Canada ride- Part VII

The Mad Dash to Chicago.

Indiana wasn't as bad as I always thought it was. It's a lot like Iowa, but with more trees. We took a route that took us through several large Amish communities and it was nice to see them again. I have a great deal of respect for the Amish. To be able to keep up a tradition and lifestyle like that despite the changes and advancements around them is unbelievable to me. Over the years they have accepted small parts of new technology into their lives (for safety reasons, mostly) but they're still keeping it old school. And as long as you don't gawk, point, take a picture or tease them, they're the nicest people you'll ever meet. They just don't like to be treated like a tourist attraction (which unfortunately, they almost always are). Every time I passed a buggy I gave them a honk and a wave and the old drivers always give a big smile and a friendly wave back.

We continued on Rte. 30 until we reached Hammond (nasty town, never going there again btw), then got onto 94, then 294, then 55 to get to Bolingbrook. That transition from Indiana to Chicago traffic was the most thrilling riding I had gone through yet. I wasn't used to the traffic on a motorcycle (and this was a Friday night at 9:30, mind you) and I was dodging from lane to lane in tight traffic, rolling on the throttle and it was the biggest adrenaline rush ever. I'm usually not that aggressive on a motorcycle, but I had to be. I had a general idea of where I was going, so I wasn't that worried about losing my dad, who was doing the same. When we finally arrived in Bolingbrook and got to a stoplight, he opened his visor and said "THIS IS WHAT I PUT UP WITH EVERY WEEKEND WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE!!". I could tell he was burned out, but I just replied with a "THAT WAS #&@%ING AWESOME!!!" By the time we got to the hotel, I was still pumped from what I just did. For being a high-traffic situation, it was way more fun than going through Denver, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Topeka, Lincoln or Lansing traffic on the bike.


It was about 10pm and we hadn't had dinner yet, and we were craving a Bolingbrook favorite- PaPa's Pizza. We took a route that took me by my old high school, and came to a stoplight with two bikers on my age next to me on crotch rockets; helmetless and shirtless, wearing just shorts and flipflops. (We tend to refer to these guys as "squids"- Without the right gear, that's all you'll look like once you hit the pavement) I could hear one guy go "wtf bikes are those!?" "wait...that one says Suzuki. idk what the other one is, but they're really effing old. let's race 'em"

Knowing our 500cc and 750cc bikes (with all gear unloaded) couldn't race anything compared to their 1000cc+ engines, I watched them laugh and pull out and ride into construction where one of them almost hit a pothole and had to swerve into oncoming traffic. I had the last laugh on that one :) We laughed about again it over my favorite pizza in the world, then took a ride around my childhood neighborhood, which was awkward on a motorcycle. I drive through it in my car all the time, but on a bike it just seemed better.

The next morning we headed out to a Suzuki dealership in Joliet my dad used to frequent, but got lost for about an hour because they apparently moved in the last five years. We finally found it but as soon as we left, we got stuck in the worst downpour we had encountered yet. Stranded with no rain gear besides my rain pants, we hustled towards Romeoville to get back to Bolingbrook, but my bike started to have those infamous issues again. It was really a challenge this time to keep the bike running, but I had already figured out the process to keep it moving, which involved strange gear changes and lots of revving on the engine. (bad for the bike i know, but I had to get out of there)

Back at the hotel, we thought we would have to hire a U-Haul to take it home, but as soon as it dried up the bike was fine again and we left for home. It took us about 5 hours to get home (usually takes 2.5) because of numerous thunderstorms and construction along I-80.

So that was it. It rained about 75 percent of the time, but I had most of my fun outside of Canada. Canada was too cold and the people weren't exactly friendly, but I really enjoyed my time in Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. For the rest of the summer I didn't touch my bike too much because I was exhausted from the travel, and was super busy taking summer courses and prepping for my transfer from community college to a state University. Next summer? Hopefully short distance travel, which will allow for more time and money to be spent on fixing the Honda and Suzuki. Hopefully more camping trips!