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On vacation...

Keegan's Log

Day 30: June 11, Quincy, IL to Springfield, IL

Today was a long ride, the wind was great but it was hot outside, about 97 degrees at the peak. We left as soon as Trevor let us sign out, we passed Liberty at 15 miles just after 8:00, it was already over 80 degrees. The wind was out of the southwest, so we had a tailwind for most of the trip, but occasionally we would turn south into a headwind. Our first sag was at the John Wood Community College, we wanted to keep riding before the heat came so we kept the sag to less than 15 minutes.

We crossed the Illinois river at about 47 miles, it was a surprisingly large river with a nice 1930s bridge crossing it, we then stopped in Meredosia on the eastern bank of the Illinois for a drink. We pressed on toward Jacksonville, we had to ride a tough stretch of southbound four-lane highway before exiting and heading for the second sag. We arrived at the Dairy Queen at 70 miles and stopped for a greasy lunch, then went back outside to fill up our water bottles at the sag van. We rode back to the highway and continued east, 37 miles to go to the hotel. We stumbled upon a construction zone around New Berlin, so we spent a few miles riding on torn up roads before reaching the new pavement beyond the trucks. We made one other quick stop to cool down before pressing on to Springfield. The last stretch dragged on as we rolled into town, we finally reached the hotel at about 3:30.

Dinner was pretty mediocre, we ate from the menu at Maverick Steak House, at least the salad bar was good. Dad got some bad news when he went to have Pat true his wheel, it turn out the rim is cracked and needs to be replaced. But that sounds like a job for our rest day Wednesday. Tomorrow is a longer-than-average day, 87 miles, the weather looks much the same as today. Then we get to rest, I know my laundry can't wait!

Phil's Log

Okay, I know that Quincy is spelled with a "Q". I'm typing these letters on a tiny little Psion palmtop computer, and I have fat fingers.

And a fat head. How did I ever get into this?

Today was sunny, and it just kept getting hotter and more humid. Our ride was 106.6 miles, and really went pretty well. It didn't seem so hot while we were moving, but as soon as we stopped, and the breeze stopped, we were hit with the heat and humidity.

It was a ride through countryside that felt like Indiana, and it almost is. We had some climbing, but then descended into the Illinois River valley The river crossing at Meredosia was on a two lane 1935 truss bridge, a nice one. But as we passed through a little town named Alexander, trouble started. There was a repaving job, and the road surface had been ground into rivulets to accommodate the new asphalt. This was incredibly rough, the who bike shook enough to hurt your hands, and I imagined it tearing up my steering head bearing. Miles of that finally ended as we shifted to the opposite direction freshly paved lane, dropping back into our lane when we met traffic that was oncoming. Finally the paving project was behind us, and we had wonderful smooth road, a light tailwind, and speeds often over 20 mph. But I noticed that my rear wheel was out of true. No problem, I'd have Pat look at it at the end of the day.

As we rode into Springfield, a bank clock said that it was 97�. My speedometer said only 94�. The motel was a most welcome relief, except that there's also a Mary Kay convention here.

In my little rack trunk, the jarring of the road had punctured a tube of Razz Sorbet Clif Shot, or "goo" as we call it, little packets of ultrasweet gooey ooze that some nondiscriminating cyclists and runners use for quick energy. It had been in there since California, my mistake.

When I took my rear wheel down for Pat to true for me, he discovered that the wheel had cracked along the rim's longitudinal axis at two spokes. It cannot be trued, and in fact it cannot be repaired. It was no doubt caused by the pounding on the unrepaved road. I can ride on it, monitoring it for further damage, for a couple of days. Tomorrow is a rest day in Champaign where there is a good bike shop, but it is a semi-unusual 36 spoke wheel. The alternative is to limp it to Indianapolis, three days of riding, and swap it for another rear wheel at home. That's probably what will happen. In the meantime, my butt will be getting a little wiggle-massage with each wheel revolution. Fingers crossed that the wheel lasts....