I made it to the Mississippi River today. Tomorrow I'll start following the Adventure Cycling Great Rivers South maps heading south from Quincy, IL. There are still a few more days of riding before I hit the Transam. It was still humid this morning, but the temperature was about 10 degrees lower than yesterday. I rode through light rain for a good part of the afternoon but I luckily missed the downpour. I've been pretty lucky with rain so far, since today was the first rain I've had to ride in since those cold rainy days in the Adirondacks. It's amazing how trashed the bike gets even if the rain isn't heavy. It's clean now though. Clean the bike, hand wash clothes, shower, in that order...
I started the day by riding backwards a bit to find some Gatorade since the gas station on the edge of town was out. I'd ask how a store can be out of Gatorade, but I ran into that situation twice today. I headed back into Rushville, and picked up my Gatorade and had a good conversation with the woman in the store. Talking about cycling is always a good way to start the day.
This is for Larry - I waved as I passed the Land of Lincoln Motel in Mt. Sterling this morning. It looked a little classier than the place I spent the night, but hey - how can you have complaints about a clean $30 room?
I had my first dog encounter in a long time this morning. The dogs were bad in some sections of upstate New York - quite a few days ago. The encounter today was pretty funny. I was riding by a farm and house that was set back from the road. There was a small dog sitting by the house who just gave a few barks. I thought he was saying hello, but he was apparently telling his colleague that there was something on the road that needed to be checked out. The next thing I knew there was a big German Shepard chasing me. He ran along side me for quite a while, then just stopped. I hate getting chased by dogs. I'm never sure whether I should stop or keep riding. I always keep riding.
Many thanks to the folks at Bent's Family Foods in Camp Point for providing good conversation, shelter from a downpour, snacks, and a free T-shirt! The sky started getting really dark, and I started to hear rumbles of thunder when I hit Clayton, so I stopped to change the lenses in my glasses. I rode on, and it started to rain. It was a light rain, but the color of the sky made me think it was going to rain harder. When I pulled in to Camp Point I saw Bent's Family Foods and decided to pull in for a snack. The store had a nice overhang, so I left the bike under a bit of cover for a change. I had a long chat with two of the folks there. At one point we heard the rain pounding on the roof. I was very glad to be inside and not out riding in that! By the time I went back outside the rain was fairly light. And thanks to the overhang, I even had a dry bike seat to sit on.
I must have been really tired yesterday because I totally forgot to mention some strange road conditions. It was so hot that the tar that had been used to repair cracks in the road surface melted. The cracks that were perpendicular to the direction of travel were fine, but when I rolled over the cracks headed in the direction of the road the soft stuff just grabbed my wheels. Talk about weird riding conditions! Even thought I was trying to avoid them, every so often I'd hit one and almost lose my balance. I consider myself lucky that I didn't end up on the pavement! That strange road surface lasted for the better part of an hour.
I'm staying in downtown Quincy tonight. Not an impressive downtown from what I can see - another gritty industrial town - but I did find a great Italian restaurant called Tiramisu for dinner. Good pasta, and a salad with nice greens - not just iceberg lettuce!
