north for about 20 miles. After lunch it was oppressively hot and humid. The heat index was over 100.
We went through the crazy town of Carmel, which is a city of 100,000 that basically looks like it was all corn fields 5 years ago. It's like they built 3 downtown Columbias at once. Except in Carmel, they built new schools to go with the houses.
We left Indianapolis on the Monon Rail Trail, which goes north for about 20 miles. After lunch it was oppressively hot and humid. The heat index was over 100.
We went through the crazy town of Carmel, which is a city of 100,000 that basically looks like it was all corn fields 5 years ago. It's like they built 3 downtown Columbias at once. Except in Carmel, they built new schools to go with the houses.
Since Jim had thwarted the bike gods with his nice new saddle, they shifted their wrath back to Max, who got another flat tire a half mile from our hotel. I had him ride the flat to the hotel, because I really wanted to fix it in an air conditioned room in the Baymont Inn, and not on the side of the road in 100 degree heat.
Which is what I did. I also installed the new spare tire he'd been carrying, along with the new tube. I hope this will foil the evil Bike Gods for good.
It was laundry day at the Baymont, which turned into an entertaining circus. I went to the front desk to get some quarters for the washing machine and dryer and soap. The super nice manager said they didn't have any quarters, because the bank guy had not arrived yet today, but they most definitely should be able to give me quarters because guests can get quarters at the desk just like the sign in the laundry room says. And also, she has been the manager for two days now.
So she started rooting through her purse for quarters, and had everyone else working there root through their purses too. This produced 6 quarters, which got the washer going. She gave me some detergent for free from the maintenance room.
As the wash ran, she decided to get the rest of the quarters I need for the dryer by taking the ones out of the washer. Guaranteed to be at least 6 in there! But she doesn't know which keys open the washer, so she comes to the laundry room with a giant chain of unlabelled keys and starts trying them all.
We had a nice talk. She just became the manager after working at the front desk for a month or so, which was her first job returning to the workforce after staying home with her kids for 8 years. She said she was enjoying her motel manager job, and she really needed adult conversation. I told her how I've observed that most of the low end hotels now are full of homeless people. She said that's true and they've avoided that at the Baymont because it's a bit off the beaten path, and the surrounding area is very affluent. But sometimes the police show up with a homeless person, and register them and pay for the room, and what are you gonna do? (Apparently you're gonna have the police come back and evict them a few days later, because just after our conversation, about 5 police show up and throw some dude out.)
None of the keys worked. And the wash was done. I had an idea that maybe I could buy something from the vending machines and get the rest of the quarters I needed for the dryer. Also, I told her that all our clothes except the bike kit I'm wearing are in the dryer, so we can't go out to eat until the clothes are dry, and Jim is sitting around in his room upstairs in his boxers. She laughed and said I was rubbing it in, and she sent the other person working the front desk to the gas station across the street to get more quarters.
We had dinner at a sushi place across the street that also had Chinese food on the menu. It totally hit the spot.
Here is the Strava track.
Which is what I did. I also installed the new spare tire he'd been carrying, along with the new tube. I hope this will foil the evil Bike Gods for good.
It was laundry day at the Baymont, which turned into an entertaining circus. I went to the front desk to get some quarters for the washing machine and dryer and soap. The super nice manager said they didn't have any quarters, because the bank guy had not arrived yet today, but they most definitely should be able to give me quarters because guests can get quarters at the desk just like the sign in the laundry room says. And also, she has been the manager for two days now.
So she started rooting through her purse for quarters, and had everyone else working there root through their purses too. This produced 6 quarters, which got the washer going. She gave me some detergent for free from the maintenance room.
As the wash ran, she decided to get the rest of the quarters I need for the dryer by taking the ones out of the washer. Guaranteed to be at least 6 in there! But she doesn't know which keys open the washer, so she comes to the laundry room with a giant chain of unlabelled keys and starts trying them all.
We had a nice talk. She just became the manager after working at the front desk for a month or so, which was her first job returning to the workforce after staying home with her kids for 8 years. She said she was enjoying her motel manager job, and she really needed adult conversation. I told her how I've observed that most of the low end hotels now are full of homeless people. She said that's true and they've avoided that at the Baymont because it's a bit off the beaten path, and the surrounding area is very affluent. But sometimes the police show up with a homeless person, and register them and pay for the room, and what are you gonna do? (Apparently you're gonna have the police come back and evict them a few days later, because just after our conversation, about 5 police show up and throw some dude out.)
None of the keys worked. And the wash was done. I had an idea that maybe I could buy something from the vending machines and get the rest of the quarters I needed for the dryer. Also, I told her that all our clothes except the bike kit I'm wearing are in the dryer, so we can't go out to eat until the clothes are dry, and Jim is sitting around in his room upstairs in his boxers. She laughed and said I was rubbing it in, and she sent the other person working the front desk to the gas station across the street to get more quarters.
We had dinner at a sushi place across the street that also had Chinese food on the menu. It totally hit the spot.
Here is the Strava track.
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