Day 17: Oswego, IL to Rock Falls, IL-Early morning Day 18: (J's Version)

Good morning! Today has been our earliest start yet at 6:15 am! The heat is reallllllllllllly making its mark on G, so he wanted to get out as early as possible when it's still cool out. I'm currently, at a Mcd's in IOWA!! G should be crossing the border in about 2 hours. I couldn't take a picture of it, but the sign welcoming you to Iowa from where I was is really cool looking. I'll paste and copy a pic from online, and yes, I did cross the Mississippi River! Yesterday, we made it to Rock, Falls, IL which is just 29 miles shy of the Iowa border. G was done with about 75 miles at 4:30, and for the first time this whole trip, he was NOT in good spirits. The heat took its toll. We totaled out the miles, and we are at about 1200 miles all together so far. 

Yesterday, I found an interesting looking bike seat at Walmart that I've never seen before. It's very

Notice the lack of the "triangle" part sticking out in the middle?

similar to his spongy wonder but the two cheek parts are not separate. It was only $20, so I got it, and G put it on last night and took it for a quick test ride. He is kind of desperate because his bum is getting sore. I don't know if anything (shorts/pads/seat) will be the answer he's looking for because the reality is, he's riding for long periods of time every day. In any case though, he's hopeful about this new seat so far, but the ultimate test will be by this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed! (The new shorts aren't any better either)

Remember how two days ago G took all the main roads and how crazy it was? Well, we were BACK in farm country yesterday. It was still route 30 West, but apparently, route 30 is extremely diverse. Once again, there was nothing around for me, so I was 60 miles ahead of G which I did not like.

Also, last night we checked into a Super 8 then went for dinner. We come back and guess what's NOT WORKING? My room key card! I'm like "Am I cursed?" At least this time my card didn't deactivate the entire lock just the key. The lady told me that the keys are sensitive to cell phones and anything magnetic. BOTH times guess where I had my key? Right on top of my phone as I was holding it to various spots. Bingo. Mystery solved. You'd never think that a cell phone could be that powerful. Like when they tell you to turn them off at certain points on a plane.

Part of my job today is to find some heavy duty sunblock. Stupid us have been using SPF 30 and 50 on G. Duh. There's SPF up to 100+. I don't know why we didn't think of that before.  G also said to look for the life guard stuff that you put on your nose.

It's hard to believe that today is the start of day 18. Time has been flying by! I feel like now we are

Thank you, Williams family!

in the swing of things and have our routines pretty set.

We have some family who are visiting Idaho right now (they will be gone by the time we get there), and they texted us yesterday saying that at marker 208 east of Carey, they left us a geo-cache type of bag/gift. haha Pretty cool!! I just hope we actually pass Carey on our route because we are not sure yet.

Originally, G and I were contemplating bringing 3-4 bikes with us on the trip instead of 2. What were we thinking? haha It's all about trial and error. It's hard enough with just 2. Bringing them in at night and then locking them up in the morning and especially if the motel room is far from the parking lot and if stairs are involved. The Thule bike rack G bought is pretty hardcore, and we've actually gotten compliments on it on the road. Like anything, there are several different types of bike racks. With this Thule, the bike just sits in the compartment and locks on the front wheel and back wheel. He bought an extension, too, which holds another 2 bikes, so you can have up to 4.

We didn't put the extension on after we decided to only bring 2. The rationale of bringing 4 were to bring his mountain bike incase of rough/tough roads (but that's really what Jenard is for. Remember: Jenard is a road bike aka. skinny tires = more speed but it's badass because it has shocks in the front and back. Typically road bikes DO not have shocks aka. mountain bikes have shocks. Shocks help absorb the bumps and rough terrain. NOW who sounds like they know what they are talking about? Bam.) The fourth bike was going to be my bike. I have a mountain bike especially designed for shorties. I'm only 5'1. Bikes actually come in sizes based on your height. Most of you probably didn't know that.

Lock on the front wheel. The bar snaps down on the front.

Back wheel is locked up. The green is an extra lock we put on. 

Folds up nicely when there are no bikes.

Then, I was thinking that probably at the end of the day, G wouldn't feel like riding leisurely with me after a long day of cycling. Then, I realized that I probably wouldn't feel like it either. So all and all, we are happy with the decision of bringing two bringing only two bikes.

Have a great day!!

This is in the Kohl's dressing room. No wonder my students think writing "Gotta" is okay!