Land of Lincoln

Burlington, Iowa - to Keokuk, Iowa - Via Illinois

We had a great start today as we made it out of Burlington at 7:30 AM with little traffic and across a major bridge over the Mississippi into Illinois.  When turned south and headed along the Mississippi for basically the entire day.  Great riding as we only had a few hills and we were right next to the Mississippi most of the time.  Went through several small towns that are similar to others we have been through........time has passed them by and they are basically quiet little places with not much going on. Very very quiet.   Not as much corn, but still plenty of soy beans, in this section of Illinois.  We ran into our normal assortment of interesting and very friendly people.  Most looked at us with an expression of "you must be crazy to be riding in this heat."  Did I mention it was hot today?  Well it was close to 100 and most likely was above that as the heat from the pavement most likely made it hotter.  The humidity continues to be difficult, and we had a little headwind, but nothing like yesterday.  We understand we will have headwinds most of the trip. Sometimes the wind is our friend as it keeps us a little bit cooler.  We are well stocked up on water and even I have learned that you never can have too much water.  A wise man I know told me that over and over before and during the trip.  We stopped for lunch at Nauvoo, IL, which has major symbolism for the Mormon faith.  They recently built a new temple in the town and it over looks the Mississippi.  It was extremely impressive...........even though it is out in the middle of nowhere so to speak.  (pictures to come although, I am still having problems downloading them into this blog.  I will be consulting with my advisor, Sam, to see if we can't figure out how to get all the pictures on the system.)  Tonight we are back in Iowa in a medium sized City called Keokuk.  Town is losing population, but they are trying.  We have a nice room at a Holiday Inn Express and are planning to get off very early to try and beat the heat a bit.  We are going to head back into Illinois and go south and work to get to Hannibal, Missouri.  And does everyone know why Hannibal is famous?  If not, stayed tuned for the next report.

Anyway, the facts from David.............

Just the facts: 
Days riding, 8
Distance today 50 miles
Total distance, 525 miles
Daily avg. 65.62
Avg speed today, 10 mph.  Mostly flat road not much shade.  We baked in 98 degrees  plus high humidity.  Should have a water trailer to pull.  Rex and Bill not happy because I would not share my emergency tuna rations with a stray cat.  Too bad, so sad.  I plan to sell them a can of tuna for five bucks when we get stuck out without food.  They will be happy then.