Day 4
Day 4: Springfield, IL to Edwardsville, MO - 87 miles, 978 feet elevation
It was either going to be a 50 mile day or an 80 mile day. Perhaps the candy and coke helped push me 30 miles further. At 7:30am it was already 68F and the forecast is for 90F with no cloud coverage and the omnipresence of that midwestern humidity. This will be the last push in the Illinois hinterland before hitting Saint Louis. Here is the bike shot with all my gear packed on. Not bad for three weeks on the road.
The scenery here can be simultaneously beautiful, with giant cornfields, creeks and rivers to breezy forests. Or you’ll be biking next to a strip mall on cracked pavement or a run down gas station. Its interesting how some towns and villages reinvented themselves long after Route 66 was abandoned, and some have not.
Nutrition has been confounding me. When I rode from Chicago to New York, ten years ago, I was like Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me. I fueled up at fast food restaurants on at least two burgers, definitely fries and maybe a shake. It was a bloodbath. This time around, I’ve been a little more conscious that I’ve entered the “no going back” midlife zone so I’ve been more fastidious about eating. Except for the constant hunger and need for fast calories, hence the sugar bomb here.
