The next 500 miles will take me to Chicago. This section, though it doesn't cover the entire Rust Belt, it will take me across Ohio and Indiana and I will stop for my extended rest just past Indiana's border in Chicago. All 500 miles will on farm roads expect the parts where I enter the cities.
I crossed my first state line and entered Pennsylvania. Thought my ride in Pennsylvania was relatively short, I remember the roads being well maintained and having a lot of bicycle signs. The roads and drivers being aware of cyclist instantly changed once I entered Ohio. Ohio was a really bad to cycle through as I spent most of my time on very narrow shoulders or poorly maintained farm roads.
Right outside Cleveland, I noticed one back spoke broken and stopped at Eddy's Bike Shop for a quick service. The guys in there were really nice, they replaced my spoke for free and let me take my lunch inside their break room.
The farm roads in Ohio had a lot of rolling hills which made for a lot of these type of scenes after struggle to climb every hill.
Indian was the best of The Rust Belt. I went through several Amish communities over 60 miles and the farm roads were all horse and buggy.
This was a small segment of trail before entering Chicago. Entering Chicago after 10 days of farm roads felt like a rush. The traffic was so heavy that it took me 3 hours to cycle my last 20 miles.
I stayed three days in Chicago and had a full recovery. Hung out with family and friends and toured the city; which after living in NYC, Chicago felt like The Bronx.
This segment marks approximately 1200 miles of my trip. It took me 19 days including 2 days off. My next segment will be from Chicago to Alexandria, Minnesota, I'll be cycling through Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.