Happy Canada Day from Illinois. And Iowa.

After yesterday’s failed attempt to beat the heat by getting an early start to the day, today began with essentially the same goal in mind. It was much more successful on this day. Just to be clear, I hadn’t really planned on waking up at 5:30 AM and being on the road at 7:00 AM but that’s what happened. All things considered, it worked out pretty well.

My early departure was greatly aided by last night’s storm which had essentially trapped me in my tent at an early hour. That, combined with some boredom (and perhaps fatigue), had me asleep at a MUCH earlier hour than usual. Sure, I woke up at midnight but only long enough to brush my teeth. Then it was back to slumber … until 5:30 AM.

Packing up that early meant that my tent was still wet from the assault of the previous night’s storm. Said tent was far wetter than it should’ve been on the inside too – of course, I believe that ANY wetness on the inside is more than there should be … apparently the folks at MSR don’t agree. But I digress, again. For now.

Despite my predisposition to late nights and not-so-early mornings, there does come a pretty significant sense of satisfaction when one pedals 40 km before 9:00 AM. Well, it was a pretty significant sense of satisfaction for me anyway. So much so that when I stopped for breakfast I rewarded myself with an M&M Ice Cream Sandwich. Sure, it was only 9:00 AM but I’m of the belief that it’s never too early for ice cream. Today further confirmed that belief.

To say that the remainder of the day’s ride (not to mention the first 40 km) were very easy would be an understatement. I was actually more than a little surprised at my rate of progress. Yes, progress was slowed a bit once I found myself back in a more urban biking environment but by that point the bulk of the day’s distance was behind me.

The other thing that was almost officially behind me at that point was Illinois. As I pedalled my way towards and through Rock Island, Illinois, I eventually crossed a bridge that not only spanned the Mississippi River but also welcomed me to Iowa. Ok, “welcomed” might be a bit strong as, once again, there was no sign welcoming me to my newest state. The fifth state of the tour. Five states. No signs. Sigh. I was actually surprised by the lack of signage as I felt I was travelling on a fairly major road. Apparently not major enough.

Regardless of the degree of welcoming, my home for the night was to be a motel. Actually, my home for the afternoon would also be a motel as my early departure had me reaching my destination before 1:30 PM. I don’t know if that’s the earliest I’ve ever completed a nearly 100 km ride but it was certainly a rare occurrence.

The rest of my afternoon/evening was spent desperately trying to get caught up (or at least reasonably caught up) on my blog. Said updates were briefly interrupted for a detour for nourishment – not particularly healthy nourishment but enough to get me by. Side note: there MAY have been a box of Mini Wheats purchased.

It wasn’t until about 10:30 PM that I realized I hadn’t made any sort of attempt to find accommodation (or even a destination) for the next day. As luck would have it, that problem was solved ten minutes later with a quick e-mail to a Warm Showers host in Onslow, Iowa and an even quicker response from said host (aka. Marilyn and Mat).

And with that, my day was pretty much over. No, I didn’t get completely caught up on my blog but I have to say I was pretty happy with the way the day turned out. Something tells me this won’t be the last time my blog falls a few days behind. The question is, will anyone notice?

Today’s totals:
Distance: 97.13 km
Ride time: 4:18:28
Average speed: 22.54 km/h
Maximum speed: 55.98 km/h