Thursday July 30, 2009

CATCHUP BLOG. This entry will cover the past week.
HOORAY. I made it to Nauvoo, Illinois on the Mississippi river today and I only had to cheat a little bit.
The ride through western Ohio was a killer. I thought it would be a cinch because there would not be as many hills but I did not count on the viscous headwinds. For three days I had a 15 to 20 MPH wind blowing right at me. I was heading straight west and the trade winds were blowing straight east. Sometimes it would almost blow me backward.
I averaged about 40 miles per day during that period. Those 40 miles per day took longer and required much more energy and guts than the 85 miles I rode yesterday.
I was behind schedule and decided to rent a car and drive through the western part of Indiana and the eastern part of Illinois. Those 200 free miles would help me arrive in Omaha Nebraska in time to make my flight to Utah for the “Lake Powell Family Vacation”.
Besides that I did not want to ride into a headwind across Indiana and Illinois. In addition the scenery in the rural parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois was exactly the same. (See the attached photo of the open road. It was shot on route 116 in Illinois but it could have just as easily been in Ohio or Indiana).
It had rained pretty hard during some of the evenings and my tent leaked quite a bit so when I got to Peoria, Illinois I decided to buy a new tent. The old one was big (two person plus equipment) and heavy (approx 7 lbs). The new one is little (one person – no equipment) and light (approx 3.6 lbs). It is very fast and easy to set up and I am quite happy with it.
I am now a knowledgeable self supporting bike tourer. I know what to carry and what to leave home. I know the right bicycle, clothing and equipment to use. I am not the strongest rider yet but I can ride over 80 miles a day carrying a 45 lb load if I have to.
And I can ride up hills if I want to. Sometimes I do not want to. After about 1 – 2 hours my butt gets very tired of being on the saddle. It really helps a lot to get off and walk for a while. The ride through western Illinois was great because there were rolling hills. I would ride fast (20 – 28 MPH) downhill and then sometimes get off and walk uphill (3.5 MPH). I can ride up a reasonably steep, long hill at 8 – 11 MPH. However the Rocky Mountain Range will be a completely different story. I don’t know how I am going to ride over them.
On Wednesday night 7/29/2009 I camped at a baseball field in Lomax Illinois. It was late when I got there and I was behind the concession stand and I did not think anyone knew I was there. I decided not to set up the tent that night but sleep between two picnic tables on a concrete pad right by the concession stand. My panniers were on the picnic tables and the bike was leaning against one of them. I had not hooked up the bicycle cable lock.
In the middle of the night someone tried to steal the bicycle. I don’t think he saw me sleeping next to it between the two benches. I jumped up and he dropped the bicycle and took off. I chased him and hollered at him but did not catch him.
The next day on the short ride to Nauvoo I stopped at a park in Neota Illinois. It is right on the Mississippi river. There was a group of kids and dogs just messing around. The dogs came over to check me out and a little girl with a box came over to tell me she was catching frogs and toads and insects for them to eat. Then the boys came over to see my bike, bike shorts and find out where I was going. We had a great conversation. They told me a lot about life in a small Mississippi river town, about the floods, friends, families, 4 wheelers, bikes, school and everything else. I thought I was right in the middle of the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and friends. I helped and the boys helped roll over logs so the girl could catch more toads and frogs. I wish that I had thought to take their picture and get their names.
Nauvoo is tremendous. There is a lot of interesting, historical tourist stuff to do. It is one of the most historically correct restorations of a mid 1800’s Mississippi river town. In my mind it is almost as good as Jamestown Virginia although Jamestown was a much earlier period.
After I got in town I showered and washed my clothing and then went to the new Nauvoo Temple. It is a re-creation of the original Nauvoo Temple and on the same site. It is an operating Mormon Temple and I wanted to see if they would let me in to do a temple session. Usually you wear a white shirt, tie, dress shoes and a suit to the temple but all I had was an EXOFFICIO backpacking shirt, light cargo pants and tennis shoes. I told them this was the best clothing that I had. I did have my temple recommend and they let me in to do a session.
I was extremely lucky to be in Nauvoo when I was. The Nauvoo Pageant had 2 more performances. It was a tremendous show. A dramatization of life and religion in Nauvoo in the 1838 – 1846 period. It was a very bright, happy production with a cast of hundreds. It had singing, dancing, humor, testimony and great information. It was really worthwhile and I was lucky to be here.
After the show I went up to meet some of the cast. I met a beautiful young English woman who played the part of John Taylor’s wife (English). All the cast members had referral cards and asked audience members to refer non-member friends and family. This girl was so friendly, charming and interested in my bike trip that I could not help myself. I referred all of you to the missionaries – so expect a knock on your door soon.