The beds did us well and we were up by
7am for another huge breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal.
The rain held us up for a bit, but we made it out by
11am.
Said our goodbyes to our superlative hosts Mary and Joe and embarked to
Jacksonville with Paul (Mary, Joe, Paul and the biker three pictured above; Paul pictured below).
Riding with Paul was a great experience, we swapped lots of touring stories, he took many pictures of we studly three, and he introduced us to the infamous “Horseshoe” of South-Central Illinois. What is a horseshoe? Well, it is a piece of Texas toast subtending a thick slab of meat (tenderloin, hamburger or chicken) upon which sits a nest of French fries smothered in melted cheese (nacho cheese style cheese). You can’t find them anywhere else, so next time you are around Springfield, make sure you down one, just don’t ride a bike afterwards.
Heading out from Jacksonville we got our first big dose of water from the sky. Thankfully we were right next to a John Deer dealership and we were able to huddle inside a showroom while sheets of rain relentlessly pounded the tin roof overhead (Below picture of Nick and Luke staring drearily into the dismal downpour).
After it passed we decided too head out, got caught in a sprinkle, crossed the Illinois river, and made it to Pittsfield, IL. The first thing we did was stretch…ourselves out on a barstool and order some beers at the local pub. We made our way down the street to eat at the weekend dinner-date hot-spot and got a lot of awkward stares (what? Are bright jersey’s and skintight spandex that show off our manliness not appreciated outside of a bar?). The restaurant served all their sandwiches on store bought generic white bread (and we were still hungry after we ate) so the stares mattered not to us (strange man at bar pictured below).
We still had no place to stay and it was getting late. The local park was too mosquito and cop ridden and we were getting antsy. What to do? Why, let’s go to a church! So we meandered on over the closest church (a Methodist church) and stumbled upon something out of this world. Thirty-some twenty-somethings running around in strange clothes (many in drag) with tan-lines indicative of bicyclists (Picture of Luke trying to convince the biker hoard that Athens Ohio actually exists)
Yikes! Turns out that the Methodist church was hosting a bicycle gang that rides across the US building houses to fight poverty. Why they were in drag… I guess that happens when you are with the same group of thirty people for weeks on end…if the same fever overcomes us, well, um, we’ll make sure we keep it confined to churches, for safety’s sake (Picture of biker-man dressed in drag)
They fed us roasted beef sandwhiches and offered us floorspace in the church. We cyclists ooeed and awed at each other, danced for a bit, and curled up under the last supper for a good nights sleep.
Much thanks to Mary, Joe and Paul for the company, food, tent piece and bike help!
Miles: 67
Morale: Grinning from ear to ear
no storms
no flats
After it passed we decided too head out, got caught in a sprinkle, crossed the 
Yikes! Turns out that the Methodist church was hosting a bicycle gang that rides across the 
They fed us roasted beef sandwhiches and offered us floorspace in the church. We cyclists ooeed and awed at each other, danced for a bit, and curled up under the last supper for a good nights sleep.
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