Day 2 - Kenosha, WI to Evanston, Illinois

Day 2
October 5, 2016
48 miles today
954 feet of climbing today
1 great hour of pie eating
(99 miles, cumulative)
(2267 feet of climbing, cumulative)


We continued to enjoy dedicated bike paths through very scenic surroundings:

A bit farther south, some were hard packed fine gravel, and the rolling resistance was not much worse than on regular pavement, much to our delight:

The paths often followed existing rail lines and ran through small towns. Here we stopped at a still-functioning train station for a break:

Here's another view with the train station behind:

A couple of close-ups of the bike...

Here is the front, with our food box sitting on the front rack that also supports two panniers:

Here is the rear, with a soft-sided "trunk" that sits on the rack. The safety triangle with the flasher mounted on top of it is attached to a water bottle that slips into a sleeve on the trunk:

A few days later we weighed everything with a digital baggage scale we borrowed from the motel. Hopefully you can read the weights of each item when the photo is at max size. If not, the bottom line is that we had 78.8 lbs of stuff:

We rode through several neighbourhoods of large homes. Here is just one example:

A bike path took us through the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston. Chicago was visible in the distance:

Upon reaching Evanston we stayed at the Homestead Hotel which apparently has been there over one hundred years. (We were asked to lock the bike on the staff bike rack, and assured that no bike had been stolen from the hotel in one hundred years.) The rooms had antiques:

Our nephew Ian once lived in Chicago and knew about a good place to eat in Evanston: the Hoosier Mama Pie Company. Here we are enjoying savoury pies:

Followed by a shared "flight" of dessert pies:

Jean had craned her neck to watch the excellent chicken pot pies being made, and the owner, Craig, came over to talk to her:

Craig's wife Paula was the one who started the restaurant. She used to be the pastry chef at the restaurant in the Homestead Hotel where we were staying. Jean made sure to thank her for the great food. Craig and Paula have twin eight year olds who were with them that evening, too.