2015-06-20 - IL - Day 24 - Iroquois to Odell

We enjoyed breakfast at the Iroquois Cafe where I had a french toast sandwich with egg and cheese, plus an additional three slices of french toast. Nils, Libby, Kaylyn, Reed, and I took off together and reached rest stop 1 at the Ashkum Gas Station where I had a Subway sandwich. I experienced a triple flat that I won't even try to explain. It took me almost an hour in the hot sun with a 90+ bpm heart rate to get my bike ready to move again. My tires were a year old and needed to be replaced. While waiting for me, Libby and Nils danced to the tune of the Arctic Monkeys' 'Fluorescent Adolescent'. Kaylyn was so happy we all knew her jam. Reed grew frustrated at the long wait, but everyone waited.

From there, we traveled to rest stop 2 at the Adventures Unlimited Bookstore in Kempton. Emily was napping there and Lucas hung out with us. We did a taste test of Swedish Fish versus the Original Red Fish. You do a blind tasting of three pieces, two from one brand and one from the other. It was hard enough that two of the four people to whom I administered the test failed in some way even though everyone thought it was going to be easy. We also met David Childress, who owns Adventures Unlimited Press and has published nearly two hundred books on unexplained phenomena and alternative history. He has also appeared on shows like Ancient Aliens on the History Channel.

We rode through headwinds and crosswinds all day, cycling through endless fields of corn and wind mills. We finally reached the end at Odell. Alex's parents had gotten us free delicious thin crust pizza which we engulfed. We enjoyed a swim and shower before going into our tents. That night, a heavy rainstorm struck, forceful winds blowing the rain horizontally like bullets against our tents. Four tents collapsed and Libby took her emergency dry bag of essentials and fled to the roofed pavilion, which then flooded. Several people slept on "water beds" and two experienced electrical shocks, probably conducted via the water under them. A lot of people got very little sleep. I was relatively lucky. The wind had blown loose two of my stakes but the remaining four held and only the walls of my tent soaked through. I was sleeping in the middle and stayed relatively dry. A few of my things were wet or damp but I had no idea of the impact the storm had on others until I woke up to see seventeen group texts on my phone.