Originally Posted by
Rowan
That's mighty flat country you have there. It's little wonder you can peel off 44 miles without thinking about it.
PS: Yes, I have ridden in Illinois, but along the Mississippi where the organisers of that particular 24H TT found some rather steep even if shortish hills.
I rode a lot in college on roads like that near Champaign-Urbana. They are flat.
The wind there makes up for it. With no significant hills or trees to break it up it is much more of a pia than the same wind in a place that is not as flat as an ocean on a calm day.