Woodstock, Illinois

This morning we said goodbye to Ada & Andrew after a very relaxing weekend at his parents’ place in the country. It was great not to sleep in a tent for 2 nights and to be away from the whole tour and all the hoopla that goes with it. As fun as it is, it’s also very “druk” – as they say in Dutch, one of those words you can’t really translate. The weather was ideal this morning, not too warm or cool, with clear skies, and the dew rising in a mist from the fields surrounding Madison. The picture below shows the view from the house where we slept last night.

Ada & Andrew brought us back to Crossroads Church by 6 a.m. and after breakfast we were off again, with 130 kms to go and another state line to be crossed. Today’s trip took us through all sorts of twists and turns down one country road after another, anything to avoid interstates and busy highways. The risk of all that, of course, is getting lost by making a wrong turn. I know all about that by experience, because I traveled an extra 12 kms today by making a right turn one road too early. It was a matter of poor communication, both by the person who told me I’d gone too far and needed to turn right a ways back, and by myself for not asking for a clearer explanation and assuming I’d gotten the information right. Apparently all sorts of people were hollering at me as they watched me speed away, but I was so fast – ha! - I was almost immediately out of earshot. Oh well, live and learn. It took me 6 kms to realize my mistake.

There wasn’t much in the way of photo ops today, just this one farm that had its property surrounded by signs protesting the use of corn for ethanol rather than food. That would be pretty consistent with the point of our tour, of course, which is to help end the cycle of poverty and raise awareness of poverty/hunger in North America and the world. I didn’t picture all the signs on this particular property, but the photo below sums up his/her message pretty well.

We crossed the state line from Wisconsin to Illinois with no fanfare whatsoever. There was no sign marking the crossing, as we were on backroads all day. It was only looking back and seeing a small sign that said “state line” that told you we were now in Illinois. We are at a highschool again, and this school has showers rather than pressure washers. Because Diane was late in today – she and the kitchen crew took a detour and visited Lake Geneva, eating ice cream while dangling their feet in its waters – I set up the tent again. Diane is busy getting dinner ready at the moment – bratwurst, a real Wisconsin treat. Tomorrow we head for Chicago, and Trinity Christian College, where I spent my first year of college – not the best year for sure, but more on that tomorrow. Day 1 of week 7 is over, and we are more than 2/3 done. Unbelievable…

Today’s stats:

Distance: 142.79 kms
Average speed: 23.3 kph
Maximum speed: 55.3 kph
Time in saddle: 6.07.00
# of flat tires on tour: 7