Date:
23.05.2018
Altitude:
1512.5 ft (461 m)
Distance:
85.41 mi (137.46 km)
Total
Altitude: 42309.7 ft (12896 m)
Total
Distance: 1601.43 mi (2577.26 km)
Again
a day with over 80 miles to cover. In my original plan the distance
would have been about 10 miles less, but I was staying with
Warmshower hosts again and their place was a bit outside of town. I
was more than happy to cover the extra distance, because so far the
experiences I made with Warmshowers were really good.
Today
was my last day in Illinois. Just before the end of the day, when I
reached Muscatine, I left Illinois and entered Iowa. This time I
crossed the state line on a larger road, so there was a sign
signaling that I'm entering Iowa and I also could get the picture of
the Illinois state sign as well, after I wasn't able to get a picture
of it when I entered Illinois three days ago. Iowa is the 9th
state I'm traveling through on my trip. Just six more states to go.
After
a good breakfast I started into a warm sunny day. Today the sun was
shining for the whole day and with that the temperatures rose.
Throughout the day the temperatures stayed in the low to mid 80's (26
– 29°C). In short, a wonderful day. Even the wind was on my side
again. After I had to deal with headwinds yesterday, I had some nice
tailwinds today. So I was able to cover the distance without too many
problems. I already arrived at around 3pm at my destination.
The
route went again mainly through farmland and stayed for the most part
on smaller roads. Although in comparison to the days in Indiana or
the first days in Illinois, the route didn't go on as many back roads
and was not as flat, but it was still not too bad to ride on. Just
the traffic increased a bit and there were more trucks on the road.
As mentioned before, for the most part I was traveling through
farmland, but today there were also many wind turbines along the way.
At the end of the day, the scenery changed a bit, when I reached the
border between Illinois and Iowa. Because the border between Illinois
and Iowa is formed by the Mississippi river. This is the first time I
reached the Mississippi on my trip, but it will not be the last time.
In a few days I will reach it again and then the route will stay
besides the Mississippi for a while. After crossing the river into
Iowa and Muscatine, I went for a short time on a bike path that did
run besides the river. Unfortunately there were train tracks between
the river and the bike path, so I couldn't access the river. Besides
seeing the Mississippi river for the first time, there was another
highlight today. As I was biking on one of the small less frequented
roads, I was able to see a deer and a little fawn on the the side of
the road. I was even able to get a picture, usually all the animals I
see on my trip are gone before I can get my camera out. Seeing all
these animals by the side of the road and I don't mean the roadkill,
is one of the great things about traveling by bike. In the last few
weeks I have seen so many deer, squirrels, chipmunks, a bald eagle,
vultures and so many more. Let's see what else I get see on my trip
At
the end of the day, I had to cover a few extra miles to reach the
home of my Warmshower hosts for the night, because they are living a
bit outside of town on a farm. When I reached the farm where they
live, I felt welcome right away. I had a great evening and it was
really nice talking to them. A wonderful end, to a nice day on the
road.
Conclusion
for the day:
It's
amazing how many animals you get to see by the side of the road, when
traveling by bike.
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