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!)

Quincy, Illinois to Springfield, Illinois

Wow! Was today ever difficult!

Today we went for 107 miles, and it felt to me as if it had been double that mileage. I had awakened well rested this morning, and the weather was fine all day long, so I don't have a good explanation. For some reason however, I was just totally generally out of energy all day long today.

Leaving Quincy this morning, we had a fair amount of climbing. Indeed, the initial third of today's ride was reminiscent of Missouri's roller coaster hills. All told, we had 4,000 feet of climbing today, and virtually all of that was in the first third of the ride. I was having as much trouble keeping up my speed even then, early in the day, as if it was late in the day. Nothing specific, I was just inexplicably "out of gas" all day today.

At 46 miles into today's ride we came to the Illinois River. The bridge over that river (see photo above) was worse than yesterday's bridge at the Mississippi River. Yesterday, crossing the Mississippi River, there were two separate bridges, one (the nicer and newer one) going east-to-west, and the other going west-to-east. Those bridges both had no shoulders at all, but both had two lanes, so it wasn't so bad to take up a full lane for the short duration of the crossing. Today's Illinois River crossing involved one bridge only across the river, for all traffic going both ways, again with no shoulder at all. There was only one lane of traffic for each direction. The only thing we could do was cross our fingers and ride fast.

It worked.

East of the Illinois River, the terrain became remarkably (mercifully) more flat. I found that I could keep my speed up reasonably well, but it still was a struggle. Hopefully I will inherit more energy by tomorrow morning.

Getting into Springfield today, a more urban region, the general demeanor of the automobile drivers took a plunge from bad to worse. Kansas drivers had been uniformly safe and courteous. Missouri drivers were not nearly so good, but I could live with most of them. Illinois drivers, at least from what I have witnessed so far, all should be forcibly extracted from the planet Earth permanently. (It is inconceivable that they can ever be rehabilitated or retrained, so they should just be removed from the planet permanently.)

Tomorrow we go to Champaign, Illinois. That will be an 87 mile ride with nice terrain. Only 2,000 feet of total climbing tomorrow. That's the good news. The bad news is that we have rain, and probable thunderstorms, predicted for this entire area, for all day tomorrow. Yuck!

I am pretty tired. As I finish this posting, I see that it is almost 8:00 PM now. I will surely not be awake much longer.

As I reflect upon how tired I am now however, I would even now reiterate my earlier stated opinion that a bad day on a bike is still always better than a good day at work! I may be wasted now, but that doesn't change the fact that this trip is still a great time!

More tomorrow, after our swim to Champaign.

Kirksville, Missouri to Quincy, Illinois

What a great ride today!

Today provided us with a perfect bike ride. There had been a huge thunderstorm last night in Kirksville, so maybe that blew away a lot of bad stuff. I don't know about that. What I know is that this morning came with beautifully clear skies, bright sunshine that was not too hot at all, and a very nice gentle favorable headwind. The countryside was beautiful. The road quality was excellent and there was only insignificant traffic. There were enough hills to make it interesting, but only rarely difficult. Rides like today's are why I came on this trip.

I am feeling so much better physically. I still have problems getting on and off of my bike, due to limitations in raising, or standing only on, my right leg. Once on the bike today however, my right leg seemed to wake up this morning. It was lazy yesterday, but my right leg today decided to pedal as well as the left one!

As today's ride began, and with my then inept mounting of the bicycle, I was having doubts about myself. Ten minutes into today's ride however, I was feeling great. Confidence returning. Willie Nelson appeared out of nowhere. He sat on my left shoulder (presumably being aware that my right shoulder is still sore) and he sang "On The Road Again" just for me! It was cool. I was doing 22 mph then. I love that guy.

The grapefruit lateral to my right greater trochanter is horribly black, but it is now only an orange-size. I am back in the game.

I made it to Quincy, Illinois, a 74 mile ride, by Noon today! (OK, OK, that is the winds talking primarily, not me. Still, I feel good about it.)

Just barely 15 to 20 miles into the ride today, we hit the 2,000 mile mark! Tom took pictures of everyone individually as they came by, each holding an appropriate "2,000 mile" sign. I will have to see if I can get a copy of the one of me.

Crossing the Mississippi River was no fun. Nice quality road surface on the bridge, but no shoulder at all! Two lanes of traffic, so we rode our bikes fully in the middle of our own lane, thereby making it difficult for drivers to push us too far to the non-existent right side of the bridge. There were a couple of drivers who had colorful and animated words of encouragement for me, those words voiced out of their open windows as they drove by on the bridge. One driver even suggested a creative idea for something I might choose to do with my bike!

It is nice to see that we have utter morons driving cars in every state of this country! As a cyclist, I have learned that there will always be motorists with IQs ranging in the vicinity of room temperature.

Centigrade.

My riding clothes are washed and now drying. I need to rest up well today. Tomorrow is going to be a long and hard ride. We ride 107 miles tomorrow, ending up then in Springfield, Illinois.

Chillicothe, Missouri to Kirksville, Missouri

Yay!

I am back on the road already!

Against the well-intentioned advice of some (most) of the other riders, I set out with the group this morning from Chillicothe, Missouri. I was worried about how it would feel, and how I would do. It ended up being a good decision, and all went well. Really well. I am glad that I rode today.

My right shoulder is still sore, but I can safely put weight on the handlebars now, enabling use of my right hand. My right leg still is heavy to lift, due to right hip pain and residual swelling. That makes it very difficult to even get on and off of the bike. Once on the bike however, I am delighted to find that cycling is far easier than walking! It really is. This is great. I still walk with pain, and with a limp, but I feel that I can bike comfortably and reasonably normally. Hurray! I have to be careful though, as I know that I am mainly pedalling with my left leg. That's not such a good idea.

Anyway, I am glad that my recovery from my recent fall is going better, at least so far, than I had feared that it might.

A take-home lesson that I have learned from all of this is that falling off of a moving bicycle is not generally a good thing. It is best to avoid that.

We had thunderstorms last night in Chillicothe, those lingering until the early morning hours. We had a delayed departure this morning, enabling the worst of the storm to pass, and then we took off in ongoing rain.

Riding in rain is generally miserable. This does however serve to keep the temperature nicely down. I found that I really didn't mind it much today. I was even able to keep up, at least pretty well, with Stuart. (OK, he probably wasn't really pushing it hard today.)

Regardless, I am far from fully recovered from my fall of two days ago in St. Joseph, but I am on the road to recovery. I am certain that I won't be back to my normal self for some more days, but at least I can ride with the group again now. Everyone in the group was very supportive, and they all said that it was nice to see me back on the bike so soon. (Some of my friends on this trip implied that I was premature in returning to the bike today. They may be right, but I have done what I felt was best, and it has seemed to work out OK, at least so far.)

I am in Kirksville, Missouri, now. My bike is cleaned off fully, with a lightly re-lubricated chain also. (The bikes were unbelievably dirty and muddy at the end of today's long ride in the rain.)

Today was a 75 mile ride. Tomorrow is a 74 mile ride, and a new state also! We end up tomorrow in Illinois! No offense intended, but I will be glad to get out of Missouri. It has not been kind to me. We will cross the Mississippi River tomorrow at 70 miles into our ride, and we will then end up tomorrow, at 74 miles total, in Quincy, Illinois. Neat.

Tomorrow's ride, I am informed, will be mercifully less hilly than today's was. I do hope so.

With all of the rain today, I did not bring my camera with me on the ride. Tomorrow however, I hope to get some photos. I will definitely take my camera tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to get photos of the Mississippi River! Seeing the Mississippi River might even remind me of home.

St. Joseph, Missouri to Chillicothe, Missouri

Today was such a disturbing day that I am sorely tempted to not even post a blog. ("Sorely"..., now that's a double entendre!) Today I was absolutely unable to ride at all. What a major disappointment. This was an 85 mile ride today, one which I viewed entirely from inside the van. I did not come here to ride in a van.

It turns out that I really managed to do a number on myself yesterday, with my fall. I feel much worse today. There is a huge hematoma overlying my right hip laterally. I probably dumped in at least a full unit of blood there, maybe two. It doesn't hurt at all, unless I move. My right shoulder is hurting all the time, even when not being moved.

I was unable to sleep at all last night, being unable to find any comfortable position in bed. (I now know that Michel does snore, just not very loudly.) This morning found me in more of a brain fog than I was yesterday, then even right after my fall.

Using my right hand, I was unable to put any pressure on the handlebars this morning, that because of right shoulder pain. When I went to the area where other cyclists were eating breakfast this morning, some riders wanted to know why I had stuffed a grapefruit in my pants. Indeed, just lateral to my right greater trochanter is a soft mass of exactly that size. (I don't remember grapefruit being black, however!)

Inspecting my helmet a bit more carefully now today, I see that I owe it a huge thank you. It is pretty well shattered. I could be the "poster child" for a bike helmet safety message.

I guess that I did fall a bit hard yesterday.

I am in Chillicothe now, population 2,121. This town does not have a bike shop. Reluctantly, I did walk over to the local WalMart. Hidden among the brightly colored children's bike helmets there, I did actually find one good quality Bell adult helmet. I bought it. It fits arguably better than my old Giro helmet.

Late this afternoon however, I found that I can now ride my bike! My right shoulder is better! I rode it in the parking lot a little bit. That should constitute a fair test, I would feel. If I can ride 25 feet in a parking lot, I should be ready to do 75 miles of hills tomorrow. That is logical thinking, I feel. My right shoulder is better with the handlebars now. I have (if you don't ask for details) full ROM at the right hip joint.

I'm good!

Tomorrow we have a 75 mile ride to Kirksville, Missouri. This will be lots and lots of more of these infernal "roller coaster" hills. It will be hot, humid, and with a 30% chance of thunderstorms.

We will see...,

Topeka, Kansas to St. Joseph, Missouri

A great ride today, and a new state also!

The ride yesterday was tough on all of us. It was a real confidence destroyer. Today, however, made up for that. Today's ride was 85 miles. The weather and the roads were perfect. I felt really well during the entire trip (except, maybe, at the very end). I felt that I was back to riding fast again. (OK, that is fast for me, not fast for a good cyclist!) Anyway, today's trip was fun and felt great. More confidence again!

We were in Achison, Kansas, as we got on the bridge to cross the Missouri River. That city was a stop on the "Border Raiders" bike trip that Bill and I took in 2007. We really didn't see much of that city today, en route to the bridge. Achison, Kansas, is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, incidentally.

The bridge over the Missouri River, at least this one, is pretty old and pretty frightening. There is really no shoulder to the road. While you are actually on the bridge you need to ride really fast and get over it quickly. The road surface on the bridge is a semi-covered grating.

Regardless, we all safely made it to St. Joseph, Missouri.

This is the city in which Jesse James was killed, that by a bounty-seeking member of his own gang.

I did have a minor accident today, almost at the end of the ride. For reasons which still escape me, I did crash. At the time, there were only 7 to 8 miles left in the entire ride, and we were well within the city limits of St. Joseph. I was following Chris, at a very relaxed and reasonable speed, into a left turn. I was very alert, relaxed, and comfortable at the time. I was feeling well, so I really don't know what happened. As I was in the left turn however, I lost balance and actually fell to the right. This happened so fast that I did not have time to click out of the pedals.

Pretty embarrassing, but I guess this can happen to even the most experienced cyclists. No explanation..., I just fell. I thought about telling Marsha that I fell because I lost control as I was heroically riding my bike, as protection, in between a pregnant woman with young children, and three rabid and vicious dogs. Sadly, she is not stupid, so she is not about to believe that story. I didn't even try to make something up, as an explanation; she is well aware that I am a klutz. I might as well admit to that.

I now sport limited road rash on the lateral aspects of my right leg and right arm. There is also a right hip hematoma. Oh well. Those things happen!

(No Marsha, I did NOT have syncope. I am just a klutz.)

Abilene, Kansas to Topeka, Kansas

WOW!!! Whoever says or thinks that Kansas is flat has obviously not spent any time traveling in this part of the state! Today we traveled for 106 miles of truly relentless (merciless) "roller coaster" hills! Unbelievably scenic, but this was a really, really difficult ride.

(It is funny how "scenic" and "difficult" are adjectives that commonly link together, at least in the context of bicycle travel!)

Yesterday was a great rest day in Abilene. I did go to the Eisenhower museum, and that was well worth the trip. Eisenhower grew up, from probably the age of 3 years, to high school graduation, in Abilene, Kansas. I learned quite a lot there, both about the times and about the man. I found myself intrigued with his early and military years, more than with the Presidential years. I am left with the feeling that he was a genuinely good human being. He was someone, it seems, who would quietly, but powerfully, simply do the right thing. He was an intelligent and wise man, with principles also. He may not have been the most showy, or eloquent, of his generation of statesmen, but he was a guy who just knew what was right, and did it. When General Patton refused to see the death camps, because he thought that it might make him sick, General Eisenhower went to see them himself. As he stated, he wanted to be able to be a true and direct eyewitness himself, lest anyone later allege that the Holocaust was only a lie or propaganda.

If he was alive, I would have a beer with Eisenhower. I would have a beer with Jimmy Carter, also. I wouldn't have a beer with anyone else in Washington.

Michel got a haircut yesterday, declining on the Eisenhower museum. Craig got a haircut also. They both look distinguished now. I don't. (Now there's a surprise!)

Back to today's ride, this was truly a challenge. We did not get any of the predicted intermittent thunderstorms, happily enough, but that statement is the sum total of our good luck with today's ride. We had remarkable heat, humidity, and a relentless headwind constantly in our faces. What I found most demanding was the equally relentless roller coaster hills. I remember well when Bill Pearson and I saw similar topography, back in our 2007 "Border Raiders" ride. There was then a road in southwestern Iowa that had, as I recall, 90 hills in 30 miles. I believe the local people called that section of road the "serpent's back". We had that today, all the way between Abilene and Topeka. The wind in our faces made it extra tough. We did over 6,000 ft. of total climbing today.

In that regard, I really have to express gratitude to the good people of this part of the state of Kansas. They have so many American flags out flying. All day long, all I had to do was to look for the ubiquitous American flag, as I proceeded on my way. I was never in doubt of my correct route, as the folks here managed to arrange it so that the flags always pointed directly away from where my bike should be heading. Even when the road took a curve or turn, those flags were always kept pointing perfectly opposite to my direction of travel. I wonder how they do that.

We still had fun. At one point this morning, I was riding in a group of five. There was Bill, Craig, Chris, Doug, and me. We went by a field where there was a small group of five cows, all looking at us, and all very close to the road. What ensued was spontaneous (and enthusiastic) mooing sounds made from all five of us! None of us, all of whom may be arguably considered responsible and mature adults, seemed to think that making mooing noises at cows would be inappropriate or unusual. (Bill make the best sounds.) None of the cows seemed impressed, although I was able to see that one of the cows was a bit annoyed. She didn't comment, probably out of her politeness, but she did look very annoyed.

By the time I made it to the 91 mile mark today, my legs were largely functioning like rubber. I stopped at a gas station. I bought there a candy bar and a Gatoraide. Those were consumed while sitting on a curb at the site. I took the time then to also re-think my life. After ten minutes or so, I felt marginally refreshed. Getting back on the bike however, my legs informed me that they were far from refreshed. The last 15 miles were more than slow.

Topeka, Kansas, today, St. Joseph, Missouri, tomorrow. Another state line! (Tomorrow will be an 85 mile ride and, I am certain, more of these roller coaster hills!)