East of the Mississippi

It's been a while since I had access to a computer. Since I last updated we have cycled across Illinois and are now solidly into Indiana and the eastern time zone.

We rode from Kirksville MO, to Quincy IL on Friday. The hills of Missouri gave way to the plains of central Illinois. We crossed the river on a ferry north of Quincy and had as nice ride into town. I met my sister and bro in law in Quincy and had a great meal. (Patrick kindly paid for my meal and I promptly sent a thank you note to Tracy in hopes that it might happen again ;)

Saturday we rode to Springfield IL fighting a gentle headwind the entire day. Head winds are so discouraging. A hill can be conquered but a head wind is relentless. The battle with the wind was worth it as my whole family met me in Springfield and spent the night. Jess, Abby, Libby, Pay, Dad and Mom were all there. The kids thought my side burns looked funny as I have grown out some chops that are even with my mouth. The girls were jealous of my tan until I pulled my sleeve up to reveal the most awesome farmer's tan they have ever seen.

Sunday was a "short" 77 mile ride from Springfield to Tuscola. Mother nature decided to make it difficult with an all day head wind gusting to 25 miles. I was especially weary of that since I knew several of my relatives were meeting us in Tuscola. When we finally rode into town my cousin J.C. his wife Tanya and son Brandon were waiting under a tree to see me ride in. The rest of the family went out to eat and missed my arrival. None the less it was so fun to see everyone and I have received frequent ribbing from my riding buddies about having a fan club across all of Illinois.

Today we got a nice pay back from the wind in the face we had in Illinois. With a tail wind we rode at up to 26 mph for large portions of the day as we rode to Lebanon IN.

Tomorrow I am going to replace my chain that was brand new prior to leaving California. Usually a chain will last 3-6 months but because of all the miles we have done this one only lasted 3 weeks. My butt is fully conditioned to the long hours in the saddle and I am fully convinced that I would not have felt a single swat I received in school if my butt were as tough then as it is now. I have had 3 crashes but they have all been at very low speeds and were more embarrassing than damaging. It's really fun to fall over at a stop sign in front of a bunch of cars. I continue to eat at a level that is similar to my high school days out of necessity. I am one who 'eats to live' so I have to be disciplined to make myself do this.

I got a letter from Hal Hamilton my pastor from Aldersgate. The letter had a line that was especially meaningful to me. "I have a suspicion that this was never really about the bike ride in God's great economy." I think he is right. More every day I realize how much I need the Lord, how his strength is what strengthens me and how blessed I am to have an incredible wife like Jess. I am also learning some things about my spiritual gifts.

For all of you desiring more entertaining commentary and excellent pictures, don't worry. David should have his computer back tomorrow. Today while I was riding on a country rode in Illinois I saw a car go up to a group of our cyclist. I thought they were having a heated exchange as the cyclist broke up from their pace line and hands were being pointed. The car then started dropping back to me and I-man and I thought they were going to have some choice words for me when all the sudden a sign pops out of the window that says "Rob Landes is my cousin". John and Mary Powers had chased us down about 25 miles outside of Tuscola to say hi to me. About 1 minute later David rides up and says, "Did you call for a photographer?" and captures the moment. He asked me if all of Illinois was out to support me.

I certainly can feel your support. Thanks for reading, thinking and praying for me.(Don't forget Jess. She is working a lot harder than me.)


To quote Scott Chamness, "Tic Toc, Tic Toc, Tic Toc. Times a wasting. Keep pedaling."