Elkhart, Indiana = Suckin' on chili dogs, outside a Tasty Freeze...

Last week I flew into Indianapolis and made a 3 hour drive North to Elkhart, Indiana. First, let me say that Indianapolis has a great airport! It's very tidy and has a variety of restaurants to choose from. Elkhart on the other hand is in dire need of a "touch up". It looks dirty and very run down. The roads are some of the cruelest I've had the displeasure of rolling over. Potholes have spread throughout the area like STD's in a public high school. This was made to feel even worse due to the fact that I was driving a Ford Focus. What a piece of crap!


I had a number of completely unforgetable meals. These were consumed in your typical chain restaurants. Try as I might, I didn't see anything local that looked interesting enough to risk a few bucks on. That's pretty sad considering I'm really not that picky. Were it not for the great people I met with this week I'd say that Elkhart has no redeeming qualities at all. I was very amused that as I was driving around on a couple of occasions, one of the local radio stations played several John Cougar Mellancamp songs, thus providing the perfect theme music for my trip. Mellancamp's songs are custom made for Elkhart. Lame tunes for a lame town.


I wanted to make a side trip to South Bend and check out Notre Dame, but I didn't have the time. I also noticed a sign for the "College Football Hall of Fame" in South Bend. That will be a "must see" on my next trip to the area as well. So at the very least, nearby South Bend has something interesting to see.


Cycling wise, aside from a 20 mile spin a week and a half ago, I haven't been able to ride at all. My back pain is almost completely gone, but now I'm having problems with a sciatic nerve. The pain is excruciating at times. I've been going to a chiropractor for a couple of weeks now and it's helping. But my recovery is hampered by my work travel. The only solace that I have is that the weather's been on the crappy side. I've been following "Paris- Nice" on Podium Cafe. Some of these guys subscribe to cycling tv and do a great job of posting a play by play. David Rebellin won the GC today after one hell of a week of racing! It's to bad Gerolsteiner is pulling its sponsorship at the end of the year.


I'm shocked and depressed to hear that CSC is pulling out as well! These are the fruits of doping in cycling! DOPERS really do SUCK!! I do believe cycling is making great strides to clean itself up. I think ASO not inviting Astana to race is a good idea. I think they're wise to the potential mess they'd be inviting. After reading David Walsh's book "From Lance to Landis", listening to Betsey Andreu's interview on The Competitor's radio show, and various other things, I wouldn't trust anything coming out of the U.S. Postal/ Discovery Channel program.