Will vs Hills

So I tried posting last night using my phone, but it seems to not have worked. I'll try to work on that. Yesterday the weather was awesome, and the trip was generally good. There were a few times when I had to take major roads for a short length (read no shoulder, other scary situation) because there was no other way to get past either water or major highways. So when I reached the I&M trail I was happy, because it was a sign I was leaving Chicago. It was cool having a bike trail, but it was all gravel. What that meant was that I got 2 flats... The whole time I was debating whether a gravel bike trail or roads are better (flats vs. cars) and after today, I think the consensus is country roads with a little bit of traffic. Generally the scenery for yesterday was corn,steel, and petroleum refineries and lots of trains and train tracks (we're near chicago and in the midwest after all, right?) I got to Gabhard State park at 5:30pm, no officials, so camped for free. Another catch though, it's located on I&M canal, which no one tells you is a standing cesspool of mosquitos. I have never been in a place where 5 mosquitos land on you at once, like team attacks (the ones with the tiger pattern that jab at your skin in a frenzy!!!). At one point I was so bitten I decided I would just ignore them. The 99% deet "jungle juice" didn't work on them, haha. After about 50 bites, and my body buzzing from bites, I decided to go hide in my bivy despite it being hot and humid. For future reference, I would have preferred a one person tent to a bivvy- there's more room to move around in situations like this. Luckily it got chilly at night and I got decent sleep. I set my alarm for 5am, but let myself sleep in until about 9.

So today I woke up late, and it took a while to get ready considering all of the frenzied mosquitos (I swear... avoid canals, even if there's a trail). I got a flat 1 mile into my ride, and decided I'm done with the I&M canal trail (even though it was supposed to take me to my destination today). Instead, I got off on a tiny country road next to it and decided to wing it (by the way, my phone stopped working, and since I decided to get off the trail, my google maps were pretty irrelevant, so I began to rely on my trusty compass, some luck, and my broad road atlas map). I ended up getting to a town after a bit and went into a store to buy a more detailed Illinois road map, and in the process, a worker came up to me and asked where I was headed. I said sheffield (my destination for today), and that I'm avoiding the I&M- which he suggested. I asked about Highway 6, and he said it would get me there (turns out my broad atlas has it, so I didn't bother buying another map). Highway 6 will take me to Sheffield, and it's been a beautiful ride through country and corn. Now the catch for today- I optimistically decided I would do 77 miles to my next location today after a warm up of 63 yesterday, what I didn't realize is that the Rocky Mountains pass through western Illinois. Wow. And when they'd get bad, I'd tell myself something I read on a bike touring site- for every hill there's a downhill. Guess what- in western illinois that doesn't work. You only get 1 downhill for every 2-3 uphills. Fun fun. So I had to stop 2 times today exhausted, and on the second time I debated just sleeping there (across the street from the cornfield, near the highway, and out of view of the farm owners on my side). Then I realized I hadn't eaten for a while, and downed a pb bagel and water and decided I'm getting to a park tonight. So I just made it 10 more miles to Princeton, and I have about another 9-10 before I get to a park. I decided to stop at the library for a bit to take a break again.

So that's the long winded recap of today and yesterday. Total flats (3 repairs, 1 mystery flat- i'm learning my lessons: avoid gravel, avoid shoulders, avoid the major gaps when you get to bridges). Total liters of water I'm drinking per day- surprisingly like 6-8??

Iowa soon!!! Once I get my phone working and start stopping at libraries to do work, I'll have more photos up.

Chao!
-Miroslav

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