First off, my apologies for the delays on the blog posts. Been getting lackadaisical with it. The next few will be a few days combined and probably be slightly less detailed, but once I catch up I'll start doing the daily ones again. Just for your own time perspective as you read, the dates of the rides can be seen in the stats screenshots.
Day 23 Rest Day
Day 23 was spent exploring parts of Chicago. In the morning I went and rode more of the Lakefront Trail while Owen and Tom went to bike shops to get their bikes fixed. Tom was getting spokes replaced and Owen was finding new replacement tires for his bike.
We met up later in the day to get some famous deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. It tasted pretty good I won't lie. But $40 for a pie that was smaller than a regular large pie in New Jersey – I'm just not sure the value was there. Aside from that though, it was delicious.
We went and saw a few touristy locations and finished the day off by attending the Cubs and Phillies game at Wrigley Field. It was a fun game to watch as the Cubs beat the Phillies 8-3. With almost 30,000 fans cheering as the Cubs scored 3 insurance runs during the bottom of the 6th, there was a lot of energy to be felt in the stadium. Some, I won't say who, may say it is wasted energy though, as it was only for the NL Central fourth-place Cubs. Was all very cool to experience regardless of what place they're in.
Here's the mandatory bean picture:
I also got a pretty cool picture of the city during my morning ride.
Day 24 Leaving Chicago
Not much happened on Day 24. We departed from Chicago to begin our quick two-day trek to Milwaukee. From Chicago to Milwaukee was almost 100 miles so we planned to do about 60 or 70 miles the first day which would leave us with a short day rolling into Milwaukee. We stopped at a Chinese buffet on our way to the campground. We stayed in Racine, Wisconsin. Our 5th state border crossed. Still no picture next to a state sign. We'll get it one of these days, we promise.
Stats for the day:
Day 25 Arriving in Milwaukee
We arrived in Milwaukee at around 11 AM. Our host Evan told us to meet him at Vulture Space, a bike shop in Milwaukee. Turns out it's Evan's bike shop. And it's not a normal bike shop, it's a do-it-yourself bike shop. If someone needs their bike fixed, they'll go to Vulture Space and Evan will help diagnose the issue and instruct them on how to fix it. He'll give them a work space and tell them where the necessary tools are located in the store to do the job. After that, it's up to them to fix the bike. Evan and others working in the store are always around if any customers have any questions or need help with anything.
I asked Evan what led him to start a DIY bike shop, and I picked up on two main reasons. One, Evan worked in a DIY bike shop in New Orleans for a few years prior, which is where he learned most of what he knows about how to fix bikes. Secondly, he explained how giving people the opportunity to fix their own bikes is empowering and useful for them. He seemed to really enjoy the fact that not only are people leaving his shop with fully functioning bikes, but also with new knowledge about their bikes and practical mechanical skills they didn't have before walking into his store.
I can speak to the truth of how powerful this is. I went in there and did a whole new brake job on my bike. I removed and replaced the cables and housing for both my front and back brakes. I also installed new brake pads. I did just about the entire job myself, with Evan helping a few times throughout the process whenever I'd get stuck. Before entering the store the most I could tell you about brakes is how to undo them in order to take off a tire. Now I know how to do an entire brake job. And it certainly feels empowering.
Although my bike is just an object, it's sort of been my home for the past 4 weeks. And will continue to be my home for the near future. Being able to work on my home and fix it myself feels satisfying to say the least. Not to mention, my brakes work perfectly now and are much safer and secure as I ride.
I forgot to mention: Evan also has a beautiful dog Moní (not sure if I'm spelling that correctly but it's pronounced Moe-Knee with emphasis on the "knee"). She is a wonderful assistant over at the bike shop. She is a rare Mexican breed that has been around since the time of the Aztecs!
After the bike shop, we got some food in the city and explored a bit.
Stats for the day:
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