Update #23 - June 25, 2005
Bellville, OH - 7571.8 miles (12,114.8 kms.)

I had a good ride from Illinois to Bellville, OH. At least, I didn't have to ride through any rain. It was really good to finally get out of my rain gear.

I was amazed at how kind a lot of people were to me. One of the biggest examples of this were the firemen that I met in Valparaiso, IN. It was on a Sunday afternoon when I got into town. For the past day or so, I had been nursing a bad front wheel. Somehow, the right brake pad got out of alignment and it bumped the rim. This bumping caused the rim to crack open. The crack was really big when I got into town. It was really lucky that the crack didn't cause the tube to explode. I had traveled about 80 miles on the wheel. To do this, I had to fully disconnect the front brake.

There was no way that I would leave town without getting a new front wheel. There were several bike shops in town but they were not open on a Sunday afternoon. I went to the police station to see if they could help me connect with a local minister. I needed to find a place to stay for the rest of the day so that I could get to the bike shop in the morning.

I didn't get any help at the police station. A block or two away from the police station was the fire station. I thought I would stop there to see if they had a minister as their chaplain. It turns out that this was a good decision.

One of the firemen's father was the owner of one of the local bike shops. He went over to the bike shop to see if they had a wheel that I could use. The other firemen invited me into the station so that I could get out of the heat. One of the firemen slipped me $20. The fireman who went to the bike shop came back with a wheel that had a solid axle. He only charged me $10 for the wheel.

From Valparaiso, I had a good ride to Ft. Wayne. I spent two good nights with a friend who I hadn't seen in three years. It was a good two day ride to Bellville, OH. I'm spending a few days off the road with a minister friend and his family.

From Bellville, I'll be taking a NE route to Erie, PA and then following Lake Erie to Buffalo, NY. In NY, I will be riding along the St. Lawrence Seaway to St. Albans, VT.

I'll try and post and update as often as I can if my plans change.