Riding Day 31 - July 8th, 2019
End: Carbondale, IL
Miles: 61.8
Feet climbing per mile: 48
Record of today’s ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/36989942
The first stop on today’s ride was Superman Square in Metropolis, about a mile
from where I camped, for a meeting of Superman and Bikerman.
But let’s back up. Yesterday I set up my tent with the rain fly and had gone
to sleep on top of the light sleeping bag liner into which I had put my air
mattress. But it was so hot and humid, with little wind, that in the middle of
the night, after seeing no rain was forecast, I removed the fly. A few hours
later, after the temperature dropped a few degrees, I woke up cold and removed
the mattress from the liner so I could sleep in it. It might have been better
if I had originally put the liner on top of the mattress rather than around it
so that I wouldn’t have needed to separate the two items. I’ll try that next
time I’m camping on a hot night.
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| My campsite at Fort Massac State Park |
In contrast to the up-and-down in the Land Between the Lakes, the early part
of today’s ride featured flat straight roads that extended for miles. I was
able to sustain speeds of 16 to 18 miles per hour, without a tailwind as far
as I could tell.
Several times my route included back roads whose bumpiness slowed me
considerably. At least in Illinois, where this condition of back roads seems
to be the norm, I need to stay on two-lane highways. When my route would have
had me on a northbound road whose gravel I thought might go on for miles, I
took a chance and continued west with the expectation that I would find a
paved northbound road that would reconnect with my route.
Since Johnathan Bain adjusted my rear derailleur and tightened the cones of my rear hub two weeks ago, I’ve had none of the shifting problems that plagued the early part of my trip. But yesterday, as I was climbing a hill in much too high a gear, I overtaxed my drive train by attempting to shift to a smaller cog while on the big chainring. My chain jammed on the big ring and I fell on my right side. The only damage to me was a bruised right shoulder and to my bike some scraping of the right pedal, brake hood, and bar tape.
When I was about five miles from my destination I saw a sign advertising fresh peaches at the Rendleman Orchards Farm Market. I went inside and saw they had pints of Peaches & Cream ice cream. I enjoyed a pint of this delicious concoction followed by a root beer. A second pint would not have survived the heat of a five-mile ride so instead I bought four peaches.
I’m staying at the home of Dave Nadolski and his wife Connie while they continue to travel through Canada (read about our meeting on the Blue Ridge Parkway here). Although their address is in Carbondale, the distance to the city is about 13 miles, with no source of food between here and there. Dave, being the thoughtful host he is, asked a few of his neighbors to drive me to the grocery store. Yesterday Roy Davis generously did that, taking me to a large store with an excellent selection. How strange it was shopping for food I would cook, the first time in the seven weeks of my trip. I plan to stay here until Thursday morning, so I stocked up, perhaps buying too much.
The cell service is poor here, so my posts for the next few days might be delayed.
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