Lazy git...

Well my intentions were good...I managed one blog...and slept on and off. Some solitaire may have been involved. I had a pleasant meal in the evening with Michael and a friend of his. Sunday morning I slept very late and met Michael for a parting brunch at a cafe near the motorway. He ordered a gyros and I foolishly went with the "Big Mike" breakfast. I thought it was funny. I weighed 65lbs more when I left and flattened the R1's tyres. The weather was good as I rode the I80/90 to South Bend Indiana. There is nothing to write about. I sat stared at cars. You know how you end up picking a "mate" to drive with on these long boring stretches? Some inseen figure in a car that you like the pace and style of? That's all I had to do. I'd hooked up behind a metallic red Chrysler 300 that set a brisk but unobtrusive pace. I stopped for a coffee after beginning to fall asleep again. I was aiming to get the Steve Stroz tour of Chicago on Monday and he had recommended stopping around South Bend Indiana. Done. That night, 264 miles down the road, I hauled myself into a motel, showered, unloaded all my gear and found that the stupid internet was unavailable. Between patchy connectivity and that blasted blocking of outgoing emails from Outlook I was falling far behind. I eventually had to cancel my stay, get all clobbered up again and ride 0.2 of a mile to the cheapest motel in the USA to get good internet. My experience is that the cheapo motels work every time and the 5 star resorts charge up to $12 per day and rarely work well if at all. The biggest opportunity in USA must be to get hotel/motel chains actually working with their wireless!

South Bend may claim Notre Dame as it's pride (not the original in France - this one is pronounced Noder Dame - as in female) but all I noted was the biggest unrepaired cracks in the roads yet seen. I am talking 6" deep and 8" wide gaps running across the roads! I assumed it was a speed limiting device as hitting one of these at 60mph would surely blow a tyre. The more I ride here in the USA the more shocked I am at the poor condition of the roads. I guess the military gets the money first eh?