Originally Posted by
indyfabz
...It was ungodly hot and humid. Easily 100 degrees. The tar used to fill in road cracks stuck to our tires and splattered on our frames. Little pieces of gravel stuck to our tires....
Yeah, same here. Here's the excerpt from my journal:
It was hot enough to melt the tar on the roads. That actually slowed me down a little, sinking into the road just a tad. I could hear bubbles of tar popping as a rode. And if I hit a spot of fresh gravel or sand, it would clog up in the fenders a little. Those fenders I was so glad to have the first two weeks are now starting to annoy. It really was oppressively hot.
It was obvious today that nobody was doing anything outside. Parties and cookouts were cancelled. Parks were empty. It was just stupid to be outside. I guess that's why they call this site "crazy guy on a bike".
Neglecting the heat for a minute, the riding today was rural Illinois at its finest. When I sit up on the bike, I can just see over the tall corn. There are wooded ridges and creeks spacing out the fields, so the cyclist gets a good variation once in a while. It was particularly nice approaching the Illinois River.