Photo of the Day

Still no signs of life from the camera, sorry :(

Keegan's Log

Day 31: June 12, Springfield, IL to Champaign, IL

We opted for the continental breakfast this morning, it seems the convenience is usually too good to pass up. We prepped our bikes and got ready to leave under the all-too-familiar morning routine. It was Bob M's last day of riding today, we joined the back of a line he was leading and were making great headway until I got a flat only a few miles into the ride. I must say dad and I now have flats down to a science, I don't think it took 5 minutes for the whole change. There is now a three-way tie for the lead for the most flats, dad, Kevin, and I all have 8 apiece.

We carried on, a little closer to the back now, along Highway 54. The road was peaceful in the early morning, not much traffic to contend with. The road was pretty much the same all day long, mostly cornfields lining the roads with the occasional tree line or scattered city. We had less than 1000 feet of climbing today, so it was also relatively flat, a few long hills instead of the constant rollers of Missouri. At mile 33 we made our first stop in the town of Chestnut at Carlin's Country Kitchen, dad and I just stopped for a sprite.

Bruce had been riding solo again on the tandem, and as it was a nice flat day, I decided to join him for a while. We adjusted the seat and handlebars and were off before I knew it. It was definitely a lot quicker than riding solo, for one stretch we were cruising at 28 mph with Carl in tow, but the extra speed doesn't come without a lot of extra work. Because I was sitting right behind Bruce I didn't get a lot of airflow, and because of the heat I was dripping with sweat. It was fun though, and it helped both Bruce and I get to Champaign a lot quicker, perhaps a little too quick.

I had the sag drop off my bike at a bike shop about three miles from the hotel, Bruce dropped me off there and I waited a while for dad. I was unimpressed with the store, they couldn't fix dad's rim without selling him a whole new wheel, and they didn't have much selection despite the size of the store. I did buy some tire liners, thy should help more to cover the holes in the tires than to prevent punctures. We left the shop and ode the last 3 miles to the hotel, where we found even more surprises. Our room was a smoking room (I knew because the cigarettes were still in the ash tray) with a broken air conditioner, a door that didn't quite close, and a wonderful view of the lobby roof. We promptly traded rooms and the second one was a big improvement, so we went about the routine of cleaning up and becoming clean, civil people again. A lot of people were working on their bikes outside, I did some work on my wheels, which have suffered a lot of abuse. Pat fixed a few loose spokes and I put my new tire liners on, I'm going to look for some new tires tomorrow because mine have almost worn down to the cords.

For dinner we went to Chevy's Mexican, one of the best dinner's we've had in a while. I had a huge combo platter and almost ate the whole thing, Tracy found some free dessert coupons, so we finished with some enormous desserts before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our fourth rest day, and resting is about all I have planned for tomorrow.

Phil's Log

See tomorrow's log...