Today's Ride
The Stats
107 miles
2,825 ft. climbed
Milestones: Crossing the Illinois River (is that even a thing??), another state capitol (sort of, as we're staying on the outskirts of town), another century plus ride.
Challenges: Another century plus ride, headwinds, and frankly, boredom, but for some good podcasts!
Miles Completed: 2,149
Miles to Go: 1,247
States Visited: 8 of 15
Total Climbed: 74,381 ft.
The Ride
Today was a challenge before it began. Knowing it was going to be a long day, everyone (especially me, as one of the slower riders!) was antsy to get going. But our morning breakfast routine was thrown off by the lack of a breakfast buffet, leaving us at the mercy of someone taking a breakfast order and serving us freshly prepared breakfast (ordinarily, something that would be a welcome change, but bad timing given the day's mileage). It goes to show what creatures of habit we've become, coming to know and rely on what is generally available at the buffet, what is the proper balance of enough but not too much food to fuel the ride, and what we can use to pack "lunch" sandwiches for the more nutritious sustenance during the day's ride (again, especially important on these long days). It so mucked up our routine that the Route Rap Rappers didn't even perform (much to the chagrin of our groupie Todd!). It sounds silly, but that has turned out to be an upbeat, motivating way of starting each ride, and skipping it somehow changed the mood of the day.
The ride itself was one of the least compelling so far. While there were sections on quiet farm-lined roads, they weren't unique or dramatic. And much of the rest of the ride was on busier roads (not quite the interstate, but at times close), often with choppier shoulders (if there were any). Headwinds beat us down most of the day, though the temps cooperated and were 10-20 degrees cooler than the last few days, frequently aided by friendly cloud cover.
Despite these challenges, on the plus side:
- Our timing crossing the Illinois River was impeccable, as a large tugboat was coming under the bridge just as we were going over it. The bridge was pretty cool, too!
 |
| Tugboat on the Illinois River |
 |
| Appreciating the cool bridges |
 |
| Well-timed Illinois River crossing |
- We (sort of) entered another state capitol, which happens to be where Abraham Lincoln lived and is buried (though we really only skirted the outskirts of the city). For the record, the other state capitols were Topeka and Santa Fe.
- I felt relatively strong on this ride, despite the distance, and was spared my usual ailments. I didn't break any speed records, but given the headwinds, it was respectable.
- There was a nice veteran's memorial where some of us happened to stop for a snack to power us through the last 20 miles.
- Some great podcasts (once again, recommended by Kevin Rowell) powered me through the more monotonous parts of the ride. Most notably, I followed:
- Teddy Roosevelt through his Amazon adventures tracking the previously uncharted River of Doubt in Brazil (Rio da Duvida, renamed the Rio Roosevelt after the journey); and
- Katie Hoff's athletic and life journeys as an Olympic swimmer, and now motivational speaker.
- We're 107 miles closer to Revere Beach!
I don't have too much more to say, and we have another long-ish day tomorrow of over 90 miles -- but perspective is everything, as after today, that won't seem that bad. And even better, after tomorrow we rest! If anyone has dining recommendations in the hotspot of Champaign, IL, please reach out and let me know!
Employee(s) of the Day
While I didn't get any names, the servers at the Springfield Drury Inn (sadly under construction as part of a needed renovation) during the "happy hour" offering free food and drinks were very friendly and created a nice vibe. I also chatted with a friendly clerk at a gas station where I stopped for a coffee drink to keep me from falling asleep during the ride -- I did note that she sold lots of lottery tickets during the short time I was there. There also were slot machines. Not sure what that's about. Thought it was only the riverboats where they allowed gambling, but what do I know!
No comments:
Post a Comment