Today will bring the longest leg of our Journey – destination Sandusky Ohio approximately 350 miles east / northeast of Chicago. As we assess the situation, although the storms are spotty to the east as well as to the west of us and it is pretty windy we decided to make a run for it.
Now comes the fun part – trying to fit all of our stuff in three hard cases. Not as much room as we expected to have so bought a waterproof duffle to bungee over the back and that seems to solve the luggage problem. As you can see by the time we pack up the clouds disappear and it turns out to be a really windy, but really nice day.
First waypoint is Nappanee, Indiana by noon. We decide to immediately get on the interstate to make some better time to get ahead of the storms to the west of us. We discovered yesterday that the bike if very comfortable at 60-70mph due to the front fairing so a hour or so on the interstate shouldn’t be that bad. That is of course if you don’t have 50 mile and hour wind gusts…
As we head out of town the wind is incredible. Passing tractor trailers at 60 mph with potential wind gusts peaking 50mph become a bit of a challenge. So much so at one point as we pass a big rig and just cleared his wind blast and then get broad sided by a 50+mph wind gust that literally pushes us off balance and over into the speed lane. Since I know better than to pass while sandwiched between two vehicles, we had room to recover without incident. But I think I felt my wife’s nails dig into my skin right through my leather jacket after that one.
Now comes the fun part – trying to fit all of our stuff in three hard cases. Not as much room as we expected to have so bought a waterproof duffle to bungee over the back and that seems to solve the luggage problem. As you can see by the time we pack up the clouds disappear and it turns out to be a really windy, but really nice day.
First waypoint is Nappanee, Indiana by noon. We decide to immediately get on the interstate to make some better time to get ahead of the storms to the west of us. We discovered yesterday that the bike if very comfortable at 60-70mph due to the front fairing so a hour or so on the interstate shouldn’t be that bad. That is of course if you don’t have 50 mile and hour wind gusts…
As we head out of town the wind is incredible. Passing tractor trailers at 60 mph with potential wind gusts peaking 50mph become a bit of a challenge. So much so at one point as we pass a big rig and just cleared his wind blast and then get broad sided by a 50+mph wind gust that literally pushes us off balance and over into the speed lane. Since I know better than to pass while sandwiched between two vehicles, we had room to recover without incident. But I think I felt my wife’s nails dig into my skin right through my leather jacket after that one.
After finally getting back on Route 6 we make our first stop in Nappanee, IN. Not a very large town (like don’t blink or you’ll miss it) but interesting enough do to it’s Amish influences. 
Quite a few ZZ Top looking guys running around on bicycles as well as the traditional black horse drawn carriages double parked at the grocery stores.
After a lunch break at a rather homely Big Pappa C’s pizza joint we head on to our next waypoint - Napolean, IN
In route we stop for some Kodak moments along the way. One of which was these really huge power producing windmills in Bowling Green, Ohio.
With the high winds blowing through the corn fields at warp speed, these suckers are really spinning fast but they are eerily quiet. The pictures don’t do justice to the size of these ominous machines
We ultimately arrive in Sandusky, OH as dusk sets in. After a quick check in we head over to Manny’s sports bar across the street. With a bar full of Indians fans, you don’t admit that you live a few hours from Boston even if we aren’t big sports fans. This place was bonkers for the tribe so we kept a low profile and enjoyed a few beers and good food.
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