Northern Tier Day #20 Iroquois, IL to Cornell, IL
Northern Tier Day #20
June 8, 2019
Iroquois, IL to Cornell, IL 82 Miles
Ride Time 5:31
Tour Total 1606 Miles
I slept reasonably well last night in the City Park in Iroquois, IL. The birds woke me up early. I had set up my tent adjacent to the maintenance shed, where I had showered, shaved, and washed my clothing. There was an electrical outlet from where I was able to run my extension cord into my tent for device charging.
Dunning Park was built in 1930. I had learned about this place from eastbound cyclists Bill and Finley, whom I met in Lake Erie State Park, NY. The contact number was incorrect on the ACA map, but the bartender at the Iroquois Cafe straightened me out. By dinner time, my second visit to the cafe, everyone in town had heard about me. I met Joe, who did maintenance at the park and had seen my tent and laundry line. While doing laundry I had locked myself out, and had to get a spare key from Gary’s wife. What can I say?
My laundry was dry at night when I returned from the cafe. I had enjoyed a fish sandwich and dozens of Sam Adams Summer Ales. Everything was dry except for my socks. I had to rehang the line inside the shed between the lawn cutting tractor and the ladder. Last night at the cafe, a fistfight almost broke out between a Cards fan and a Cubs fan. Not really. The mean age was 70. That said, I’m definitely now in the Chicago sports orbit.
I woke up early as I’m not yet used to Central Time. I packed up and left everything in the park exactly as I had found it, and returned the keys to Gary’s mailbox. The café was already open but I wanted to get some miles behind me before I stopped. I was asked to tone down my political opinions on Crazy Guy. I was also told that yesterday I had posted a photo of a painted turtle.
It was a little chilly out on the road this morning in my short sleeve jersey and bike shorts. I had nice tailwind whenever I was traveling west. The crosswind, as I traveled north, was not so bad, but it was chilly. I was stair-stepping north and west, mostly west. On the westbound trajectories I could fly with the tailwind. I stopped at one point to put on my sweater. At another point the county road turned to gravel.
The corn to my right was 18 inches tall. The fields are laid out with a border the width of the farm machinery. The corners have radial curves. Inside the border is a straight north-south comb the width of the property.
Yesterday's jaunt down to the Indiana-Illinois border on route 24 outside of Effner, informed me of the traffic I’m missing out here on these empty county roads. It’s cycling paradise on the ACA route! On the stretch into Pittwood, I was pedaling 20 miles an hour. I didn’t see a single motorized vehicle. There were occasional houses separated by huge fields. Everybody in the cafe last night was talking about the late planting.
In Pittwood I took a right and left State Route 1 North. I was now pedaling into the wind. A mile-long freight train passed me to the right. It was going a lot faster than me. I took a left on US highway 52 West. The headwind made me cold, whereas I was fine when it was at my back. I had another 13 miles to Ashkum. I crossed back over the Iroquois River. Certainly there’s a Iroquois relationship between Ashkum and Bunkum.
I could see the Ashkum water tower from 4 miles away. There was a huge wind farm far off in the distance to the right. It was was a 25 mile ride to my first stop. The population of Ashkum is 781. I stopped at the BP station, which doubled as a Subway store. I got myself an egg sandwich, a chocolate muffin, a Starbucks Frappuccino, and an orange juice. A guy there was telling his friends a story about a truck driver who had crashed because he was texting. The driver had made up an excuse for the crash, but the dash cam footage showed the real story. I heard he’s being charged with counts including murder. Motorist texting should be my biggest fear out here. After Ashkum I crossed over Interstate 57.
A mile out of town I left State Highway 116. I found myself on a one-lane county road with a vicious cross wind. I found myself on a one-lane road atop a berm next to a drainage canal. The wind farm went on for as far as my eyes could see. I stopped and took a picture of turbine J-15. I could see the Kempton water tower from several miles out.
Kempton has a population of 235. It was hot, so I stopped at the bar, which was also a store and a restaurant. Guns were not permitted inside. The bartender was out doing meals on wheels deliveries, so I left two dollars for the Gatorade and enjoyed the air conditioning. Oh my way towards Emington on County Road 3300 East, a bunny ran across the road.
I continued to stair-step north and west. The wind was out of the east. It wasn’t so great heading north. Two day cyclists were out for a ride going in the opposite direction. One of them shouted, “The wind is better where we’re going!”. True for that moment, but as soon as I took a left on 2400 North and was headed west again, the wind was right at my tail and I could fly. I rode by another ginormous wind farm.
Farmers were busy out planting today. At the city park today in Odell people were playing kickball. At the train track crossing a sign said, “Warning train speed can exceed 80 miles an hour”. In Odell I crossed the Route 66 bicycle trail. I went to the BP station and purchased a ham pepperoni salami sandwich with pepper jack cheese and two Gatorades. The clerk told me that two east-bounders headed to Maryland had passed through earlier. They had been complaining about the headwinds.
I crossed over I-55. Three motorized tricycles with two wheels in the front and one wheel in the back passed me. On my way into Cornell there were fallow fields on both sides of the road. It was 85° and partly cloudy. Cornell has a population of 467.
I caught up with the tricycles at the Casey’s General Store. They asked me how far I was going, and were impressed when I replied cross-country. They asked me if I was enjoying the tailwind. I filled up my rear right pannier with a six pack of Stella and a bag of ice. I got a little confused trying to find the campground. I had to go back to Illinois Route 23. The campground was further off route than I realized.
The benefit of getting mixed up in Cornell was that I passed the shoe fence. I’ve seen shoe trees in Oregon, but this was the first shoe fence that I’d ever seen. The shoes were actually there for people to try on and take if one wanted, or if something fit. There was also a coffee cup fence.
I finally found my way to Bayou Bluff’s campground. I talked with Fred the proprietor who showed me his Tequila collection. He told me his place was popular with Mexicans who live in Chicago. They add to Fred’s collection on a regular basis. Fred charged me $15 for the night because he admired what I was doing.
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