Northern Tier Day #22 Kewanne, IL to Muscatine, IA
Northern Tier Day #22
June 10, 2019
Kewanne, IL to Muscatine, IA 84 Miles
Ride Time 8:21
Tour Total 1788 Miles
I slept well last night at the Kewanne Motor Lodge. I could have slept for much longer, but it was light outside at 7:30am when I awoke. The curtains were closed but the sun outside was blasting. I was so tired last night, and yesterday I got sunburned.
I had sent out three warm showers requests for Muscatine and hadn’t heard back from anyone. My best camping options were on the Illinois side of the river. I stopped at a BP station before I left Kewanne. I was exhausted and needed nourishment. I got myself a pack of powdered donuts, a banana, a Starbucks Frappuccino, and an orange juice. The wind out of the north was much stronger than yesterday. The sun was strong but the air was still cool. I would be stair-stepping again today north and west.
The leader in the Trans Am unsupported race across the the US, Abdullah Zeinab from Australia, has made it over the Rockies and into the flats of Kansas. I remember last year when I first encountered the racers in Missouri. This year I got an earlier start but I began some 500 miles further to the east. Longitudinally, I’m roughly at the same point as last year.
Cycling out of Kewanne, the cross wind was brutal on Page Street Extension. Then I had to take a right on 1800 Street going north and right into the wind. I found myself surrounded by an immense wind farm which demonstrated exactly what direction the wind was coming from. I was headed straight into it using some of my lowest gears. It was exhausting. Give me hills over wind anytime.
In Cambridge I stopped at the post office to mail a document back to New York. Cambridge had a lot of empty storefronts as well as a pizza parlor, a tavern, and another bar with slot machines (which I’ve seen a lot of here in Illinois). I passed the large and impressive Henry County Courthouse. After Cambridge it was back to the headwinds and cross wind.
I overshot a turn by a thousand feet, probably because of the parked police car that grabbed my attention. When I realized my error I got to enjoy a brief tail wind as I returned to the route. I encountered a roadside shack that had been covered with extensive graffiti. It was in the middle of nowhere and I was curious, so I stopped. The floor of the shack was covered with spray paint cans, paint rollers, and empty paint cans. It seemed like such a naughty place. It was certainly expressive, I’ll give it that.
Further down the road I encountered a field full of old cars. I know nothing about cars, but I appreciate the anthropomorphic nature of classic automobiles, and I got some good photos. I could see I-74 from 3 miles away. I have a history with I-74. When I was in school at the University of Iowa, I drove or hitch-hiked that road countless times.
Because of the wind I had a huge problem dictating to my phone today. My phone was interpreting my words into complete nonsense. The software tries to incorporate text from information I have stored on the phone, like contacts. The interpretations are surreal.
There was no junction with the county road I was on and I-74. I wonder how many of these county roads make it across or underneath the interstate. I had anticipated a service at the junction, but found nothing.
In Orion I traveled off route to a Casey’s. It was another empty town with very few businesses, except schools and churches. I got two slices of pizza, and a Gatorade. The clerk warned me that I looked sunburned. I grabbed my sunscreen and lathered up again. A customer passing me outside commented, “It’s really out there today.”
For a brief moment I was on 99th Street heading south with a tailwind. The road surface was concrete with lots of potholes. The stretch lasted briefly, and then I turned and the wind was back in my face again.
I stopped at a BP station in Sherrard, where I had a Gatorade and a horrible chicken sandwich. The clerk tried to sell me 3 Gatorades for $4. Gatorade has been on sale all along my route, but I can usually only drink one. I sat at a picnic table out front. Soon, I was back out in the howling, abrasive, cruel wind.
I stopped at Casey’s in Reynolds where I got another slice of pizza, a Gatorade, and a chocolate cookie with M&Ms. There were no services in Buffalo Prairie. I heard back from Jeanne, a Warm Showers host in Muscatine. She told me to text her when I got to town. Woohoo!
The wind was in my face with long blowing grass off to the side of the road. I was giving it everything I had to get 8 miles an hour. I was counting down the miles. It was a long brutal day.
The pulltab on my handlebar bag is screwed up and needs to be repaired. Ortlieb equipment is expensive, but it seems like it’s only designed to last one tour. My last 7 mile stretch out of Illinois was a serious headwind. I thought maybe I’d be spared the wind down in the Mississippi floodplain but no luck.
I linked up with Illinois 92, also known as National Road and the Great River Road. It brought me to the bridge over the Mississippi. I crossed over into Iowa and photographed the border sign, my 9th state on the tour. Immediately after the Iowa Sign I noticed Bridge Side Links, a brew pub where I discovered Pollinator Honey Wheat by Contrary Brewing. I enjoyed several pints, while I ate nachos and played bingo with others at the bar.
I texted Jeanne and she told me to meet her at Mississippi Brew in an hour. I had a difficult time getting there because of all the flooding. Much of the Muscatine waterfront is under water.
Jeanne is an avid cyclist and a member of the Melon City Bike Club. She and her crew had been out for an evening ride. I joined her and the others out back where I enjoyed a few more Pollinator Honey Wheats along with a burger. Afterwards Jeanne and I cycled back to her house. I am so lucky that Jeanne got back to me, because both of the campgrounds I was considering in the area were under water.
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