June 25, 2005
Odell, IL to Buffalo, IN
The Corn Maze
We got an early start and rolled out at around 7:05 AM. It was still somewhat cool (or rather just not hot yet) in the morning. Winds during the morning were light tail. After a short warm up we started riding in earnest and for the first two hours exchanged one mile pulls and were averaging 17.3 MPH and when we stopped for second breakfast at around 10:15 we had already ridden 40 miles. It was obvious from the start that Tim is an accomplished rider. It was hard to get Nick to understand how to exchange pulls properly with just he and I. With Tim in the mix Nick caught on right away and once we explained that when it was his turn up front that it was best for him just to maintain our speed until the front rider tagged on in the back, the transitions became real smooth. A three person pace line is much more efficient than two and for once Nick got the benefit of drafting a bigger rider and it seemed to be fun for him.
Tim looks happy to join us
After breakfast we cut the pulls down to ½ mile pulls which kept everyone fresher and didn’t allow you to cool down too much before your next turn up front, which is not too efficient as you spend the first mile warming up again.- - So much for the cycling part of it.
As we approached the Indiana border the ACA route had us going farther south than we eventually had to be. Nick (our route planner) said we should stay farther north to cut out riding unnecessary miles. Tim brought along some IL and IN bike maps showing all the county roads so Nick used them in deciding which way we should go. When going west to east there is no one straight through road that we can ride on so we have to ride a series of L’s as one of the county roads may stop at some corn or soybean field and then start up again on the other side of it. To get there you have to box around it. What makes this interesting is that some of the roads are gravel and not paved. We would get to one intersection expecting to take a left or right and find that the road was not paved and would have to take the other option. At one point I said: “This is like riding a corn maze”, which aptly described it. The comment got a chuckle.
We were navigating to Rensselaer, in which had a bike shop, to get Nick’s bottom bracket tightened. When we got close Nick called for directions, which was a good thing as they were closing and we have five miles to get there. We turned on the afterburners and were there in no time. The bike shops out here don’t inventory any high-end road bikes. They only sell them by special order. Consequently they don’t have the tools necessary for a proper fix. The mechanic did the best he could, again with a channel lock wrench and we were on our way, again no charge. We hadn’t eaten lunch yet and it was 3:45 (we took a couple of snack breaks however) so we asked for directions to a restaurant. He gave us directions to the center of town and when we got there I spotted what appeared to be a street fair a few blocks away. We actually really lucked out as The Taste of Rensselaer presented by the Prairie Arts Council was starting at 4:00. Our respective meals were really good home cooking from the various booths. The homemade apple pie alamode was a great desert as well.
Late lunch at The Taste of Rensselaer
There were many people curious about all the gear on our bikes and we had a good number of conversations with the locals. We stayed there until around 5:30 and planned to ride to around 6:30 and start looking for a place to stay. We had a couple of options, but kept riding until we reached a campground about three miles from the center of Buffalo, IL. The owner had just decided to start a cyclist log (a suggestion from another rider the previous week). Our entries are the first three in the log.
It was a great day cycling wise. It was hazy hot and humid but we still completed 120 miles at an average speed of 15.6 MPH for the day. Tim is a great addition to the team and will make the rest of the journey fun and enjoyable.
Jim
Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)
© 2005 - JNS