2011-06-02 Kewanee to Streator, Illinois (78 miles)

Since we were headed east this morning, I was hoping for some nice tail winds like yesterday.  I missed out on a great ride because I was the Sag driver.  Today the bad news is it was headwinds most of the way...the good news is the winds were only 10-15 mph, with some stronger gusts.  That didn't seem too bad after Muscatine's 40+ mph winds!  There had been rain predicted, but as it turned out, there were only a few sprinkles for a while.  The roads were good, and not too many hills...even those were not long.  So all in all, it was a good day.  I rode with Bev today, and we are a good match.  We stopped only briefly at sag stops, and did not stop for lunch.  We arrived at the hotel at 2:00 pm, a 6.5 hour ride today (including stops) to finish the 78 miles.  Many others stopped for lunch, but we decided to try to beat the possible rain.  I'm glad we did.  It has been nice to have extra time to relax.

Tomorrow we will ride east again, from Streator to Watseka, Illinois, 86 miles.  Weather, (always important to us) calls for a high of 90 by late afternoon with winds mostly from the south, 10-13 mph.

PS  Someone asked me how to become a "follower" on my blog.  Just click on the follower button, and just work through the prompts.  It is always nice to know who is out there!     Rita  :-)

2011-06-01 Muscatine, Iowa to Kewanee, Illinois 78 miles

Today was my day to be the Sag driver.  According to one of our Aussie riders, Cathy Mead, the ride was "magical!"  The sun was shining, the temps were in the 70's and low 80's, humidity was low, the road had mild rolling hills or flat, and there was a TAIL WIND for most of the route!  There were smiles on everyone's faces as I drove by, getting the thumbs up signal.  

Within blocks of leaving the hotel in Muscatine, Iowa, we crossed the bridge into Illinois.  In a few miles we were out in the country, on smooth roads, seeing mile after mile of farmland.  The corn is only four to six inches high right now, but there are many fields of seedling rows.

Because of the tailwinds, everyone was flying over the route, and many took advantage of their speed to take time out for a restaurant lunch. The 78 miles seemed short to everyone today!

Tomorrow we ride to Steator, Illinois, 78 miles.

2011-05-31 Rest day in Muscatine, Iowa 0 miles

We awoke to a light rain, and we were all happy to sleep in and stay inside.  It wasn't long before the rain stopped, and the sun came out.  I cleaned my bike, and took advantage of the plan to go to Harper's Cycle Shop in the downtown area.  It was really fun to see Greg and Charlie Hopper, the owners of Harper's.  I have gone on 15 Ragbrai rides (the bike ride across Iowa), and for many of them we were able to get the repair guys to drive our vehicle to each town on the ride.  In exchange for doing that, the guys were able to ride in an air conditioned Tahoe and have lunch on us.  That way, all of us were able to ride every day.  In all that time, however, I have never been to their shop in Muscatine, so it was a real treat for me.



 Then Denise took us into downtown Muscutine and dropped us off.

 We went into the Muscutine Historical Museum to learn about the Pearl Button Capital.  They used to make pearl buttons out of the oyster shells in the Mississippi River here, and for 70 years over half of the population of Muscutine was employed in one way or another in the button industry.

 Just for fun we decided to stop and check out an antique store. 



Tomorrow the destination is Kewanee, Illinois for a 78 mile ride.  Hopefully with a left turn, the wind will be more at our backs.  I will be the sag driver tomorrow.