June 29, 2008
Day 48: Thrasher Woods Campground (Near Monon, IN) to Iroquois, IL
51.87 miles, 4:42:15 Ride Time, 11.02 Average Speed, 21.24 Maximum Speed
It was overcast when I rode out around 7:00. In a few miles I arrived in downtown Monon, where I felt fortunate to find a gas station open early on a Sunday morning, and drank a quart of chocolate milk for breakfast. I'm really liking the chocolate milk. I suppose that has become obvious...
After a half hour of zig-zagging on country roads - 900N, 300W, 1000N, 525W, 650S, etc., I got a call from Joy, checking on my progress. I assumed she was concerned I hadn't survived one of my rare nights in the tent, given my (acknowledged) ineptitude in that area. While we talked, I was slightly annoyed when a car (the first I'd seen that morning) pulled up behind me and stopped. Now what?! Were they going to tell me to get off the road, give me a $20 bill, or do something else entirely?
I was telling Joy to "hold on, somebody in a car is stopped behind me", when, to my utter surprise, out of the car stepped Joy! Apparently, this was the closest the Northern Tier gets to her home, and she had driven 45 minutes to bring me a package of food for later. This really made my day - definitely one of the most fun things that has happened on the trip.
As Joy and I said goodbye, Jordan, from yesterday, arrived, and we decided to ride together for a while. He told me he had phoned the mayor of the tiny town of Iroquois, who told him that he allowed touring cyclists to sleep in his office. I was intrigued by the idea of a free place to stay inside, especially given the possibility of lousy weather today (it seems like it's been at least a possibility almost every day for weeks now). I began reconsidering my original plans to do a long (nearly 100 mile) day to Kempton.
It was enjoyable riding with someone else, and Jordan was a good companion. I enjoyed hearing about his trip, and realized that I've really been lucky with the weather the last month and a half. It sounded like Jordan had been experiencing much more rain than me.
Eventually it did start raining, but it didn't last very long, and by the time we arrived in Brook (pop. 1,062), the sun was out. The restaurants in town were closed, so we rode on, arriving in Illinois (and gaining an hour as we entered the Central Time Zone) somewhere on a narrow country road - no sign welcomed us to the "Land of Lincoln". (Here, of course, I must point out that Lincoln was born in my home state of Kentucky).
Iroquois (pop. 207) had everything we needed: A bar/cafe, a small grocery store, and a well-maintained city park. Jordan called Mayor Jack Karr, who quickly arrived and showed us the bathroom, shower, and his office, where we could sleep on the floor. He left everything unlocked for us, told us we were now "in charge" and left. (Apparently one aspect of being "in charge" was to be on the lookout for children climbing on the park's gazebo and breaking the spindles. Mayor Karr told us there had been a recent epidemic of spindle-breaking, a fact which we verified later when we saw a stack of the broken pieces of wood on the desk in his office.)
It seemed early to stop for the day, but I enjoyed fooling around in the small town. Later, Jordan and I had dinner at the bar/cafe, where my very good bacon cheeseburger didn't satisfy me, so I immediately ordered a second dinner of fish sandwich and fries. Jordan, a vegetarian, seemed satisfied with his grilled cheese sandwich. I'm becoming a little concerned that despite eating so much, I seem to be losing weight.
I was tired, and went to bed around 8:30 (Central Time) on the floor of the mayor's office. This had been one my favorite days so far - the surprise visit from Joy, riding with Jordan, and the friendly little town of Iroquois. Great.
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Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 3,455 miles (5,560 km)
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3 years ago