May 18, 2010
Day 1 - ending at Canton, Illinois
rode on Pekin Park Bike Trail
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I was up early and as nervous as last year. Packing the bike took a while, since I had to figure out how to get the bag holding my raincoat and rubber boots fastened on where it would be handy. Secured to the tent with bungee cords is where it ended up. A few friends had recommended I take along a spare tire, so that went on too. I tried to determine the weight of the loaded bike, but the bedroom scale kept reading 'E' with me and the loaded bike on it. I weighed 216 pounds. I believe the scale's limit is 350 pounds, so loaded, the bike was over 134 pounds, more than last year's 112.5 pounds.
My wife Tahdra fixed me a big breakfast (just like last year) to get me on my way.
After endless checks that I had everything, and a pre-departure picture, I was off at 10:10am - a lot later than I'd wanted to be.
I headed off toward Pekin, to try out their bike trail, which I'd only recently learned existed. At 11:33am I was at the trail.
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When I took this picture I noticed that the spare tire was blocking my rear flashing lights.
I stopped shortly down the trail for a break and to consider whether I should discard the spare tire. A woman walked by who could tell I was on a multi-day trip and wanted to know all about where I'd been. Not much to tell at this point. She hadn't heard of Alvin Straight or Laurens, Iowa.
I decided to get rid of the tire, but didn't want to just throw it away. That's when it occurred to me that I could maybe drop it off at friends I know in Pekin. They live on Willow Street, so I rerouted to there. The uphill climb on Willow Street took more effort than I'd expected. Loretta was happy to store the tire for me and gave me a cold soda, which I drank while sitting (recovering) on their front steps. It was a quick ride back down the hill to the river. Because of my tire-drop-off detour, I'd missed using most of the Pekin trail. Here's where I met back up with it - at the bridge.
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At 12:42pm I crossed the bridge over the Illinois River. One river crossing out of the way!
I decided to take the back road that went under the bridge, rather than to try to maneuver a left-hand turn at the Route 24/Route 9 intersection.
That brought me to the first gravel road of my trip.
I was a little more educated on using George's BlackBerry this trip, especially the attaching-pictures part, so I stopped to send out my first on-the-road email report with picture.
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At 1:39pm I was back on Route 24/Route 9.
I didn't want to leave this wide shoulder, but knew I'd have to face the hill out of the river bottom sooner or later, so followed my GPS waypoints north at 1:57pm.
Following Todd School Road, I came to a detour at Martin Weber Road. I took the detour north. There was a strong wind from the north, and it was sort of a cold wind.
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I stopped at a cemetery after half a mile to see if there was a different direction I could detour, and where I might spend the night, since it was becoming obvious that I wouldn't be making my first night's destination: a campground near Bushnell, Illinois. I ate a few snacks and also sent out another picture using the BlackBerry. Later I got to thinking the recipients on my email list probably don't need/want hour-by-hour updates.
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One of the trees in the cemetery was big enough to shelter me from the north wind.
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The 'Poynt' application Kris had installed on the BlackBerry was already coming in handy, as it indicated camping at Canton Lake. I re-routed and was on my way - going south with the wind at my back.
Ran into a few hills.
By 6:55pm I'd checked in at the campground and was at my selected campsite (H6).
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A little later, the tent was up.
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The shower house was a little ways from my site, and had a machine that dispensed fifty-cent sodas. So I enjoyed a Barq's Root Beer along with my supper of sardines, Ritz Crackers, beans and wieners, applesauce, and animal cookies.
Church friend Jim had given me some home-made fire starters to use on my trip, saying, "A day always ends better with a campfire." Well, I just couldn't get the starter - a chuck of pressed wood chips - to light. I finally dropped it in the leftover oil in my sardine can and got it going. And that started a small fire made from previous campers' leftover wood.
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I turned on the radio I'd brought along and realized, after tuning in a few stations that I can receive at home, that I wasn't very far along yet.
Nonetheless, I was content, finally being past the planning and packing stage, and actually on my way.
One more report for today to those on my email recipients list. Note that statistics in these evening emails reports are 'unofficial'. Careful inspection of GPS data when I got back provided more accurate numbers (provided further down).
Subject: Day 1 - evening report
Date: Tuesday, 5-18-2010, 10:42 PM
Left morton at 10:10am.
Tried to weigh bike but just kept getting 'E'. (I weighed 216.) Took spare tire with me, but after seeing how it was blocking rear lights, dropped it off at friends in pekin.
At cemetery decided to find camping place closer, so rerouted to canton lake.
Arrived at 6:55pm, after walking up several dirt road hills.
Very happy with bike performance.
Set up tent; ate supper (sardines, ritz crackers, beans and wieners, applesauce, animal cookies, root beer); made campfire with leftover wood.
One gps says 46 miles. The other says 54.
7.8 mph average moving speed.
Camp fee $12.50; root beer $0.50.
Already two days behind!
Jeff
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The first day's statistics: 46 miles in 8 hours, 45 minutes, from start to finish = 5.3 mph* average progress (includes non-moving time).
* This mph number was figured using the miles I went for the day divided by the difference between the time I got on the bike in the morning until I was done riding in the evening.
Spent: $12.50 (campsite fee) + $0.50 (root beer) = $13.00.
Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 46 miles (74 km)
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