19 days down, only 10 to go to get to the East coast

Day 19: Tuscola, Illinois to Lebanon, Indiana, 121 great miles.


With a longer day ahead of them, the guys were on the road shortly after 5:00, with sunrise at 5:42, Within 2 miles, they turned north on narrow, quiet country roads, on which they for about 44 miles. The about 10 mph winds were from the east, so much of that was right in their face, with the few stretches to the north serving as breaks. The winds swung around to the south, and then southwest as the day wore on, so the last 40 miles was with a good push from behind. All in all, they all had a pretty good day, despite the work at the start. Ken said he thought that was the easiest 120 he had every done, but he must have been forgetting the day in 2016 when we did the 120 miles with the stiff tailwind the entire day, instead of just part of the day.

The pre-sunrise and sunrise were again gorgeous. We went past farm field after farm field, with the farmers busy getting their crops in. We went through many very small towns, many of which are drying up. similar to most around the country. Going across country by the small roads sure gives you a different view of the USA in contrast to what you see from the freeway going 75-80 mph. They saw a very small boy with very large workhorses and an Amish or Mennonite gentleman mowing his lawn with a horse drawn lawn mower.

I had a chance to ride quiet a bit today, riding 39 miles in the morning, then getting out to ride another 11 miles in the afternoon so I could round it up to 50. That is by far the most so far on the trip, so it felt good.

Tomorrow looks like an even better day than today, with a 106 mile route, and tailwinds forecast for the entire day. And, there will be no more than a total of about 300' difference from top to bottom elevation, so not any significant climbing. That would be sweet!

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