Day 2 - ending at Monticello, IL - Downstate Illinois

July 8, 2025

Day 2 - ending at Monticello, IL

I slept very well last night. Woke up at 5:45am. Worked on and posted yesterday's report. I'd meant to have captions on some of the pictures, but that didn't work out.

My destination for today is Lodge Park in Monticello, but first, make it to Chestnut Illinois to see the marker there. At home I'd planned to eat at the cafe in Chestnut, but saw online this morning that they are closed for some sort of renovations. So I had some Pop-Tarts and a few cookies for breakfast.

I cleared The campground entrance at 9:48am - on my way south for maybe 11 miles. It didn't take me long to notice this morning's south wind. I passed through Beason at 10:35am. Shortly after the road went from pavement to gravel, though it was very well packed gravel for wind farm trucks. And there were a lot of trucks passing by.

I made it to the park in Chestnut at 11:42am. Took some pictures, including one of the temporarily-closed cafe. As I was leaving town I came across another park - Armstrong Park, which has a pavilion. I stopped there for my noon break. 12.6 miles is today's noon progress.

The rest of my day would be going straight east. After looking at the roads, which were still wind-farm-gravel grade, and checking my bicycle map, I went off route. Lake Fork Road turned out to be a good choice. When I crossed the county line, I was back on pavement. Not riding into a headwind was a help also. I turned on my radio and was receiving 90.9 MHz - WILL in Urbana - classical music :)

Maroa ahead has a place to eat - Crawford's Pizza and Pub. I was there at 2:25pm. As I was parking the bike, a lady heading to her pickup truck asked when the rain would get here. That's the first I'd heard of rain today, but I hadn't been paying any attention. Inside they had an outlet for me to charge my phone - and wifi, so I checked the weather radar and the forecast. Raining to the west, but the storm travel direction was mostly northeast. Before I was done eating I'd decided I would ride to a nearby park to cover the bike gear with plastic.

When I arrived at Spencer Park, it started to sprinkle. Three kids showed up on electric bikes. One wanted to know why I had so much stuff on my bike. I outlined my route, including getting back to home "near Peoria." He said, "I'm from Morton. I liked it there. I wish I could go back to living with my mom."

I left Maroa's park at 4:03pm. It was still just sprinkling. Later the rain was heavy enough to convince me to put my raincoat on. In hindsight, I wish I'd also put on my boots. Writing notes on my 3x5 card and taking pictures is hindered when I have rain gear on. It was a pretty steady rain all the way to near Monticello, then it was a little harder rain. About every 10 minutes or so I'd hear thunder overhead, but there was no lightning too near. I had initially said to myself, "If it's still raining by the time I arrive in Monticello, I'm going to get a motel room." It was, and I did.

I'm in room #5 at Foster Inn. They handed me a towel during check-in, which was thoughtful. I scattered everything off the bike to let it dry out, then got a shower. Sorted some pictures, sent out my evening report, and headed to bed at 10:50pm. Oh, this bed is nice!

Jeff

Geographical Center of Illinois marker - Chestnut, Illinois

There's pavement on the other side of this county line!

I found this interesting - it's part of the menu package at Crawford's Pizza.

a park pavilion where I can check on the motel's location

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 90 miles (145 km)

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