8/8-After all, She is a Fish!

And fish do like to swim! I think I caught up to some of the effects of all the recent rain today. I first rode back to the Duneland Trail, to take that to Porter. 

Then to the Lakeshore Trail

This was train number 2 I had to wait for

There was a running event where I got on the Lakeshore Trail. Fortunately, it seemed to be winding down.

The Lakeshore Trail wasn’t very long (or I wasn’t on it for very long). Next I picked up the Calumet Trail. This trail can take you to Indiana Dunes State Park, as well as Duneland Campground. 

That trail goes to the State Park and beach

Direction arrows

The Calumet Trail is gravel.

I was to follow the Calumet for about 5 miles. It started out okay. 

Nice double track

Pretty flowers

But then, puddles started appearing. No problem! Wanda rode through them like the fish she is! 

Yep, rode through all of that. 

Then it became more like lakes. I had been doing good, pedaling slowly to keep my feet dry. But then it got deeper. I was still riding, but now the pedals were splooshing through the water. Feet soaked now!

So much water!

It became too deep to ride. Now we were trudging through the long stretches of water. Some were up to almost my knees. There were tadpoles galore! At one point, I swear I saw a small fish! 

There was no way to get off the trail, and I was already half way through.

I was able to ride brief bits of dry stuff, but then it would be a long stretch of water again. 

Finally I came to a road crossing at Beverly Shores. I knew I could take that road around and hook back up with the route on the Lakeshore Road. Amazingly, Wanda was still shifting fine. Her brakes were a little screamy. When I came up to the beach parking and access, I had to brake because people were walking to the beach. They all kept looking at me. I said I was sorry for the noise, but the brakes were soaking wet. 

There it is, Lake Michigan!

I got a little bit longer ride along the lake than if I’d stayed on the route. 

Another beach access

The historic glass house

Meow meow crossing!

The route turned south away from the lake. Before too long, I was back out in the countryside. 

It was a nice tailwind here!

Big rooster!

I met a couple on e-bikes out for a ride. Their names were John and Rhonda. They were riding the same brand of e-bikes as Ken and Vivian. I told them how my friends were also riding Velotrics, and they were riding them across the country too! They were suitably amazed. They turned off, and I continued south. 

Except for one 10 mile straight road, the route made enough turns to keep it interesting. Coming into Westville, there was even a bit of a bike path!

It was only 1.75 miles long, but it was nice. It took me into town, where I stopped at McDonalds for some lunch. 

Back on the road, I was soon out amongst the corn and soybeans again.

In case you forgot what the corn looks like.

The big difference between Indiana and Iowa is that in Iowa, these roads would all be gravel. Here I just had one .9 mile section of gravel. 

Weird thing…when I hit the gravel, I went to shift into an easier gear. It didn’t shift. Tried a harder gear…still didn’t shift. I thought, uh oh, water must have killed the derailleur battery.

At the end of the gravel, I stopped and checked the battery level on the SRAM Axis app on my phone. It said the battery was good (so were the shifter batteries). I took the battery out, then put it back in. Got on, started pedaling, shifted, and…it shifted just fine! Who knows what that was all about! 

I continued making my way to North Judson.

Interesting…garden?

Corncobs in a corn crib!

I was just about a half mile from North Judson when I saw this bike path. It looked new, and wasn’t on the route. I figured it went into town, so I hopped on. 

It did come into town by the railroad museum. 

Since I was staying in the only motel in town, I Google mapped my way there. It’s the Oak View Inn. Doesn’t get the greatest reviews, but it’s the only game in town. No camping option. Bikes aren’t allowed in the rooms. Wanda is parked under cover at least. I have to lube her chain after her swim today anyway. Seems like most everyone has also stayed here. Tomorrow I think I go to Peru, IN (second Peru of the trip).