Day 30 - Rest day

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Warm to cool then rain and thunder
- Start: Savanna, IL
- ATW:
- End: Savanna, IL
- Day Miles:4 (on foot) Ride Time: Total Trip Miles: still 957

Rest Day
Our rest day consisted of touring the area, then hiking four miles and eating the house!

Day 29 - x!@#$%&*!!! Crows!! and tail winds

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - x!@#$%&*!!! Crows!!
- Start: Kewanne, IL
- ATW: Annawan, Hooppole, Prophetstown, Morrison, Fulton
- End: Savanna, IL
- Day Miles:72.7 Ride Time:~6:08 Total Trip Miles:~957

We were wakened early the next morning at 5:30 AM by some very noisy crows right above us. We packed up in record time and hit the road by 6:30 AM.

We are now relaxing from pedaling 50 miles in less than 4 hours with a tail wind most of the way for the first time on our trip. We are just waiting for friends to show up and have some ice cream before we finish cycling for the day.

Day 28 - End of Detour off planned route??

Monday, May 11, 2009 - Hot and breezy
- Start: Peoria, IL
- ATW: Alta, Dunlap, Princetown, Wyoming, Toulon
- End: Kewanee, IL and Johnson Saulk Trail State Park
- Day Miles:63.7 Ride Time:7:15 Total Trip Miles:885


source: http://dnr.state.il.us/LANDS/landmgt/parks/sitemaps/rockisland.gif

After a huge breakfast, we went to the bike shop and got replacement spokes. We started on the Rock Island Trail. The bike trail was crushed limestone and the trail was a gradual uphill for 26 miles and four hours of hard riding. It had rained a few days ago making the trail squishy in places and the trail was rutted where others had ridden their bikes when it was very soft. So after the bike trail and hard ridding, we got back on country roads. We were able to continue on the planned route that we had detoured off. (editor - on a trip without a route?) We rode late into the evening, pulled into a grocery store, and overstocked with food. I had to carry two bags of groceries as we peddled the remaining miles to the campground. It had gotten late so we decided not to knock on any doors, simply looked to pitch our tarp in a campground.

The first campground was super saturated and we would have woken up in a puddle. We continued late into the night, turned on the rear blinker, and put on the headlights and we continued, without incidents, on a paved 6-foot wide berm to the turn off to Johnson Sulk State Park. 28616 Sauk Trail Rd. Kewanee, IL 61443 309.853.5589.

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source:http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/parks/r1/JOHNSON.HTM
We pitched our tarp and sleep till about 1:30 AM when someone pulled in to setup their tent. There was not anyone else in the area and they picked the campsite next to ours.


source:http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/parks/r1/JOHNSON.HTM

Day 27 - Another detour while on the detour

Sunday, May 20, 2009 - Warm, light breeze
- Start: Roanoke, IL
- ATW: Metamora, Germantown Hills
- End: Peoria, IL
- Day Miles:30.7 Ride Time:3:34 Total Trip Miles: 820

(Saturday) Our plans were to take Rt251 North to Rt17 to Rt78. However, on Rt251 a bridge was completely missing. We detoured onto Rt4. How can a trip that has no route, have a detour? Riding into the wind, we stopped for the day and were offered a change to sleep in the hayloft of a horse barn. This kept us out of the wind and in the warmth and we did not have to setup our tarp. (Sunday) The next morning we found 4 broken spokes, so instead of continuing north, we rode into Peoria, IL.

Editor’s note: – I was on the road in Columbus, Ohio and I got a call from Heather. She asked where the nearest bike shop was in Peoria. I got on my Blackberry, did some web searches, and gave her the telephone numbers of about six bike shops in the area. This was not as bad as when a different daughter called me and said, “Dad, I am lost, can you give me directions?”

We rode into Peoria to find a bike shop that would have replacement spokes. Once in Peoria, we were nabbed, at the top of Grandview Drive, by a couple. Once they heard about our broken spokes and that we were waiting for a bike shop to open the next day, they offered us the opportunity to sleep in a basement bedroom that they called “The Suite”. We happily agreed and rode over to their house to wait for them to get home. After a dinner of pizza & grapes and conversations late into the night, we finally got some sleep.

Day 26 - Start of detour

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Saturday, May 9, 2009 - Warm and Windy
- Start: Lexington. IL
- ATW: El Paso, Panola
- End: Ronake, IL
- Day Miles: 38 Ride Time: Total Trip Miles:

We started packing up in Lexington a little on the early side. After breakfast, getting everything stowed, and reducing our total weight by about 5 pounds it was time for a nap. We slept for about an hour and woke up in time for lunch. After lunch and our goodbyes we stocked up at the local store and left town on Main St.

By El Paso Dave was craving ice cream but we didn't want to spend six bucks at Dairy Queen. Heather said that if we could eat it all we could buy a box of ice cream bars from the local grocery for 1/3 the price of Dairy Queen. Which we did and did eat all six bars. Refueled we continued north on 251 until just outside Panola.

A construction sign warned us to detour but there were no detour instructions. We rode a mile through the site up to the equipment to see if we could cross anyway. There was a huge gaping hole where the bridge had been and a the creek 20 feet down was to wide and too rapid to cross.

All day we'd been dealing with a cross wind as we tracked north. Now we turned back and rode west on Rt. 4 into the wind. By the time we made it to Roanoke and tried to sleep in the town's church yard which was a little too small for us we stopped the first chance we could on the outside of town.

A couple of people were working outside in a yard that looked like the trees would offer a wind break. Heather pleaded our case to the owner and was given the choice of "anywhere." Relived we wouldn't have to ride any farther we began to look for a secluded spot when the hosts offered us the option to sleep in their hay loft. Yes! No setting up the tarp, we'd be out of the wind and we'd be warm. Super warm when were shown that the barn was a horse barn and held 8 horses.

After another night of good conversation, a meal cooked on a real stove and a bed made on a layer of hay we settled in to sleep.

Day 25

Day 25 Friday, May 8th, 2009 - Beautiful Weather!
- Start: Lexington, IL
- End: Lexington, IL
- Day Miles: 0
Rest Day. We spent our time relaxing, and trying to figure out how to lighten our load on the bike.

Day 24 - Windmills

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 - Sunny, Hot, then... RAIN!
- Start: Urbana, IL
- ATW: Leroy, IL
- End: Lexington, IL
- Day Miles: 68.5 Ride Time: 7 hr, 2min Total Trip Miles: 751

Our friends offered their sister's place for the night if we could make it to Lexington, IL. Sure, no problem... it's only forty miles away. Turns out Heather read the map wrong and a forty miler turned to the longest day yet. After almost 50 miles of pushing into a head wind we pulled into Leroy, at 5pm. Heather grabbed a Subway sandwich and we ate on the bike as we pedaled out of town. Just before turning north on 21 we got rained on. We pulled over and slipped into our rain gear and left town eating soggy cookies. A couple miles out of town lighting flashed over head and it was time to get off the road to re-evaluate our sanity.

We pulled up to a barn and parked inside while we talked to the guys within who were working on a lawn tractor. In a few minutes the worst of the storm had passed and we rode on. With red light blinking off the back we crossed the ridge left behind by the Wisconsin Glacier. All through the day we had watched windmills in the distance. As we crossed the hill we rode within a hundred yards of their bases and Dave kept wanting to turn down the private gravel roads to investigate.


Photo Credit: Amit Gupta at http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/sets/72157594448325513/


Photo Credit: Amit Gupta at http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/sets/72157594448325513/


Photo Credit: Amit Gupta at http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/sets/72157594448325513/

With a slight tail wind and downhills we coasted into Lexington just before dark. We enjoyed a hearty conversation until 11:30PM when the whole house passed out.