Covid Cross Day #16 Henry, IL to Muscatine, IA

Covid Cross Day #16

June 17, 2020

Henry, IL to Muscatine, IA 119 Miles

Start 6:38 AM Finish 5:55 PM

Ride Time 9:58

Ascent 1024 Feet

Descent 823 Feet

Tour Total 1471 Miles

Details at: https://cyclemeter.com/3f1ef27914a4c684/Cycle-20200617-0638-11946

I slept well camping in Waterworks Park in Henry, on the banks of the Illinois river. I could hear motorists crossing the nearby bridge all night long. I woke up with the sunrise and the squawking of geese. When I climbed outside my tent there were hundreds of them gathered along the shore. They eventually dispersed into the stream. A large barge was cruising down the river as I packed up my camp.

My first order of business was to pay for the yesterday's downhill that I had enjoyed riding down into the valley. I climbed two bumps to get back up to the plains, and it wasn’t so bad. I spoke with Sam last night and got a central Minnesota weather forecast, where it was currently 90°F. I'd be in St. Cloud in a week, and hoped that things cooled off by then. It was a little chilly this morning and I was wearing my short sleeve jersey and bike shorts. It was good cycling weather.

Back out in the country I found myself surrounded by soy bean fields. A large wind farm could be seen to the south and another one far to the north. The birds were flying alongside me as they did here on the prairie. After I took a left on county road 200 N towards Bradford I came to a Road Closed sign. They were chipping the road and small pieces of gravel were making a racket running up the inside of my front fender. I could spot the blue Bradford water tower from four miles away, and I could also see large construction equipment up ahead. I finally got to the other side of the road work. My phone battery and charger were both running low.

I stopped at Casey’s General store in Bradford where I channeled Jeff from Team Spokane, who is the fastest electrical outlet spotter among touring cyclists. There was a live outlet right in front of the store and I quickly plugged in my phone and power pack. I left them sitting there while I went into the store. The clerk was wearing a mask. I actually hadn't seen much mask compliance in awhile. Both devices slowly trickled in their juice, while I sat on the curb enjoying Starbucks Frappuccinos and a banana and walnut muffin. I went back into the store to purchase a bottle of Banana Boat SPF 50 sunscreen, the exact same kind that I had just emptied. I met a friendly retired couple who were here visiting the old family farm. The man was a neurology professor at the University of Pittsburg. He told me about a study for Parkinson’s disease patients whereas they were seated in the stoker position on a tandem to successfully rebuild brain cells.

The wind was out of the south again today, and it got stronger as things warmed up. I stopped in Kewanee for food. The mom and pop places that interested me weren’t open yet, so I went to Subway and got a footlong tuna sandwich, potato chips, and lemonade. Masks were required to enter the store. There was an outlet out front, where I was able to get some more charging. I enjoyed my lunch seated on the front sidewalk.

There was brand new fresh asphalt riding out of town on Page Street Extension. A few miles down the road I came to where they were laying down the asphalt. The flagman waved me through. A truck was directly behind me through the one-lane construction gauntlet, and it had to travel at my pace. Soon I was through to the other side and back on old pavement.

I enjoyed the one lane country road 1800 S which took me north as I stair-stepped to Cambridge. I passed a small flock of lambs in somebody’s front yard. By noon there were puffy clouds scattered through the sky. I enjoyed whenever the sun was obscured by clouds.

I stopped at the BP station on the edge of Cambridge. I headed straight to the beer cave to cool down. I purchased two Red Gatorades and sat on a bench out front. Masks were required inside the store and the seating had been caution taped. The clerk told me that it was going to be 90° here tomorrow. I’d be on the next map section which took me north through Iowa towards Minnesota. Eastern Iowa was going to be hilly.

I was pretty sure that I missed the turn last year onto County Road 1300, and I got it right this year. I was excited to pass the graffiti shack, which I knew I would be seeing today. It was an odd mix of anarchy out here in the middle of nowhere, My only disappointment was that I was couldn't find any of my Rusty Crank stickers from last year. I hadn’t seen a single one, and I was getting the sense the Four over Four printing made crappy stickers.

I crossed under I-74, and remembered this underpass from last year. I was planning to meet Donna and Tommy in Muscatine for dinner. It was always tricky trying to time things out on a bike. I’d be staying in a hotel tonight and returning myself to level one. I had contacted Jeanne, my Warm Showers host from last year, but she had been unavailable.

On my way out of Orion I crossed over a small wooden deck bridge that passed over a railroad track. I'd seen two RV campers today, and assumed there will be less of them on the road this summer, but I could be wrong. The wind picked up and was still coming from the south. It was OK riding when I was traveling west. The south heading stair-steps were brutal. I’d been very lucky so far with the wind out here on the prairie.

At 2:30 PM and 78 miles into the ride, my toes were writhing in pain, as they do sometimes after I've been pedaling for awhile. I stayed in motion, but unclipped my shoes and tried to stretch my toes inside my shoes. Today would be the tour's third century. I’d really been pounding out the miles and taking advantage of the favorable weather conditions. I was on a shitty road with no shoulder and a headwind.

I pedaled around the tiny town of Sherrard, population 640, heading west. I passed a roadkill groundhog. I had been seeing a lot of dead raccoons and squirrels, but this was the first dead groundhog. A little ways down the road I encountered a smaller groundhog who was standing in the road and didn’t budge as I approached. In fact he lunged at me. I didn't kill your mom. Crazy!

I rode through the town of Preemption, population 77. I thought that was a great name for a town. I finally made it to Reynolds, where I stopped at the Risky bar for two bottles of Stella. It was air-conditioned and I sat at the bar. I talked with the bartender who said that they usually saw a lot of cyclists during the summer and that I had been the first he'd seen this year. He told me that he hated Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker and asked me what I thought about Andrew Cuomo. Technically we were all supposed to have been wearing masks in the bar, but the new policy didn't go into affect until next week.

I descended into the Mississippi River valley, and then traveled north towards Highway 92. There was high speed traffic and not the best shoulder. I was on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway, which I would riding for the next several days. Finally I came to the bridge over the Mississippi. I was so hot and badly wanted to jump into the cool muddy waters below. On the Iowa side I took a photo in front of the welcome sign, where I could see the remnants of last year’s bleached and peeled sticker. Iowa was state number nine. I took a right and pedaled up the hill to the Comfort Inn where I would be spending the night. I saw the tours first Bernie sign at mile marker 1469. I had to pedal as far as Iowa to see a Bernie sign. For shame.

The hotel reception desk had plastic sheeting stretched from one side to the other. In my hotel room I set up my tent and sleeping gear to air out. I did laundry and took an amazing shower. In fact, I washed and scrubbed myself twice. Tommy picked me up and brought me to Bridgeside Links, which had been my first stop in Iowa last year. We sat out on the back porch and were amused by a large family of ground hogs across the street near the Iowa welcome sign. I consulted last year's blog for my beer choice - Pollinator Honey Wheat Ale. I enjoyed fish tacos and a large salad, and enjoyed my friends' company.