Temperature Regulation

Last night’s camping in the pavilion resulted in a great sleep – I must’ve been tired considering the lights of the pavilion were on all night. I knew they would be and I considered moving my tent to a darker part of the park but I suspected I would be too tired to notice the lights. I was.

After yesterday’s heat and wind experience, I thought I’d get started early today in an attempt to beat the heat (or at least some of it). That seemed like a good plan. The only problem was that the heat woke before me and it was 28°C (82°F) before 8:00 AM. I suspected I was in for another hot ride.

On the upside, I continued to learn from my Halifax day and did what I could to stay hydrated and moderate my body temperature as the day wore on. As such, rather than continuously push on and power through, I took refuge in shade more than expected and drank a lot of water. Even by my standards.

In keeping with the encore performance of yesterday’s heat and wind conditions, the roads of Illinois continued to be very straight. And flat. But there were a couple differences today. One was a very unusual crop. I’m still not sure what it was but I think I now know where red pots come from. Illinois! Whatever was in those pots remains a mystery.

The other big moment of the day was completely unexpected. A hill. An actual hill. A hill that would shatter this trip’s land speed record thus far. Granted, the land speeds thus far have been far from inspiring but descending this particular hill today was a VERY welcome experience. I didn’t quite hit 60 km/h but I did get over 57 km. After the past few sluggish days, it was a welcome sensation.

There was one more encore from yesterday’s ride and it came in the form of another hose hijacking. Ok, perhaps not the best description but you get the idea. Much like yesterday’s encounter with Betty Campbell, I was once again feeling the effects of the heat and humidity as I pedalled along the MOSTLY flat roads of Illinois. And once again I took refuge in the shade from a tree. Reflecting back on the previous day, my eyes darted across the property to assess if there might be a hose and if there was anyone home. Unlike the previous day, I actually went to the door and rang the bell. However, the lack of vehicles had me once again suspect a vacant house. This time it was. As such, I wandered around the back to where I had spotted a pump (covered with a pail). Upon removing the pail, not only was there a nozzle at the end of the hose but the nozzle had a mist setting. I nearly wept. Ok, no I didn’t. But again, you get the idea. Said mist nozzle was MUCH more conducive to my water-avoiding ways. Dare I say the mist nozzle was pretty great as it gently soaked me from head to toe. Despite the thorough soaking, by the time I finished leaving a note for the mystery people whose hose I just used, I was essentially dry again. Sigh. Maybe I should be wearing cotton. Oh well, at least I was a few degrees cooler for a few moments. Did I mention it was hot today? Anyway, I was very happy to see that the mystery people are no longer a mystery. Thanks to Mitch Storm for leaving a comment in the Guestbook confirming that he received my note that I had left behind. Thanks again, Mitch … for the comment and the water.

The remainder of the ride went well with just one more stop along the way. That stop came with about 6 km left in my ride when I met … uh oh, I’m drawing a blank on his name. I think it was John. Let’s go with that. Anyway, he lived in one of the houses along my route and he noticed me and flagged me down. His daughter had done a ride a few years back and he’s helped a few cyclists that have passed by. Anyway, we chatted about a wide range of things including the roads, the hills, surveying, and of course, the weather. It was a nice chat and a good break before returning to the road for the final 6 km.

My accommodation for the night was courtesy of Luke, another Warm Showers host. He had lots of room in his yard for camping and that’s what I did. He’s also in a good location for finding food and I was able to walk over to The Great Wall for supper. Not much in the way of atmosphere but the all-you-can-eat buffet was fantastic … of course, last night I ate “Pasta by Mark” from an alcohol stove and there was no gourmet eating during the ride today so when I say “the buffet was fantastic” I can’t necessarily say that objectively. But SUBJECTIVELY, it was fantastic. Plus there were seven ice cream flavours to choose from. I had six of them. That alone was worth the $7.50.

The big end to the day was definitely weather related. As I was gluttonously enjoying my dinner, a large storm was moving in. Fortunately, it waited long enough for me to get back to the safe-ish confines of my tent before the assault started. There was lightning. There was thunder. At one point, there was a continuous thunder roll that lasted for at least 14 seconds. It was more than a little awesome. The winds picked up. The rain came down. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not thrilled with my current tent but I’ll save that for another day. Suffice it to say, I was glad to be in my tent when the storm hit and not out on the road. That would’ve been ugly. That said, the cloud that lead the storm was pretty awesome looking.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 95.68 km
Ride time: 4:50:39
Average speed: 19.75 km/h
Maximum speed: 57.22 km/h