Day 125 - Watseka to Rensselaer - Two Far 2021 - Sooo... Far

August 11, 2021

Day 125 - Watseka to Rensselaer

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Short ride, new state, escaped storm! That was our day in six words. We left this morning expecting 40 miles of flat country roads, tailwinds, but a hot ride with another high of 90.

The first few miles were just what we expected. We rode a very rural eleven miles between Watseka and our first stop in Iroquois.

I think this was the only section of road in the first eleven miles that had a marked center. Note the blue sky.

This is my first barn picture today.

You can see a few clouds gathering, but they're white and puffy.

We stopped at the Iroquois Cafe in Iroquois, population very few. There was a bank and post office. We didn't notice any other businesses.

We chatted with the server and a few guys having their morning coffee. There was more than one mention of watching out for the approaching storm.

We rode on toward our next stop in Morocco, Indiana. The Indiana border was only four miles past Iroquois, but there was nothing to mark the state line.

I saw these horses who appeared to be just hanging out in the front yard without any fence or restraints. They just stood calmly and watched us go by.

The second barn photo of the day. The hay elevator is in position.

It was twelve miles north from Iroquois until our route turned east. As the storm approached, the wind from the west got stronger and stronger. We thought that would be great when we turned east to Morocco and into Rensselaer.

Pretty soon the sky looked like this. There was some lightning to the northeast. I felt sure we were going to get soaked. Kerry stayed calm and we kept pedaling.

Just about a mile from our turn eastward, we got a few big drops of rain. That was it. The storm raced on ahead of us and we turned right. As the storm passed, so did the wind. That great tailwind we were looking forward to calmed down to a gentle breeze behind the storm. The temperature stayed in what felt like the lower 80's, so we were comfortable.

And, by the third barn photo, the sky is blue, the wind is calm, the temperature is moderate and cycling happiness is restored!

The final section of the ride was good. I was very relieved to have escaped the storm and happy to have a short day.

I noticed some pretty flowers on the roadside, which turned out to be the entrance to a day lily farm.

We arrived a bit too early to check in, having expected a very hot afternoon. After we had lunch, we had only a few minutes to wait until our room was ready. So, we didn't get wet, we didn't get too hot and we have a nice room to enjoy for the rest of the day.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 4,711 miles (7,582 km)

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