Only 47 miles, less than 500' of climbing
Easy, right?
Except for chip seal roads, rumble strips, confusing directions, 90 degree heat with very little shade available, and a steady headwind. We managed to average a little over 10 MPH. At home, I would expect that on a ride where I was averaging somewhere between 50 and 100 feet of climbing. Per mile.
We left Springfield this morning feeling great, eager to see more of Illinois, confident that it would be a fairly short and easy day. About 10 miles out we reached the end of the very pleasant Interurban Trail & got to chat with a couple of local guys who had been riding it at the same time. The trail was varied - some through suburban areas, some along the freeway or the railroad tracks, a fair amount along a big open space area. It ended in Chatham, by which time the heat was enough that we happily stopped to get ice cream at the nearby convenience store.
Then we headed out into the rural areas that made up most of the day. Corn, soybeans. Very mixed road qualities, sometimes on the same roads. We'd start out with chip seal, then suddenly be on very smooth pavement, then gravelly stuff, then lots of potholes with a few repaired. The boundaries between the surfaces were not apparent to me. At home it usually means either a different road or a new county or town. Here, it just seems to happen in the middle of any old stretch of road. So that slowed us down some.
The heat was the biggest factor. As the day went on, it got more and more uncomfortable. The heat did send us one place we might not have found: Doc's Soda Fountain in Girard. I saw a sign pointing to the left of the main road we were on, and Bruce leapt at the chance to sit in air conditioning for a while. The business had been in a family for over 100 years. When the latest generation wanted to retire, another local family took it over, and asked the previous owners to leave their collection of memorabilia behind. It was fun to look around, and fun to eat some cold stuff (yes, more ice cream). Finally a few clouds appeared and occasionally softened the sun for a while. The headwind was sort of a mixed effect. It was not a particularly strong wind, maybe 6-12 MPH most of the time. It's actually sort of nice on a hot day to have a breeze in your face. When we were out of the wind, we did feel a lot hotter. But it definitely slowed us down a bunch.By the time we arrived at our destination, Carlinville, IL, we were ready to get there. Bruce was especially uncomfortable - he burns much more easily and repeated application of his zinc based sunscreen were not quite enough. But we were both tired and hot and damp - it's quite humid - and hungry.
We found the motel we had chosen (since it's the only one anywhere near where we wanted to end up) is actually a mile or so out of town, and we didn't want to ride back and find ourselves on the local roads after daylight had really begun to fade, so we looked around and decided to see if the local Chinese restaurant delivered. It never did before, but after Bruce explained we were bicyclists, and were only a mile or so down the road, they agreed to deliver our dinner! Very nice.
We are also in the middle of a bunch of paperwork connected with Liz's new house, which is set to close in the next couple of days (when I say "we" I am taking too much credit; Bruce is doing about 98% of the work), and the guy at the motel has been helping getting stuff scanned and faxed - he also offered to drive us into town for dinner if we needed a ride. So it's a very friendly place.
We have once again modified our plan. Instead of riding all 65 miles to St. Louis tomorrow, when the weather is expected to be more or less a repeat of today, we are choosing to split the distance and ride to Jerseyville tomorrow, on to St. Louis on Thursday. It's supposed to be a lot cooler by then. It seems that the terrible early snow in Montana is sending its system along. By the time it gets here, it will cause the daily highs to drop down around 70. In other words, perfect riding conditions.
Except for chip seal roads, rumble strips, confusing directions, 90 degree heat with very little shade available, and a steady headwind. We managed to average a little over 10 MPH. At home, I would expect that on a ride where I was averaging somewhere between 50 and 100 feet of climbing. Per mile.
We left Springfield this morning feeling great, eager to see more of Illinois, confident that it would be a fairly short and easy day. About 10 miles out we reached the end of the very pleasant Interurban Trail & got to chat with a couple of local guys who had been riding it at the same time. The trail was varied - some through suburban areas, some along the freeway or the railroad tracks, a fair amount along a big open space area. It ended in Chatham, by which time the heat was enough that we happily stopped to get ice cream at the nearby convenience store.
Then we headed out into the rural areas that made up most of the day. Corn, soybeans. Very mixed road qualities, sometimes on the same roads. We'd start out with chip seal, then suddenly be on very smooth pavement, then gravelly stuff, then lots of potholes with a few repaired. The boundaries between the surfaces were not apparent to me. At home it usually means either a different road or a new county or town. Here, it just seems to happen in the middle of any old stretch of road. So that slowed us down some.
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| Soy beans |
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| Rough road. Soybeans turning yellow. |
The heat was the biggest factor. As the day went on, it got more and more uncomfortable. The heat did send us one place we might not have found: Doc's Soda Fountain in Girard. I saw a sign pointing to the left of the main road we were on, and Bruce leapt at the chance to sit in air conditioning for a while. The business had been in a family for over 100 years. When the latest generation wanted to retire, another local family took it over, and asked the previous owners to leave their collection of memorabilia behind. It was fun to look around, and fun to eat some cold stuff (yes, more ice cream). Finally a few clouds appeared and occasionally softened the sun for a while. The headwind was sort of a mixed effect. It was not a particularly strong wind, maybe 6-12 MPH most of the time. It's actually sort of nice on a hot day to have a breeze in your face. When we were out of the wind, we did feel a lot hotter. But it definitely slowed us down a bunch.By the time we arrived at our destination, Carlinville, IL, we were ready to get there. Bruce was especially uncomfortable - he burns much more easily and repeated application of his zinc based sunscreen were not quite enough. But we were both tired and hot and damp - it's quite humid - and hungry.
We found the motel we had chosen (since it's the only one anywhere near where we wanted to end up) is actually a mile or so out of town, and we didn't want to ride back and find ourselves on the local roads after daylight had really begun to fade, so we looked around and decided to see if the local Chinese restaurant delivered. It never did before, but after Bruce explained we were bicyclists, and were only a mile or so down the road, they agreed to deliver our dinner! Very nice.
We are also in the middle of a bunch of paperwork connected with Liz's new house, which is set to close in the next couple of days (when I say "we" I am taking too much credit; Bruce is doing about 98% of the work), and the guy at the motel has been helping getting stuff scanned and faxed - he also offered to drive us into town for dinner if we needed a ride. So it's a very friendly place.
We have once again modified our plan. Instead of riding all 65 miles to St. Louis tomorrow, when the weather is expected to be more or less a repeat of today, we are choosing to split the distance and ride to Jerseyville tomorrow, on to St. Louis on Thursday. It's supposed to be a lot cooler by then. It seems that the terrible early snow in Montana is sending its system along. By the time it gets here, it will cause the daily highs to drop down around 70. In other words, perfect riding conditions.
Bruce's comment: Soybeans are really cool. The leaves yellow in the fall, creating large fields of color, next to fields of brown dried corn, green trees and blue sky. Lots to look at!
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