Day 22: CORN! becomes corn

First some notes:
Addendum 1) forgot "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" for the list of rain songs.
Addendum 2) in discussion of fun and our trip, I forgot to say how much we enjoy\appreciate the overall PACTour experience and leadership. The rolling circus of 1000 details has kept us fed and watered and organized, we'd do one again (Wisconsin tour 2011, Normandy to Nice in 2012, for example) and strongly recco the Lon and Susan experience to anyone serious about riding, this is a great, great team.
Correction 1) Mississippi River drops 676ft from Minneapolis to the gulf says Jerry\MN. Jerry should know: he paddled it in several stages from in front of his house all the way in an ocean kayak.
Note 1) if cleaning your shoes with dirty water, how do they become clean (picture from after the mud crossing on the day 20)


Day 22. Something flipped today, big time. Maybe it was the note on the silver trailer's dry erase board that read "call Williamsburg hotel to ensure your bike box is there." Maybe it was dropping below 900 miles to go (out of 3,500). Maybe it was the last of the long prairie days, 8th day of 136 mile average, which leaves us with 3 short days and 5 mountain days left. Maybe because tomorrow we're on Eastern Standard Time, or that the states (Illinois, Indiana) are now going by us at a rate of a state per day. Something flipped: we're near the end. Barring catastrophic accident we're going to make it, we can ride constantly, survive weather issues, endure whatever we have to because now the end is getting very close. For the first time we're talking about the end of the trip as a reality instead of a probability that we might be able to achieve. Again, not discounting the challenges ahead and the accident issue (says the guy who fell over on his bike today while trying to dismount to, um, pee), but something changed.

To arrive though we have to ride, so ride we did, by far our most efficient effort of the trip. 136 miles with 1,200ft of climb in just 7:15 (so 18.6mph), every mile of it in a paceline from start to end. Start was at 6:30am in heavy fog, could see from 30 to 100 yards depending on when and where you looked, the result was between water vapor and sweat we were all soaking wet within 30 minutes, everything dripping. The fog slowly turned bright white with the sun until it all disappeared at 8:30, then blue skies. As for riding we were 12 pairs in the line, a typical Sunday morning coffee ride at 19 or 20mph, take a turn and then let another pair pull the group, this lasted 30 miles to 1st rest stop. After that it was 5 pairs (the fast guys Nascar-ing the 1st break) through the 2nd rest stop at 50 miles and then broke to a single line of 6 individuals which lasted to lunch (80 miles) and through the two rest stops in the afternoon into Danville. Take a mile pull, pass to the back, do it again. Mike, Tom, Ernie, Jim\NJ, Jerry\MN and Brad, waiting for each other at stops if someone dropped a water bottle, nobody getting dropped, just efficient and friendly. Brad joined us for the day, another PACTour honored guest (he has the Hall of Fame jersey) out to ride with the group for the day, very happy to have a pair of fresh legs to do some extra work. The wind from the north so a lot of time echelon right formation since there was so little traffic as we headed due east.


Really the only issue of the day was boredom, there was one 17 mile stretch on a single straight road that give us a bizarre sense of vertigo, like we were standing still and the world rolling under us while we didn't move. The corn continuously on both sides of the road. The Queen Anne's Lace and purple Aster on both sides in the 15 feet of border between road and corn rows, the concrete road and the straight, straight line to the horizon. Tom was afraid of falling asleep (his heart rate was in the 80s for this, and that was at almost 20mph), just ride, ride, ride. Here's a visual on that.

And as the title says, sadly the corn has lost it's charm. What in the world do we do with it all, that's the question, but 2 states worth is enough for this trip, and likely a lot more yet to come.

At the end of the day, which started early at 3:00pm or so, a great ending. Mike's Freshman Crew coach from U of Wisconsin (ie, 1982\83) was passing through Danville on his way home so he picked us up at the hotel and we had a great dinner at the Possum Trot supper club down the road. "Supper club" for those not in the know are like restaurants but are called supper clubs and for some reason are a Midwestern phenomena, like fireflies they never made it west of the Rockies. It was complete with lounge area and comfy cushions, we had a very good time catching up and our best meal of the trip, big steaks and potatoes. Coach is now running the crew program at Purdue University. Good visits for Tom and Mike have been happening all along the route, this is definitely another highlight for the fun list.

Roadkill was light, just a pair of raccoons and possum. Tomorrow is more leisurely, breakfast starts a half hour late with "just" a 117 mile day.