Day 16 - ending at Pontiac, IL - Northern Indiana on the Open Road

September 14, 2011

Day 16 - ending at Pontiac, IL

Posted via email Thu Sep 15 06:27:02 2011 PDT

Woke up at 6:11am. Had to use my space blanket last night. It was 53 degrees this morning. A little hazy this morning, with everything covered with dew.

Ate ginger snaps for breakfast and packed the wet tent. Ready to go at 10:10am. Rain was showing to the west on the BlackBerry's radar, but maybe it'd miss me.

Headed out following the route Kris had provided for getting to a campground near Cornell, Illinois. That was working well. There was a little spattering of rain in the later morning, but by noon it looked more serious. I stopped to cover the cargo with plastic and put on my rain gear. It wasn't a hard rain, but enough to get things wet. Considering the rain and that the predicted low temperature tonight is 40 degrees F, I changed course and headed toward Pontiac, with a motel room in mind.

At 3:00pm I passed through the village of Campus and decided to see if they had a park pavilion, for a break from the rain. They have a park, just no pavilion. But they did have a maple tree that was keeping the sidewalk under it dry. I took a break there.

The rain was starting to let up, and at 4:00pm I stopped next to a cemetery to take the rain gear off.

I'd been following the "green roads" on my bicycling map of Livingston County. This county has a lot of great roads for bicycling - they're flat, no traffic, and well-maintained. Scenery is corn, soybeans, and wind-driven generators, but I don't mind that.

The sun came out a little as I entered Pontiac. Passed some boys - one on a bike, the other on foot. They both raced me for a block. I came in third.

I worked my way through Pontiac, arriving at the Fiesta Motel at 6:45pm. I have room #227 on the ground floor, so I can keep my bike inside with me. The heat hasn't been turned on yet for the ground floor, so I was offered a space heater. But it's warm enough in here without it. Certainly better than in a wet tent.

I should be home tomorrow, so ate the rest of my carry-along food for supper.

Had shower and now can hardly stay awake.

Spent: $39.95 + $3 (motel room).

Went: 56 miles.

Jeff

Day 16 - Bourbonnais, IL to Pontiac, IL

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