Day 2, June 25, 2008. Whew, what a day. It started just fine; we got up, packed the tents and bikes, and got on the road about 8:30am. Stopped for breakfast and gas a few miles up I-65, and all was well.
Rode almost to Layfayette, IN, and traffic stopped. And stopped. And stopped. The northbound lanes were closed, and we were backed up for over 2 miles. It was not hot, thank goodness, but the bikes were hot.
After about 45 minutes of delays, we were able to get off into Layfayette. Thought we were over the traffic jam, but then got right back into another. The traffic was routed straight through town, and it was backed up as well. Inch forward a few feet and stop. For probably another 30 minutes.
The RT got really hot; at a couple of times, the warning light came on, saying the oil pressure was low. I think it got so hot that the oil got thin and at idle had low pressure. I knew it had plenty of oil, so I knew that was not the problem.
We decided to do something so we could roll, so we found a road to the east and took it for about 5 miles. Then county roads going north. Then back to the west to get back on I-65. Probably rode an extra 25 miles and wasted over an hour.
After a few miles, it started to rain. So, we stopped and put on rain stuff. Of course, the rain promptly stopped! Oh well, that's the way it works.
Learned a few minutes later that I-65 was closed just south of Chicago. So, we figured we'd miss that jam and ride around it. Actually we did, and that detour worked great.
However in the middle of Chicago, where there were 7 lanes of northbound traffic, it ground to a stop again! About 45 minutes lost to slow traffic there. It rolled most of the time, but at a high speed of 5-10 mph.
All in all, I'd estimate we spent about 2 hours delayed by traffic jams.
Finally, traffic opened up and we put the pedal to the metal. Not really; no pedal, but we did twist the throttle as far as was safe. Finally we rolled into Wisconsin, and the roads and traffic was much better.
I like Wisconsin. Green rolling hills. Lots of lakes. Good roads. Unlike Illinois!
We rode until almost dusk and stopped at Black River Crossing for the night. Decision was made to motel it due to it being so late and still so much to do (laundry, dinner, daily walk, blog, etc.)
No pics tonight; too tired to do it. Hopefully can post a pic or two tomorrow.
Tomorrow, on to Duluth, MN for the Aerostich Warehouse to spend some money.
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