Day 28 - May 9 - Galesburg, IL to Moline, IL
And Then There Were None
John’s Story
And then there were none. Miles left to ride, that is.
I had a very comfortable night’s sleep in this old house. I kept the door to the bedroom closed because both the dog and the cat wanted to sleep with me.
Hana told us that she also owned a vacant lot down the street from her house. She bought it from the county for $800. Abandoned vacant lots can be bought from the city for $100. It depends on whose unpaid taxes were the justification for the seizure of the property. I didn’t ask but assume that part of the deal is a pledge to improve the property somehow. Sounds like Hana plans to turn it into a little park or orchard.
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The sure thing rain forecast for last night never happened. It slid by just north of us. We left under sunny blue skies. The wind today was delivered as promised. We were traveling north and the gusty wind was between northeast and northnortheast. I actually looked forward to the hills because that meant we were descending into and climbing out of creek bottoms where we were sheltered from the wind. About half way to Moline the wind slackened a little and rotated a bit clockwise to the east at the same time our route rotated a bit counterclockwise, so it turned from a headwind to a crosswind. Things got easier.
At Alpha we started seeing signs about a road closure ahead. As usual, my motto was full steam ahead. Road closure almost never (unless a whole bridge is missing) means that pedestrians (or people walking their bicycles) can’t get through. 4 miles ahead. 2 miles. 1 mile. Road closed at RR crossing 1000’. Road closed. The burly workmen were working on the roadway at the crossing. We walked through without any problem at all.
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About 10 miles before Moline the sky spit and spattered a few raindrops on us from time to time. Ed stopped to put on his rain jacket. By the time he had it on the rain stopped.
We arrived at the Best Western by the airport not long after noon. They weren’t ready for us. We scoped out the map and found a Mexican restaurant about a mile away where we headed for lunch. It began to rain in earnest on the way there and most of the time we were there. It stopped about the time we left and made our way back to the motel.
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When we left the motel for the Mexican restaurant my bicycle seat started to disintegrate. I have a leather Brooks saddle, and like any leather good it can soften and stretch with use. That’s why leather saddles are popular. Like a shoe that becomes more comfortable with wear, the saddle over time conforms to the bottom that’s sitting on it. To keep the leather seat from sagging too much, it’s built with a special bolt in the nose of the saddle to adjust the tension of the seat. Well, that bolt came springing out out of the saddle onto the street just as I prepared to mount the bike. Even though I had adjusted the seat tension a few times on this tour, in the past couple days the bolt managed to completely back out of its home. I managed to put it back together.
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We Ubered to the airport to pick up our rentals for the drive home. Then to Dick’s Sporting goods to buy me a new pair of convertible pants (the 30 year old pair I brought on the trip just won’t do any more). Then to Target to buy a Lightning to USB-C cable so I can connect my iPhone to my rental Nissan Rogue. Then to a place called The Nest for dinner (no menu prices, you donate what you want). Then to the Bent River Brewing Company in Rock Island for the final beer of the tour.
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Tomorrow we set out for home. I’ll be driving as far as Joplin, MO tomorrow to visit my younger daughter and her family, then home to Oklahoma City on Saturday.
I’m sure there will be at least one debrief post in this journal after I get home. Thanks for following along!
Ed’s Story
I slept good. I woke up at 4:30 and checked the weather. As it said no rain I must have been dreaming, but when I woke up it was the same. Her house is big and dark with one upstairs hall light switch (upstairs). She did put a night light in the bathroom and that helped.
Hana made oatmeal and french-press coffee for me. That and a Lara bar got me ready to go.
She also had a real bike pump we could use. Although we stored the bikes in the house we had to carry them up 7 steps to get in. I suggested she get a board to put on the steps so bikes could be rolled up.
Until the wind slightly shifted on the ride, it was as vicious as yesterday. We were riding between 8-10 mph. I looked once at the weather and it showed 16 mph wind from the NE, with us headed north.
There were 5 climbs on this route but nothing we hadn’t seen before. After passing the RR track maintenance, one of the workers said look out for the hill…ha…if he’d known what we already climbed.
We got to Orion for a final stop, and I wanted to find the galaxy, but I couldn’t find Orion’s belt.
We got off route when we left Orion. Our route left US 150 and continued north into the wind. We stayed on 150 which took us NW which kept the wind at our side or behind us.
Finally arrived Moline. Yes it did stop raining after I put my rain jacket on but since it started raining before we got to the Mexican restaurant I felt vindicated.
The washer at the Best Western is smaller than ones we have used in the past. I needed to wash two loads. Work..work…work.
We still need to pick up our rental cars around 5. I need to be on the road no later than 7:30 tomorrow morning so I can turn the car in by 5 pm when they close at home. It is a little over 400 miles but with the time change and necessary pit stops, I need the time.
We will probably find a brewery for dinner and one final touring beer.
Today’s ride:
For you who are riding I say happy biking. I am just happy to be driving home.
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,379 miles (2,219 km)
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