Day 44 – July 17 – Muscatine, IA to Kewanee, IL – 85 Miles

It’s great to be back in Illinois!

We got a good start today, moving toward the river at 7:00.  We followed our Adventure Cycling maps that led us directly into street construction that cut off our access to the bridge over the Mississippi.  After looking at the GPS, we were able to make a detour that got us onto the bridge approach.  I was somewhat amazed at the lack of traffic on the bridge.  For some reason I had anticipated something crowded with cars and trucks, that was not the case.  The only traffic we passed was coming from Illinois into Muscatine.

The Illinois side of the river is a rural flood plane of farm fields.  It is flat for a couple miles between the river and a rather low ridgeline.  We followed the base of this ridgeline south along the Great River Road before turning east to climb the ridge.  At the top of the ridge we found typical Illinois, as flat as could be, as far as we could see to the east.  It was a welcome sight after the last few days of negotiating the Iowa side of the river.  A wind out of the southwest, gave us a promise of a good day.  Of our dreaded 4H’s only the heat and humidity were left to deal with.  It was still early enough that the heat had not set in, and the forecast called for temperatures in the upper 90s.

By 11:30 we had put in 50 miles including a refreshment stop in Reynolds, IL and a wrong turn near Sherrard.  Orion, IL would be our lunch stop.  As we entered Orion, I stopped to ask a woman where we might find a café or sandwich shop in town.  After giving us directions, she asked about the ride.  Her first question was if we were riding for a cause.  I told her about Ride for Water and as I was handing her one of my cards she handed me a 5 dollar bill.

After lunch we continued on trying to make it to somewhere cool in Kewanee.  We stopped in Cambridge for some ice cream and more water.  It was hot and we were starting to feel the effects.  Some water on our shirts as we rode provided some relief.  The last few miles took us through wind farms being built west of Kewanee.  Traffic around the construction site increased.  We made it into Kewanee around 3:00. We made good time despite the heat.  A shower and a few hours in the AC helped our recovery.

Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be similar.  Our destination may be Pontiac or Streator depending on conditions.