So far Illinois has given Brett and I everything we could ask for. This includes free stuff. From nice people. They exist.
I must have looked like shit on Friday morning.
Maryann went by our campsite and offered me coffee.
Out of nowhere.
After seeing our breakfast she invited us over for eggs and bacon. There was toast too.
We had ridden 125 miles the previous day. We really needed it.
They also had a dog named Winston.
Kind of Like That
Then we met a guy in a random town in Illinois.
He ended up buying us all the food we wanted at the gas station there.
That included coffees, gatorades, donuts, and candy.
Thanks Mike.
Then we got to Nick and Stacey's house. They live right on the border of Iowa and Illinois
Nick owns a bike shop in town and hosts cyclists that come through Burlington Iowa area.
They gave us the use of the shower and washing machine. Then, they gave us dinner and a place to stay for the night. With wifi! Hell yeah. They're really nice people.
Y Axis = Faith in Humanity
X Axis = Miles Ridden
I usually don't go through specific days. I wanted to avoid stating, "this happened, then this happened, etc. However, everyday is a huge ass big adventure and I thought I should catalogue an example or two.
Date - Thursday, Sept 25.
Distance - 126 Miles
Ride Time - 7 Hours
Monticello Indiana - Moraine View State Park, Illinois
We stayed in a motel the night before and got a good night of sleep. The first part of the trip was filled typical with Indiana scenery, beautiful dirt roads without a car in sight.
Then we went into Illinois (there was no state sign. BS if you ask me. What kind of state doesn't have a welcoming sign? Needless to say I didn't feel welcome. ) and we gained an hour in the day for extra riding. Things were looking up.
Sixty miles in we got lunch in Watseka Illinois. The token bike rider of the town pointed us toward a Mexican restaurant on the West side of town. That's...
Steak Fajitas
Side of two chicken tacos
Side of beans, rice, cheese, guacamole, sour cream.
All for $11
Hell Yeah.
But then we realized we ate too much.
Kind of like this cat I found on the internet.
Everyone has their limit.
That day we found ours.
So then we biked fifteen miles and decided we were going to stop. We were to full to continue.
My mind immediately shut off. I couldn't wait to lay down and read. Forever.
However,
the campground was right next to the highway. It was awful and people there that did not take kindly to us. I.E. they didn't like us.
We had to leave.
So then we got back on our bikes.
It was awful.
I had to recalibrate my mind to suffer again.
Eventually we rode fifty more miles.
It was terrible and great.
And then we saw this sunset that was amazingly great.
Another pic. Holy Illinois eh?
This is the same sunset expect there's a building in the picture.
10 Miles later we got the campsite.
And got ready for the next adventure.
Disclaimer: I am not a hobbit nor do I approve of hobbit related activities.
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