Day 37: Muscatine, Iowa to Kewanee, Ill.

This morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and were casually getting ready when, unfortunately, I noticed that my tire had gone flat overnight. So far, I’ve had a handful of flats, but only one that I’ve actually repaired during the day (and that was our very first day). It is nice to be able to fix a flat in a hotel, however the slow-leak flats typically means I’ve been riding on a soft tire for at least some of the day. Also, this morning, it meant we didn’t get out of the hotel until a bit later than we’d hoped. As such, today was very hot, right from the start. Gone are the days of our 40 degree starting temps that we enjoyed in Montana. It is definitely summer, and the humidity is much more noticeable.

First thing after we left Muscatine, we crossed the Mississippi again and entered our 8th U.S. state of the trip, Illinois. After climbing up away from the river, we did notice a change in terrain. It was much flatter: flat, straight, and full of corn. To deal with the monotony, I devised a new technique: rather than just picturing corn fields, I’d try to picture what the corn fields will become. “Oh, look, a field of gummy bears;” “oh, look a field of Pabst;” etc. This was only somewhat effective. Nevertheless, we persisted, pushed through the heat, ate breakfast behind the dumpsters at a Casey’s, and finally arrived in Kewanee. Here, we enjoyed some Mexican food and sat down to plan out our route from here to Adrian. The next few days have limited services, so we wanted to look where off route we might be able to stay, and where it makes sense to start heading north toward Michigan. Once we get to Fort Wayne, Ed should have some knowledge of the towns and roads, so let’s hope conditions are similar to how they were back in the 19-let’s-not-talk-specifics when Ed last biked there regularly.

Tomorrow we will continue east, riding toward Wenona. We will be Wenona Riders.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 75
Total climbing: 1617 ft.
Average pace: 13.2
Average temperature: 87F
Buffalo farms spotted: 1
Cornfields passed: cannot be represented by a real number
Enchiladas consumed: 2
Subway meals since last Saturday: 4
Prior to last Saturday: 0

AS PROMISED: I’ve graded the responses from our quiz on Friday and determined that all participants are worthy of a prize. For those curious to know the results, I will say that Niamh and Laurie answered all of the questions correctly, depending on your philosophical persuasion. Thank you for following along. Below is the annotated answer guide:

1. TRUE or FALSE: Colin has worn the same shirt every day while on the bike:

A. TRUE (also, gross) 

B. FALSE

C. Trick Question: Colin has two identical shirts and switches them out. 

D. Both can be true. There is no objective reality, so it’s a matter of your subjective perspective. 

*It should be noted that I wash my jersey every day, so I never wear a “dirty” shirt. I accepted D as a valid answer, though, I think that if D is correct, your other answers may not be. Open to hearing dissenting opinions. 

2. Ed’s bike computer can track everything but the following: 

A. Ed’s heart rate

B. Colin’s heart rate.

C. Altitude.

D. Current temperature.

*Everyone got this answer correct! No one really thinks I’d wear a heart rate monitor so that Ed could track my heart rate.

3. The beer in Shelby, Mont. was as cold as:

A. Your ex-wife’s heart.

B. Glacial runoff.

C. An ice fishing hole.

D. An igloo.

*This was apparently one of the more obscure answers. In case you can’t recall, that was the tag line for the bar we went to in Shelby. The beer was cold, but as neither of us have ex-wives, this was not an apt description of our experience.

4. We briefly passed into which Canadian province? 

A. Manitoba

B. British Columbia

C. Wisconsin

D. Alberta

*another one that everyone got correct. We did briefly pass into Wisconsin, but as it turns out, that’s a U.S. state. 

5. Our highest mountain pass of the trip was:

A. Snoqualmie Pass 3015 ft. 

B. Lolo Pass 5233 ft. 

C. Logan Pass 6647 ft.

D. Steven’s Pass 4061 ft. 

*another contentious one. Logan Pass was the continental divide in Glacier that we ascended. Steven’s Pass, you all seemed to know, we did not climb on this trip. Logan was the highest. But I suppose if you chose D for question 1, that’s really just a matter of perspective.

Thanks everyone for participating! Keep an eye on the mail for your prize.

 This is a buffalo. All the others were scared when we rode by, but not this one. He sat right by the fence and watched.

 Near the river in Illinois

 Outside our hotel this morning. We went from our most expensive hotel last night to our cheapest, tonight at the Motel 6.

 Somewhere along the road in Illinois.

Note the numerous windmills in the corn fields. 

Entering a new state. We’ve tried to get a “welcome to” sign at every crossing, but learned that note every state has these at every point of entry. Our photo for Minnesota was actually just a sign we saw while passing underneath I-90, on the same day we left Minnesota.