Day 25 (21 June 2014)
Odell, IL to Henry, IL
Day: 57.95 miles, Trip: 1601.77 miles
Started the morning off by waking up for a beautiful sunrise but then went directly back to sleep. Today was another short day so there was no rush. We had breakfast at a local restaurant and luckily it was only 8 of us because one lady was both the waitress and the cook. I really struggled through the morning riding near Michelle and Eric but not really riding together just sometimes ahead and sometimes behind. The weather is hot and the terrain is more corn and soy beans. The rest stop was in the town of Wenona, IL. It was actually a great stop we had shade under a large tree and there was a sweet shop with cheap ice cream. After a brief nap on the grass under the tree I rode on. Again mostly on my own but also with Michelle.
It took me about 7 miles to warm up but after that I was flying. To top it off there was a beautiful decent that put me up to 43 mph. It is so hard to get up to speed in the midwest. Tonight we are camping in the town park of Henry, IL (pop 2500). I didn't see much of town, saw the camp right as I crossed the bridge and went straight there to set up before the rain that we were suppose to get. I also set my hammock up to relax and later made dinner with Richard and Michelle.
Half the group split off to a restaurant or bar, but I opted to relax and rest in my hammock until dinner. The joy of short days are the extra time to relax at camp and catch up on chores, write in the blog or read.
