I'm sitting in a sports/dive bar in Peotone, Illinois, watching Chicago do badly in pre-season football and just finished my second food entre. I didn't plan to stay in Peotone - 84.78 miles, 5:53 on bike, arriving at 5:25 - but Beecher, ten miles prior, was a big meany town.
The ride today was pretty great. I got out at 7:45ish thanks to the time change back to central time being right at Hamlet. I had a side wind with a slight tailwind and my County Road Roulette sent me 40 miles before I hit a town and took my first break. Since it's my birthday I had a good breakfast meal at a diner and was back on the road by about 12:30. I did another 10 miles to almost the border where I detoured to a truck stop and bought an Illinois map. There I shot another 20 miles-ish to my intended stop town of Beecher - pop bout 5k.
5,000 people 5,000 people about 10 miles south of the beginning of the orange blob on my map that marks the lava sprawl urban area that encomasses Mordor (Chicago) , East Chicago, Mirkwood (Gary), and all the crap surrounding it. Not only is 5k too large of a town for me to easily sleep in, but being this close to Mordor compounds it. The park was in the center of town, right by the police station, so I figured I should ask if I could stay there.
The nice reception lady at the police station had all sorts of excuses why I can't - mostly because people would call and be worried. She seemed unable to comphrehend that I would be discrete and that they could just tell the worried callers that I had permission. After saying no she carried on one of those awkward 10 minute conversations where she tries to convince us both that she's saying no because she has to, instead of admitting to herself that the real reason she's saying no is because she's afraid, unable to think outside the box for creative solutions, and a slave to the articial rules that she lives her life by. i just wanted to leave...
I know I sound jaded when I say that, but look. I'm a teacher. I force rules on the unrully all the time, and one way I must ALWAYS be challenging myself is whether or not the rule I'm enforcing is actually legimate. Does my complaining student actually have a point? And if so, can I be human enough to concede that point - assuming they have challenged me in a socially appropriate way? And even if they did challenge me in an innappriate way, can I seperate out those two issues and still make a change in my own behavior?
I don't expect anything from other authority figures that I don't expect from myself.
I didn't even bother asking at churches. Part of it is our proximaty to Mordor. Large urban areas make people impersonal and afraid. People who are afraid of other people aren't nice to strangers. If you see this happening to yourself, it's time to move to someplace that allows you to be a good human.
So, I headed 10 more miles and over some gravel to Peotone - an even larger town! But the authority lady mentioned that it had a fairgounds, which means I could try stealth camping. I'm not even going to bother asking here. They'll just say no, so I'm going to hide and no-one will be hurt by my victimless crime. And I should succeed too, because I found a stealth camper's dream! Baseball dugouts! There are a few in the park, and one doesn't face any roads and has a dark sun guard. I should be fine in there.
Since I can't go there until dark and it's my birthday I went to this bar in there dead downtown. I secretely hope a bar patron will take me home, but I doubt it. (Edit: one did! See Below!) The bartender is young and has that "I'm young and don't like cops" attitude and she's told me I'll get arrested if I get caught in the park Right.... I know the fact that I have unearned privilege is bullpoop, but I am a tall, well-spoken, well groomed, adult white man. I'm not getting arrested for sleeping in park. But we'll see.. let the adventure continue!
//edit: Actually, I met a fellow name Jim at the bar is who is giving me a ride to his land about 5 miles outside of town and letting me stay there. Winning! No getting arrested for me!
ILYI
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