May 16, 2023
Day 2 - ending at Springfield, IL
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There was gentle rain off and on through the night shortly after I'd gone to bed. Not a problem. What was a problem was the several hours of steady rain in the early morning. I hadn't expected this, so hadn't tucked in the edges of the tent's ground cloth under the tent, so all the water that hit the tent ended up under the tent. Things were wet. But the rain had given me time to work on the report.
Shortly after the rain stopped, I received a text from my friend Kris. She wanted to know if I had named my bike yet, or was I just going to call it "Good Bike" or "Bad Bike", as needed. That works! Of course it will always be "Good Bike" (I'm hoping).
Packed up and on my way at 11:00am, just after putting on sunscreen, which I'd almost forgot to do.
Destination for today is Riverside Campground in Springfield, with a stop in Lincoln for breakfast, except now it'd be lunch.
The dirt road I took past the gravel pit operation got the bike a little muddy. Later I was surprised at how close the road was to a picturesque farm house. When I curved into the barnyard, I realized I'd missed a turn.
Noon report: 7.8 miles.
Made it to Lincoln city limits at 12:44pm. My pretrip-selected restaurant was Mama's Arcade, but Google Maps said it was closed now. So I "settled" for lunch at Flossie and Delzena's north of the courthouse. A very busy place, filled with office workers and older ladies, though I might as well start writing 'ladies my age'. My lunch was Chicken Taco Salad with Chips, which was good.
On my way at 2:00pm, heading south. Turns west were into the wind, so it was a break to go south. Near 4:00pm I was heading west with a tree-covered bluff ahead. It'd be some climbing, but without the wind. At the crest was an underpass, I'm guessing for railroad tracks no longer there. After that it was a nice coast into a small town, whose name I determined when I passed the library - Elkhart.
I'd been pushing myself a little today, hoping to make it to the campground by 6:00pm. Back when planning my route, I hadn't given any thought that I knew people in Springfield. Family friends Darryl and Bonnie saw that my plans had me passing through their city and sent me an invitation for supper out with them when I got here. I was looking forward to this, and didn't want to make it too late for them. I sent a text to Bonnie with the from-Elkhart Google Maps ETA - 1 hour, 21 minutes. It takes me longer, so wrote 6:30pm.
My planned route from here to there was foiled, thanks to the I-55 overpass at Elkhart being closed for repairs. Up to now, my Garmin GPS had fought me all the way, displaying "Make a U-turn" almost every time I turned. Now I'd let it do the routing. That was working, and took me though Williamsville, where there are Route 66 sites.
In Williamsville I passed a touring cyclist. Melvin Griese, 20, is on his way home to Germany, finishing a round-the-world tour. Ahead for him is Chicago, New York, then the European coast where he'll bike back home. He has the coordinates for his hometown posted on the side of his bike. He's been keeping followers up to date with postings on Instagram. I am so glad I got to meet Melvin. I wouldn't have if I'd been on my original route. Wish we'd had time to talk more, but I know how precious time is when you're trying to get somewhere on a bike.
Back to following my Garmin. It led me to a 4 mile paved trail that I didn't even know existed. And it was blocked by trees from the wind!
I was 5 minutes late from my estimate for getting to the campground. Check-in took a while and then at the tent site there were issues with finding a working electrical box. At 6:53pm I parked the bike next to the first working box I found, then sent a text to Bonnie saying I was ready to be picked up for supper.
Darryl and Bonnie gave me a couple of options for where to eat, and I picked the closer place - Tasty Cafe - a place I'd noticed when I'd bicycled by the restaurant an hour before.
Darryl and Bonnie always drove up from Springfield to attend our church's Pancake and Sausage Day, but there hasn't been that event for a few years. It was fun having the opportunity see them now. Thanks, Darryl and Bonnie, for this great idea and for supper!
Back at the campground it took me 25 minutes to get the tent set up and loaded in the dark. Worked some on picture selection, turning my light off at 11:30pm. What a great day!
Jeff
Spent: $10.86 plus $2.50 (lunch) + $35 (campsite) = $48.36
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 91 miles (146 km)
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