We rode 106 miles today, across western Illinois, then cycled through downtown Springfield, the capitol city, and home of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln lived here about 35 years, before leaving for Washington, and his inauguration. He never returned, but his remains were brought here and his tomb here looks remarkably like the monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery (sorry, no photo). We, in Gettysburg, have a special connection with President Lincoln, and he is, by far, my favorite president. I will have to return to Springfield in the future and spend more time here.
We passed several million (it seems) acres of corn fields, and a few thousand acres of soy bean fields today. The roads were pretty, the wind was light, but favorable, and the climbs diminished as the day progressed. So it was a pretty fun day. I rode all day with Howie, and Pete joined us a little before the halfway point. Interestingly, I had a flat tire just as I rode into the hotel this afternoon. Good timing, huh?
A few of the riders are feeling ill (nothing major, fortunately), and are spending time in the SAG van as needed. Hopefully they will all be feeling better very soon. On a 7 1/2 week trip with as many people as we have, there are bound to be some ailments and illnesses. Everyone is in good general health, and rest usually helps a good bit.
Pictured are some of the guys having fun at the first SAG. Left to right are Gerard (our excellent mechanic), Howie (who decided the "rings" might not support his weight if he tried any tricks), and Bob, whose website has lots of great photos (see prior posts).
Pete took this photo of Howie and me in front of the State Capitol building. It started to rain just after the photo, and when it poured we took shelter in a Hardees. We consoled ourselves with milkshakes, however!
Folks will want to get to sleep early tonight, as we have almost one hundred miles to ride tomorrow.
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