I took off on my first overnight camp Friday June 4th. I arranged with my brother to stay in the fire house where he works in Quincy, Illinois; then return home the next day. Two riding days back to back should tell me a lot about equipment set up, my physical shape and some other things to expect during the upcoming tour. I wasn’t disappointed. I learned a lot.
I made it up the hill at Florence, this time spraying myself down with gnat spray, and then stopped in Pittsfield to visit at a business that I deal with at work. It started off as an overcast day but soon turned bright and sunny. I had sun block on my legs but didn’t bother with my arms. This was a big mistake.
I made it to the half way point of Barry and stopped at a Wendy’s parking lot to have a couple PB&H(oney)’s and also to refill a couple water bottles. Then I took a lower road that paralleled some bluffs that led into Quincy on the West side of town by the Mississippi River. Even though I had four water bottles I almost ran out of fluids before I arrived at the Fire Station. I had underestimated how hot it was and how burned my arms would get once the sun popped out. My totals for the day were 66 miles with 6 hours road time and a 11 mph average. I didn’t think that was too bad considering I was carrying about 65 pounds of gear.
Once at the Fire House I took a good shower and my brother gave me the tour. I met the guys on his shift and then Tom and I just relaxed and talked until supper time. We had a good meal of pork steaks, rice, green beans and sweet tea. Very nice!
I’d always heard that cross country cyclists liked staying at Fire Houses because of the hospitality, food and showers. I think I can now say that they are right, except, for the fact that it was hard to get a good nights rest. With the radio and alarms and TV sounding, and, oh, did I say that it came a thunderstorm too with lightening and tornado warnings going off? Plus, the highlight of the evening (I mean morning) was that I went with them on a run at about 1:30 a.m. to get some poor guy off a church roof that had been in a dispute at a bar! Yeah.
Once back at the station I was finally able to drift off to sleep only to be reawakened at 6:30. The next shift would be taking over at 7:00 and I needed to get packed up and out of there. I have to say that it was a neat experience and I thank my brother and his fellow firemen for allowing me the experience of seeing what life was like in their world. Even though Tom told me it was a slow night compared to normal, it made me more thankful for my normal life and I appreciate how they put their lives on the line for others every day.
Once I rode to the East side of town, Tom and I had breakfast at a restaurant. Oh, did I say it was still raining pretty hard? After we ate I headed back home. I went about 10 miles and it finally stopped raining. That’s when I encountered the first of two steep hills Tom said I’d have taking a different route back. I would be up on the top of the bluffs this time instead of along the bottom like yesterday. I would ride on top for about 15 miles before I rejoined yesterday’s route back down in the bottoms.
The first hill I made up without too much struggle even though I had to gear down to my second gear. I coasted down to the bottom of where the second hill started and stopped for a drink (and to get psyched). This hill was not as long as the first but a steeper grade. One thing I told my brother that I did not want to do was to go into my lowest granny gear. I was saving it for the mountains in Colorado. Well, I made it up the second hill but granny had to help. Boy, I hated it that I had to drop into first, but it couldn’t be helped.
After that I just rode along and enjoyed the ride. I shed my rain jacket and decided I’d wait until I met up with the lower route to peel off the rain pants and my convertible pant legs. Then the unexpected happened. As I rounded a slight downhill turn there it was…..a third monster hill! My brother didn’t tell me about this one. He told me later that he….just forgot. Yeah, right. How convenient. This hill was longer and steeper than either of the first two. So, I stopped, took a long draw on my water bottle and got to it.
About half way up this, what looked like a mile long hill, I decide to stop. It had a good shoulder and I felt I could walk faster than I was peddling. It actually felt pretty good to walk for a while. So, I made it to the top and then had a nice downhill cruise to valley floor.
After that excitement it was just peddle steadily home. I stopped again at Wendy’s in Barry for a sandwich and to refill one bottle. It was all overcast the rest of the way home so I didn’t use up as much water as yesterday. One bad thing about both days’ rides was the awful, nasty, stinking road kill. The weeds along the roads had not been mowed and I came across a number of dead deer bloated and laying close to the edge just out of sight. I could smell them long before I saw them, of course.
I made it home about 4:00 pm with totals of 6.5 hours saddle time, 68 miles ridden and a 10 mph average. I learned a lot this first trip. One thing I learned is that I need to lighten the load a little more, plus, to never ride without sunscreen. I’ll make my adjustments and try and prepare for at least one more overnight camp before I head for Colorado.
