Northern Tier Day #19 Fletcher, IN to Iroquois, IL
Northern Tier Day #19
June 7, 2019
Fletcher, IN to Iroquois, IL 89 Miles
Ride Time 6:03
Tour Total 1525 Miles
I slept pretty well last night in my tent at the campground in Fletcher, Indiana. There was an owl right outside my tent woo woo-ing all night long. I woke up at around 7am. Florence and Simon were already making breakfast. I can’t believe how much food and cooking equipment they brought, but they’re French after all. Their propane tank for their stove was ginormous. They were very generous to make me coffee.
Last evening I patched my inner tube and used my stove for the first time to make mac & cheese. Before bedtime I took a shower which, as I had been warned by Florence, reeked of sulphur. I’m maintaining cleanliness level 1, although I need a shave.
Florence, Simon, and I took a group photo before my departure. It was nice to spend two nights with them. They enjoyed that I could speak French. It’s so cool to hook up with other touring cyclists! It was a somewhat chilly start, wearing my short sleeve jersey and riding pants, but by 8am I was warm. I had applied tons of sunscreen for the day.
Florence and Simon did stretching exercises yesterday evening and also this morning. I commend them! I, however, am the sore, stiff, crotchety, rusty crank. They were headed southwest today, while I was headed due west. County Road 950 South was another one-lane road through rolling, recently planted, cornfields, with partly cloudy skies above.
I saw two yellow birds flying through the air playing tag. I need to learn more about birds so that I can fully appreciate the different species I see on tour. I saw several house cats out in the fields this morning. When they saw me, they darted back to their homes, which was sometimes a great distance. I clocked one of them at 18 miles an hour.
It was 25 miles until my first stop, and I was hungry. I’m so glad that I cooked macaroni and cheese last night. I passed several more yellow birds. I heard the call of a Bob White, which I decided last year is really Rob Ride!
Indiana was kind of like western Kentucky. It’s very rural and completely agricultural. Life revolves around church, cars, and guns. There’s a lot of low income folks. Many people live in trailer homes. I learned last year that crops are now planted using GPS technology. There’s a border around the field the width of the machinery. Inside the border are straight rows spaced every 30 inches.
I passed a giant mound which I discovered to be the Liberty Landfill run by Waste Management Company. I wonder where all this garbage comes from. The mound was visible for several miles. Downwind I got the stinky smell. This proved to me that I had a tail wind. West of the dump is when I had to start sharing the road with 18 wheelers, and a lot of them.
After two hours, my first stop was Buffalo, my second Buffalo of the tour. I went to the CountryMark Buffalo Stop & Shop. Unfortunately they were no longer serving breakfast, and I couldn’t get an egg sandwich. All they had was biscuits and gravy, which I selected along with a Starbucks Frappuccino and an orange juice. After all the free advertising I’ve been giving Starbucks on this tour, I feel entitled to something. I also filled up my water bottles with non-sulphur smelling water. I sat at a picnic table across the street in the shade.
At a certain point I realized that I had crossed over into central time zone. There wasn’t a sign, but the hour changed on my phone. I checked my world clock and, sure enough, I had just picked up an extra hour. The wind was out of the north so every time my route stair-stepped north I could feel the resistance.
I stopped to move a turtle off the road. I think he was sunning himself, and he was resistant to move. It was really stinky around here. It smelled like animal poo. The tailwind and the time change put me ahead of schedule. Two dogs chased me out on the road. One got close underfoot and I barked back at him. They retreated. There wasn’t enough time for me to pull out my pepper spray. These dogs are much more docile than the Kentucky variety from last year, thank goodness.
The Jasper County Sheriff had a ‘Know Your Speed’ display set up in an unnamed hamlet that I rode through. I clocked 13 miles an hour in a 20 mile an hour zone. Slow is the way to go. It enables you to enjoy the journey. Whenever I was on a western heading, I had a nice tailwind. I was averaging 20 miles an hour.
I crossed over the Iroquois River on my way west. I would be following the Iroquois to my destination. My odometer flipped to 1500 miles and I noted the momentous event. My average has been 80 miles a day. Not too shabby. I stopped at the Mobile Station and took advantage of the 2 for $3 Gatorade special. It was noon with only 13 more miles to my destination, so I decided to wait for my meal. I was still full from the biscuits and gravy.
Truth be told there was no Welcome to Illinois sign on County Road 1125 South. There actually wasn’t one on the county road entering from Ohio to Indiana as well. They only have state border signs on state or federal highways. Being the completist that I am, I went 5 miles off route back to Indiana on US highway 24 to get a photo of the Illinois State border sign. Photo documentation and social media is more important than the actual story. I rode through Iroquois, my destination for the day, and continued south on state highway 52 to US route 24 east and back to the Indiana border. US Highway 24 was busy with a lot of traffic. The Illinois sign photo cost me 10 miles round-trip with a vicious headwind to the damn sign.
There was a huge wind farm on the Illinois side of the border. Coincidentally, there was a huge wind farm on the Ohio side of the Indiana border as well. Everyone knows that Jesus disapproves of wind farms. Jesus likes coal and oil consumption. It’s written in the Bible. Ask Mike Pence.
Illinois is the first of three Northern Tier states that I went through on last year’s TransAm tour. Becky and I both agreed last year that Illinois had the worst roads of the entire TransAm. I hoped that the roads were better here up north.
Iroquois has a population of 154, and is located on the Iroquois River. It’s original name was Bunkum. I went straight to the Iroquois Cafe and ordered a Bunkum burger with fries and a pint of Sam Adams. In Illinois, along with just about everywhere else in the civilized world, cigarette smoking is prohibited in bars and restaurants. One last big huge FUCK YOU to asshole charlatan Mike Asshole Pence. You and your state both suck balls.
I hooked up with Gary, who lives next door to the Iroquois Cafe with his dog Barkley. Gary gave me the key to the shower in the city park. I remain at cleanliness level 1, I’m drinking good cold beer, I’m part of the secret cyclist society, and I’m living the dream.
I picked up on your blog last week, and I’m enjoying your observations. (I’m also now enjoying WFMU, especially Wake and Bake.) Thanks for sharing and safe travels!
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