Day 45: Clinton into Illinois farmland

Posted by: Arin

Because our spot was a little sketchy, we woke up and got packed up early (for our standards at least). We were really feeling like drinking some coffee so we headed to a cafe about a half mile away. While we were there, we were able to charge our phones too. We actually hung out for a while to make sure they were fully charged.

The bridge over the Mississippi River was right down the street, and it was awesome to ride over. The river is so huge you can almost feel its power. This was only a small section:

Once we were over the bridge we had officially made it to Illinois. We didn't really know what to expect and only made it a few miles in before Brad got a flat. It turned out to be a manufacturer's error on the tube that Brad bought from the shop where I bought my faulty patches. I guess that's what we get for going to a Trek store. We popped in a new tube and were on our way.

We rode at a decent pace for another 15 miles or so before we got hungry, so we took a little break under an overpass to make some peanut butter, raisin, and apple wraps. Highway 30 actually ended for a short period of time so we were stopped on the side of the interstate. After we got rolling agin was when we really started hauling ass. Soon into it we were able to get back on the 30. Now let me tell you something about highway 30 in Illinois - the shoulder is a foot and a half wide, so it's pretty sketchy. Luckily there wasn't much traffic and the cars gave us room. After a while we noticed we hadn't passed a town in a while and our water supply was diminishing. Soon though, we came upon a little diner on the side of the road.

We set our bikes outside the window and went in. The hostess told us there wasn't a town for over 20 miles and we had already ridden 50ish, plus it was already 5:30pm so we decided to eat dinner there. I had been craving breakfast food so I got an omelette with hash browns and toast, followed by some peach pie with ice cream. It was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I haven't had hash browns in months. While we were there, we talked to a lot of people who were curious about what we were doing. They all knew each other so it was funny to be the lone outsiders. When we were done eating, our waitress said we were all paid for. We never did find out who paid, but if it's the people who got our business card, thank you! What an amazing act of generosity.

We set off optimistically from the restaurant hoping to find a good place to sleep soon. It was already 7:30. The miles kept ticking away as sun went lower and lower, with no sign of a good spot. The wind was strong too, straight in our faces slowing our pace to a crawl. Finally I was over it and told Brad I was going to ask the next house if we could sleep in the driveway.

One lone house came up maybe a quarter mile later. We rode into the driveway and knocked on the door. A man answered. "Hi," I said. "I know this is a random question, but is there any way you would let us camp in your driveway?" He replied "Fuck no, get the hell off my property. I'm going to have you arrested. Now that's a random answer."

Ok. We got the hell out of there. No wonder that guy has no neighbors. He was the first genuinely mean person we had met on the whole trip. We were still riding into the wind, and it was getting dark fast when a cop pulled us over. He asked us if we had headlights. I said we did, but we hadn't turned them on yet to save battery. It wasn't totally dark out yet. Luckily I had already put my lights on and the rear was blinking. He was ok with that, but said he still had to give us a warning. He took our ID cards. "You guys rode here from California? You riding across the country?" He got it spot on. Then he asked us if we had asked a guy if we could camp in his driveway. I guess the guy had called saying he was scared when we came up and thought we were looking into his windows so we could steal stuff. The cop know we weren't causing any trouble so he sent us off down the road, without an official warning but with info of a rest stop a couple miles down and permission to camp there. So here we are, cozy in our tent.