Distance: 97.9 miles
Total time: 7 hours 45 minutes
Riding time: 6 hours 20 minutes
I suppose after 32 days of cycling, we're getting stronger. Today's 97.9 miles seemed like a moderate day. It was slightly cooler than it's been, though still in the upper 80s, and it was almost entirely flat. The wind cooperated as well - at times it was dead calm, but that's better than the Dreaded You Know What.
Michael talked all day about how if he was going to bike 97 miles he might as well make it an even century. So he did. As I turned into the hotel at 97.9 he kept on pedaling. Jamie followed. Michael ended up with his even 100 and Jamie, just to be contrarian, stopped at 99.9.
Today was a day of milestones. We crossed the 2500 mile mark early in the ride. We forgot to stop and celebrate, so this picture was taken 50 miles later. Purists will disapprove, but we're calling it our 2500 mile picture.
As you can see we're posing in front of the Cisco, Illinois Volunteer Fire Department. In fact, the guys at the firehouse invited us in, let us set up our SAG stop inside, and we chatted at length. They couldn't have been nicer or more gracious. Thanks guys.
We rode most of the way again today with Magic Mark the Mechanic. That's Mark in the background, with Michael and Jamie up front.
Mark provided the entertainment today. As we rode by a farmhouse, a tiny but barrel-chested dog with three-inch legs came charging into the road and chased us. We laughed until the dog caught up to Mark, who was doing 20 miles an hour. Incredibly the dog stayed with him for 100 yards, trying to bite Mark's ankles. Our motto when chased by dogs: You don't have to be first; you just don't want to be last.
Mark kept on trucking when we stopped for frozen yogurt in the town of, um, in a small town in Illinois. Michael doesn't look like he just biked 70 miles.
Nor does Jamie.
As usual, the Brits stopped in a coffee shop for coffee and snacks. This shirt that was for sale in the cafe caught Chris's attention, since he's been staring at cornfields for the past week. Maybe he should get a soybean-themed shirt as well.
My after-ride ritual includes doing laundry almost every day. If the hotel has a guest laundry, and it's available, I do it there. If not I do it in the sink and dry my clothes outside. That was the plan today, until an Old Testament cloudburst ruined the plan. The clothes are now draped on my bike in my room, and they won't be dry in the morning.
One of the occupational hazards of the long distance cyclist is finding enough calories over the course of the day. My Garmin tells me that I burned over 5000 calories on today's ride. No problem. The Skillet-Fried Chocolate Chip Cookie with Ice Cream and Fudge Sauce at Chili's comes in at 1420 calories. That will make a dent.
The yellow line on the map now stretches more than two-thirds the way across the country. One of the Brits calculated that we are 68 percent the way from San Francisco to Rye, New Hampshire where the journey ends. We also rode for the 32nd time today, meaning we're now two-thirds done in terms of cycling days as well. In a couple of days we'll be down to 1000 miles to go. Tomorrow we cross into Indiana, and they better not try to cheat us out of another "Welcome To ..." photo op.
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