Yesterday started out at 3am. I loaded up with gu, bars, water, extra tire and tube, and headed west under a full moon to Savanna, a picturesque little town on the Mississippi. It was moonlight (and headlamp) only for the first two hours of the ride, sunrise not until 5:40am as we move toward the 1st of August. There'd been severe flooding the day before--Geneva received 5-7 inches of rain, and area's around Rockford got 8-10. Water covering fields, and the Illinois and Peru rivers were out of their banks. No rain Sunday, though. Just calm, sunny, 80 degree weather. I didn't anticipate I'd be doing the amount of climbing I did. Terrain gets rather hilly west of Oregon. Also gets rather gorgeous. Stopped for 20 minutes in Savanna and joined a bunch of gawkers on a closed (due to flooding) bridge overlooking the Peru river. The river had surged far beyond it's banks onto a railroad track, where a train was stopped/stuck with flowing water covering it's wheels.
This was the longest single day ride I've ever done. 208 miles. 11 1/2 hours. Body held up very well, although tough to stay hydrated on such a long ride. Had to make 4 water stops on the return, each time drinking about a half gallon, and refilling bottles with another half, which seemed to evaporate in no time. Only casualties were a missed spot on my back, under my right arm (the south side on the return in full sun) where I didn't get sun block. So I have a bright red spot on my back. And the other: saddle sores. Even though I used saddle soap. Make it hard to sit. Good news is they'll heal up fast.
Here's the stats on the ride:
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