| River Bottom Country Week five Kansas to Illinois |
| Day 29 Sunday July 7 Topeka to St. Joseph 88 miles The start of our fifth week and another state is history! We left Kansas and entered Missouri. As with yesterday, the memorable aspect of the day is the heat index. Although it was not quite as hot as the 103 degrees in Topeka yesterday, today was in the mid-90's with high humidity. Still, the ride was good. Once we entered Missouri, we were on some very rural, hilly roads which provided some beautiful scenery and reintroduced us to climbs. I treated myself to a massage, which was great, and was also visited by an old college buddy who joined us for dinner, so it was a long and busy day. Day 30 Monday July 8 St. Joseph Rest! My rest day wasn't actually very restful, but was a lot of fun. I rented a car and drove to Kansas City, which is about an hour's drive away (a day by bicycle!). I really enjoyed being in a car and having air con- ditioning and listening to music and cruising at 70 mph! I visited my cousin, Janet, who graciously hosted a lunch with relatives and an evening meal with several of our high school classmates. She also let me use her laundry facilities and make a bike shop run in the afternoon to get some new tires, which I will probably need sometime before I get to Portsmouth. This was my last stop on the trip where I know people, so it was rather sad to leave so many Kansas friends and relatives behind. Day 31 Tuesday July 9 St. Joseph to Chillicothe 71 miles A good ride today! It was relatively fast, and most of us arrived in Chillicothe by noon or shortly thereafter. It was another sweltering day, but mid-afternoon brought us a brief thunderstorm and now it is a bit cooler and not quite as humid, so hopefully tomorrow will not be quite the sauna. It is not too bad as long as we are riding, but boy, the minute you stop, the heat is overpowering. Day 32 Wednesday July 10 Chillicothe to Kirksville 82 miles What a change of pace today! The morning started out relatively cool and cloudy, but then we ran into a thunderstorm, complete with light- ning and thunder, so we all took shelter wherever we could to wait out the lightning. I rode today with Kate, Sara and Dave, and we found an old abandoned barn to protect us. Once the lightning ceased, we started riding again, and had rain off and on again until we reached Kirksville. We all arrived soaked, but actually it was a pleasant change from the unbearable heat and humidity we have had the past few days. I had my camera out of the rain for much of the day, so didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. The terrain today was extremely hilly. The local park is called Thousand Hills for good reason! Day 33 Thursday July 11 Kirksville to Quincy 97 miles A good ride today. We all thought that we would get more rain, and so we carried our rain jackets, but luckily, we escaped any rain at all. The highlight of the day was crossing the Mississippi River by ferry at Canton, Missouri. It is a short ferry ride, but the ferry doesn't follow a fixed schedule; it goes when there is someone to take across. We had lots of hills again in Missouri, but across the river in Illinois, it was really flat. Unfortunately, we lost a bike today. One of the riders put his bike in front of one of the SAG vans for a quick refill of his water bottle, and the van ran over the rear wheel of the bike as it drove away. The bike frame was broken and the rear wheel crushed. A good safety reminder! Day 34 Friday July 12 Quincy to Springfield 106 miles Another good ride for me. I left early with Frank, and by leaving early and going relatively fast, we missed a big downpour just outside Quincy but did find plenty of rain later in the day. I rode with Frank about half way, then Reinhard, Christine, Brantley and Greg caught up with us and the rest of the day continued to be a fast ride. It was a bad day for others. There was a medical emergency (nothing serious) and five blow-outs as our tires are getting worn. Upon arrival in Springfield, the sun came out, so hopefully tomorrow (another century ride) will not be wet but cooler than some of our earlier days. Day 35 Saturday July 13 Springfield to Champaign 103 miles The end of our fifth week! Today was another good ride, but covering 300 miles in the past three days has left me, and many others, quite tired. Today was cool and cloudless, and the route was mostly flat, and it would have been a perfect day if not for the wind. We had headwinds much of the day. I rode with Jo Anne for most of the day, but at the second SAG stop, decided to go on my own and go a bit faster. Un- fortunately, I missed a turn which turned into an extra four miles! But not to worry, I rewarded myself with some extra scoops of ice cream. Tomorrow is an "easy" day, only 80 miles, and we enter another state. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |