UP Bike Tour - Day -2 - More Driving to Winnetka

 I have made it a priority to ride by bike every day, to get into shape. I haven't missed a day since April 1. And just because I'm driving to Chicagoland doesn't mean I'm not going to get my bike ride in.

So I took a ride from lovely Holiday City, Ohio this morning clear to Michigan and back, before taking a shower and checking out of the Rodeway Inn.

Here is what the back roads around Holiday City look like. No traffic whatsoever. It was a beautiful morning.

This road goes to "Jim Town". There is a Jimtown in Delaware, too. My friend Jim and I used to ride across the Eastern Shore to Dewey Beach, and Jim would always take a route that went on Jimtown Road to Jimtown. A few years ago, somebody built a new housing development in Jimtown, and suddenly Jimtown and Jimtown Road vanished from all maps. Turns out Jimtown was a historical Black community.

I'm glad there is a Jim Town in Ohio. Perplexity.ai turns up no references on the origins of Jim Town, Ohio though. Maybe it was an African American community, maybe some guy named Jim lived there.

In Jim Town, Ohio, there is a four-way stop, about six houses, and a peacock!

A bit farther on the way to Michigan is the town of Pioneer, Ohio. It's a nice little town. I'm standing in front of the library, gazing upon the gazebo.

And a couple miles later, I'm in Michigan.

A couple miles after that, I'm back in Ohio, but the road is too insignificant to rate a Welcome to Ohio sign. But you can tell it's the state line because the  pavement changes.

I got a nice 23 mile ride in on a beautiful summer morning. I learned that the area around Holiday City has a bunch of lovely small farms, a big smelly containment hog operation, and some factories next to I-90 for plywood, and giant plastic pipes. There is rail service to the factories.

Here's the Strava page for the ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/15165919893

The rest of the day was driving five more hours through Chicago to my sister Kate's, and eating food.

I had a terrific lunch at The Vine in Elkheart, Indiana, including rhubarb bread pudding with strawberry topping for dessert.

Kate and her husband Brian took me out to this amazing Vietnamese/French restaurant called La Colonial which was astounding. I am very stuffed right now.