Springfield, Illinois to Champaign, Illinois

Nice ride, but difficult ride today. Difficult because of winds and rain. We went 87 miles from Springfield to Champaign today!

I feel that I am pretty well recovered from my recent injury. My right hip is still swollen, but less so. I have ridden the full mileage now for the past three days, including yesterday's century ride. I still have mild awkwardness in terms of getting on and off of the bike, but I feel OK when I am on it.

The weather had been the expected big issue today. Very severe thunderstorms had been the clear prediction. Based upon the weather predictions, we all set out early today. Instead of our usual 7:15 AM start, we began today at 6:30 AM. As it turned out however, the weather was bad, but not nearly as bad as had been predicted. We had miserable winds and rains, but no lightening or thunder, happily enough.

As we left Springfield on highway 54, there was mild rain. That road runs northeast to Clinton, Illinois. With the southeast wind, we initially had a right-sided crosswind. The rain actually stopped after probably just 30 minutes. Soon after getting to Clinton however, we changed to highway 10. That took us southeast to Champaign. That meant a straight-on headwind, for the remainder of the trip. During the final 15 to 20 miles, the rain returned. I was pretty well drenched by the time of my arrival in Champaign.

I did well today. I had a trip-average speed of 14.4 mph, even with the unfavorable winds. I got into Champaign at 1:00 PM, which isn't bad for 87 miles. I was among the first to arrive.

Getting near Champaign there are some nasty railroad tracks. We had been warned about them. Still, three of us fell there. Chris, Sam, and Stuart all fell there. Stu is OK. Sam's leg is bandaged up a lot now, but I think that he is OK. Chris' hip now is swollen and looks a lot like mine did a few days ago. She is using ice.

We have a rest day tomorrow. I am more than happy with that. My big plan for tomorrow is to take a nap. I did major laundry already today. Tomorrow, I will clean my bike, re-lubricate the chain, and seriously nap.

There is a bike shop in Champaign. It is only 3 miles from where we are staying. I plan to go there tomorrow. I want to get a new pair of riding shorts, and probably some more bike tubes. It will be fun to just look arround there. That will NOT prevent my getting a nap tomorrow, however.

We rest tomorrow, here in Champaign. On the next day (Thursday) we make it to our next state! This is exciting. We will be in Indiana by the end of the day on Thursday. (That is also another new time zone for us!)