Steve was up early making coffee and we chatted with him while eating some yogurt and granola. Louise catches the 5:48 train into Chicago...a 2 hour commute. Yikes! We said our goodbyes before they left for the station and Laura and I headed west on some very fun roller coaster hills. I kept smelling bread. I told Laura so. And then we saw...Bunny Bread Co. Bunny Bread on Boyd Boulevard. Say that as fast as you can ten times.
I'm afraid today's routing wasn't very scenic. You can only look at so many fields of corn and soybeans. When I routed Indiana, I confess that I was merely trying to stay close to Illinois and away from Chicago. Fortunately, we get to talk to great people along the way. Patty talked to a woman who said she was a "city girl"...she married a farmer and raised 6 kids...but didn't want to go to the city now because "it's not safe". :)
Speaking of safe...some of the roads we were on today were minor roads and consequently, the surface was not always smooth. Other roads were larger, busier roads...some with good shoulders, so you pedal with a lot of noise from the traffic, some with poor shoulders so you feel vulnerable to the traffic. We want to be safe, so my goal is to choose a route that is minor but with a decent surface. Chip seal makes your hands numb from all the vibration.
We had a strong wind out of the south, but we put our heads down and pedaled hard. Fortunately, that didn't last all day. 15 of the last 20 miles were tailwind so Laura and I sailed along at more than 20 m.p.h. That was fun!
It was 85 degrees when we finished and the temperature rose to nearly 100. I finished with 100.1 miles, an average of 14.3 (amazing when I consider the wind...) and an elevation gain of 744'.
Patty spent the day driving and getting groceries. She had fixed a flat on her rear wheel, but midday it was flat again. She had the task of getting us to our overnight destination at Rochelle, IL. We stayed with Ken and Sue, but when we arrived only Ken and his son-in-law John were there. Sue was at a baby shower for her daughter...Ken and Sue are expecting their first grandchild in August. They are going to love it. Grand kids are the greatest joy in my life. Ken had made BBQ pork spareribs and Sue had left potato salad and a cabbage salad. What a feast! It was all delicious...thank you both so much for letting us stay with you!
maybe you can't...because you won't...
Sounds a lot like Iowa.Never saw so much coen as we did there in 1993.We have many cornfields in PA , but not like Iowa!
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