I decided I needed a break in the form of a shorter day today. It appears that after a few 70+ mile days my body decides it wants a rest. I decided this morning that I would only ride as far as East Peoria - which is across the Illinois River from Peoria. That allowed me to bypass the 4-lane divided highway going into Peoria since I could take Business 24 to route 8. I still need to get across the river, and there will be some 4-lane roads in the morning. After that US 24 goes back to a 2-lane road heading southwest to the edge of Illinois. It's funny though - I had one person tell me not to ride through the south section of Peoria, and another person tell me not to ride through East Peoria at all. It seems that people from other surrounding towns paint their neighboring towns with a black paintbrush and assume that the towns are bad. I tend to go the other way and assume that they are fine. And in my experience they are fine.
It seems like it's been getting a little hotter every day - back to triple digits in the sun today. There was a moderate headwind all day. It wasn't terrible, but it was noticeable. My average speed dropped back to 9.9 miles per hour. I've been averaging 11.5 in the flat country lately. Even though that doesn't seem like a large slow-down, it's nicer to be going a bit faster.
I stopped at a grocery store in Eureka to pick up some supplies for lunch. I was waiting in line behind a woman with 3 young girls, and I noticed that the older 2 were looking at me a little funny, so I started talking to them. "I must look pretty strange to you walking around in my bicycle helmet." And then I told them what I was doing. We talked for a while, then I went outside to sit next to my bike and eat. Before I knew it half of the cashiers and all of the baggers came out to check out my bike and talk. Then I met a man and his small son. He looked at my maps with me and verified that my proposed path to East Peoria would work. He told me about a good Chinese restaurant in East Peoria, and told me that the bridges across the river are a bit crazy. My map shows one bridge that appears to be a surface street rather than a highway, so I'll need to try to find that in the morning.
I finished my ride early this afternoon, and I found a place to stay that has a washer and dryer. That's a treat. I've been washing out my cycling clothes every night, but somehow I think washing everything in a washer with regular soap instead of my usual shampoo is probably a good idea. It's amazing how simple little things make me happy!
The road kill tally finally went down today. I hate seeing dead animals on the road, and there have been a lot of them lately. I try not to look at them other than to make sure that I can miss hitting them with both the bicycle and the trailer wheels. As far as live animals go - I miss seeing those crazy chipmunks and squirrels, but the birds are still coming along for the ride. I passed a field this morning that I thought was a bit odd because I could only see one cow in it, but it turned out that the rest of the cows were hiding in a ditch in the shade. Guess they were too hot too.
I rode through the town of Crescent City, IL yesterday. The welcome sign said "Welcome to Crescent City, the small town with a lot of spirit". The thing that seemed off about the sign was that the background looked like a huge fireball. When I saw a historical exhibit down the road, I had to stop and look. It turns out that there was a trail derailment back in 1970 that pretty much destroyed the town. Two of the cars were carrying flammable gas. The pictures were amazing. It looked absolutely devastating.
Toward the end of the day I was riding on the signed "Ronald Reagan Trail". Now, I understand the Lewis and Clark Trail, but what's with the Ronald Reagan Trail. He went to college near here, but what's the significance of this trail? Does anyone know?
When I checked into the hotel tonight, and was asked if I needed 2 beds, I responded "It's just me and my bike, and my bike doesn't need a bed". The manager asked me if I was on an extended trip, and when I told her I was traveling cross-country, her reaction was "I'm jealous"! I love that kind of reaction. Turns out that she rode from Chicago to Ottawa years ago. It's fun finding other cyclists...
