Day 36 - ending near LeRoy, IL - Downstate Illinois

August 11, 2025

Day 36 - ending near LeRoy, IL

Well, today was different. For one thing I took a shower in the morning. This campground has the cleanest bathroom/showerhouse I've ever seen at a campground. It's air conditioned and there's a dehumidifier running. At 5:45am I was done with the shower and in my last set of clean clothes. They'll have to last me now till I get home tomorrow night.

At 6:45am I sat down for breakfast. As usual I only had the bike halfway loaded, waiting for the lunch bag. After breakfast I was wandering around the campground looking for a water faucet to fill my gallon jug when it started to rain! Where did this come from? I'd been checking the radar. I moved the bike over to near where the tent had been to get some shelter under the pine trees. The rain didn't last too long, but now everything was wet and I didn't want to cover the wet cargo with plastic at this point. I finished packing the bike and left at 7:38am. I could see there was some more rain to the southwest. I was heading west and north, maybe I could outrun it.

My destination for today is Moraine View State Park near LeRoy. My routing is all back roads, except I would be going through the town of Fisher. They have a Casey's there.

I wasn't too far along on Hensley Road when I got rained on a little more. I soon turned north, and was eventually in the clear. I arrived at the Casey's in Fisher at 9:13am. I picked up Gatorade, a canned coffee for tomorrow morning, and items for breakfast. Google Maps showed me that Fisher has a park, and I was going to see if they have a pavilion there as well. I found their pavilion is attached to the rear of the city office building. That would work because they have picnic tables. I just got there when it started to rain again. Another rain I hadn't seen coming, but this was perfect timing! I ate my breakfast and then, since the bike had dried out, covered the rear cargo with plastic. That always takes me a while and I wasn't leaving until 10:26am, heading north out of town.

I crossed IL-47 on CR-3300N at 11:14am. Oh, I did pass through one other town today: Foosland at 11:37am. No services there. Noon arrived when I was on CR-600N, half a mile west of the Champaign/McLean County Line. 24.4 miles so far. Not bad for a short day.

Surprisingly, radio station WILL was coming in better today than yesterday, so I continued listening to classical music.

In the afternoon I was riding 875 North Road which became 900 North Road. There were a few ups and downs but they were enjoyable. On the flat sections I was falling asleep. I actually took a 5-minute nap lying on the grass at the side of the road next to the bike. Nobody was using this road, but I finally got up because I thought if anybody did see me, they might think I was in trouble. That short rest actually helped. There was a mile of gravel road on this section. It was in excellent shape and a pleasant change.

It was after 2:00pm now. I was still on 900 North, maybe a quarter mile from 3100 East Road when I noticed a blue SUV behind me was going slow and following me. I've seen this a few times when the driver isn't comfortable passing me unless I'm completely off the road, so I pulled over into the grass. The vehicle just stopped. Well I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to keep moving. As I approached 3100 East Road over the crest of a gentle hill, I saw a sheriff's car blocking that road in the direction I was turning. The car behind me approached. The sheriff got out of his car and directed me to stop where I was and get off the bike. Then I was told to lie down on the ground with my hands above my head. I stayed that way for a while as other police vehicles showed up. Eventually they approached me and I was asked if I had identification or any weapons on me. I told them where my wallet was and where my pocket knife was. They removed those from my pockets, and checked the others. One of the officers asked about the two pills that I had in a plastic bag. I told him those were my evening pills. He put those back in my pocket. I was directed to put my arms on my back and I was handcuffed. First time in my life!

Eventually they sat me up by first rolling me on my back. I asked if I could get my helmet off. One of the officers did that for me. I think it was at this point they told me what was going on. An older fellow, who happens to be 70 also, shot two police officers Saturday night in nearby Gibson City. He made his escape on a bicycle. Someone had seen me and thought maybe I was that fellow. The officers asked if they could search my bike. I said yes. They mostly just checked out the front basket bag, and commented on the GPS units I was using. An officer eventually took the handcuffs off, and I was offered to sit in an air conditioned police car to cool off, if I needed. I told them I was going to camp tonight at Moraine View. One of the officers said that they should probably tell them so the campground workers don't confuse me with the suspect.

Soon I was told I was free to go. I was hoping to get a few pictures, but wasn't sure about police policy in the situation like this. I did ask if I could take a picture of one of the police cars, and an officer said, "Sure, you deserve that at least."

So that's the only picture I have from this. But it did make for an interesting day! I was impressed with the professionalism of all the officers involved with this pullover. It only lasted about 15 minutes. They thanked me for following all their directions and said that made it so much easier for them.

A little ways down the road I stopped to see if I could find any news about this incident. Fortunately, the two officers who were shot are going to recover. The suspect is still at large.

I was only a few miles from the campground now. Of course my mind was reeling. I arrived at the campground office at 3:26pm. I asked if the police had contacted them to let them know I'm not the suspect. No. Anyway, I told them I'm innocent. I'd been thinking about camping at one of the tent-only walk-in camping areas, but after hearing that those sites are mostly under trees and just patches of dirt, I decided to upgrade to an RV site in this main Gander Bay Campground. The check-in lady said to go find a spot, set up my tent, and come back and pay. That took me a while, as selecting a site usually does. I finally decided on site P-37. Here I can set up the tent on grass in an open area. The extension cord won't reach the tent, but I don't need it tonight anyway.

While I was setting up a fellow older than me (Gary) stopped by to ask about my trip. He's a bicyclist himself. He likes to ride rail trails [me too]. One he really enjoyed was the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota. He rode that in the autumn one year after places had shut down for the season, which sounds like an awesome time to ride that. In 1999 Gary bicycle-toured the Lewis & Clark Trail. He's done trails out east too. At the moment he and his girl are in a motorhome, with their bicycles attached to the back. They're heading northeast and will also visit/bicycle a lot of Canada.

I headed back to the camp office at 5:00pm to pay my registration fee. A bag of ice is $3 and I decided I'd go ahead and splurge. I had a warm bottle of Gatorade waiting for some ice, and I was still kind of thirsty. Supper next at 5:25pm. I texted my sister Laurie to see if she and my brother-in-law Bill are up to me stopping by for a short time as I pass through Bloomington tomorrow. She said yes, so there's something else to look forward to besides getting home.

I'm still chomping on ice. It's surprisingly pleasant at the moment, even though there's no wind. The bugs sure are singing!

I wrote and sent my evening report earlier than normal tonight, thinking (and hoping) nothing else exciting will happen this evening ;-)

Jeff

Looking southwest at the rain I'm trying to outrun

Looking behind me east as the rain clouds block the sun

Shade for a 5-minute nap next to the road

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,459 miles (2,348 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	3

Nancy GrahamWell that’s quite the experience with the police!! And handcuffs too. There comes a time when there are not many things you have not experienced in life, now being handcuffed is not one of those for you!

Love those butterflies,.
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5 days ago

Kathleen JonesNow I think that’s a first on CycleBlaze! Apprehended, cuffed, searched, released. Whew. What a story, Jeff you ole varmint.
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5 days ago

Mike AylingWhat an experience!
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5 days ago