Today's route took us along the river (although we did't see it until the last 13 miles) and out into the flat Illinois countryside.  We are out of the hilly part of this state so the only climbing we had today was of the short variety and just enough to add a bit of change in muscle use after long flat sections.  At right, I caught a rider as he crested a small rise in the early morning cool air.  Since it is September, the crops are in full green color and mature...corn and soybeans are the dominant feature on most of the route.  One rider passed me while holding his nose to block the strong aroma of cattle manure that a farmer had spread to fertilize one of the fields that was lying dormant.  Hey, it's all part of the package of riding in a rural area...also part of absorbing the trip.  Brought back memories of my childhood on the farm...I always wondered why no one wanted to sit by me when I was in grade school...I must have smelled like that...hmmm, maybe I smell like that now. 

Although our departure included urban streets and a state highway, we left on deserted streets since it was a Saturday.  Navigation was fairly easy since there were no cars to contend with and everyone seemed to get out of town pretty easily. 

I was riding with Karen and really enjoying the quiet country roads...didn't take many photos today but we did find time to stop in a little town of Berwick to direct traffic around their rotary.  I spent several minutes last night briefing everyone on the techniques of riding around rotaries, but this one only has about 1 car a week come through it.  As I was standing there stopping the non-existent traffic (left) for Bob and David, several did a lap around the circle...a couple of them seemed unable to figure out which way to exit the circle after they had gone around it a time or two...was it dizziness or just their directionally challenged genes kicking in?  At right, an unidentified rider was having trouble getting off the circle...it's his 10th lap trying to find the correct road to leave on.  I told them to turn off the rotary at the post office, but I heard Nancy yell she couldn't find the post office as I watched her make a couple passes around the circle...Nancy, it's the only building on the circle!!!!  They did change the name of the departing street so I can see why you were confused...sort of.

While most of today's route is very rural with larger farms in this area than in the upper portion of the ride, we passed through a couple of small towns to break the monotony.  One interesting town today was Nauvoo, a small Latter Day Saint's community about 15 miles out of Keokuk.  In the early 1800s, Nauvoo became the religious, cultural, and governmental center for the Church of Latter Day Saints and a refuge for Joseph Smith and early members of the church.  Shortly after 1845, settlers were forced to abandon this thriving community (almost the size of Chicago) and start their trek to the west.  I've been watching the reconstruction of the temple (right) for the last few years and they finally completed it last year...it's quite a sight and a tribute to the people who built the first temple on the same sight over 150 years ago.

One of the problems with riding out in the country vs on major state roads is navigation...riders have to pay attention or they will miss turns and after that happens, nothing makes sense on the route sheets from then on.  Luckily, the roads mostly run in squares out here, but many of them are gravel so we try to help the riders sometimes by placing directional arrows along the way.  After the second SAG as Karen and I were leaving town in a rain shower, I noticed one of the cues on the route sheet was missing...oops!!!  There were several riders who had departed in front of us and no telling how they got back on route, but we saved the day for all the riders who were behind us.  If they didn't turn at the missed cue turn, they ran into a gravel road in about 2 miles...then it was a free for all to find their way back.  Luckily, when we got to Keokuk, everyone had signed in by 5:00 so it wasn't too bad.   It was a good thing we caught the mistake since we almost had people scattered all over Illinois...and it's a big state.

Today's ride was pretty tough considering the distance of 96 miles.  The final mile was a climb across the river on the bridge into town and to our motel...a Holiday Inn Express about 2 blocks after the river.  I'm sure everyone will ride very confidently tomorrow.  Oh, they might not be smarter but they would have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.  The laundry across the street was full of cyclists before rap and dinner.  You'd think that we'd taken over the laundry...that took the place of sightseeing for the afternoon. 

Tomorrow is a short day...only 60+ miles to Hannibal.  The riders are looking forward to a day they can leave a little later and still get in fairly early.  There are lots of things to see in Hannibal as it is the home of Mark Twain so we are hoping the weather forecast is correct for once.  I told them to sleep in tomorrow and we would load the luggage late.  I know I'll enjoy sleeping in.  Take care and come back tomorrow.  M