84.26 miles
482.99 total miles
6:15:50 bicycling time
13.4 mph average speed
McHenry, IL
We're in Illinois! Hard to believe we were in Minnesota just four days ago. It's been quite a week.
Last night was rather an adventure. When I went to bed at 9:30, Sue was visiting the chiropractor, and it looked like it was going to rain. I thought about putting the tarp on, but I didn't know where Sue had put the clothespins, and I didn't want to rummage through her things. When she got back it was drizzling, and she agreed that the tarp was a good idea and put it on. And we thought that was the end of it. Little did we know. . . .
By 10:30 it was pouring and had turned into a thunderstorm. We started to wonder if staying in the tent was a good idea but weren't sure what to do. We were trying to tough it out when Sue put her hand in a puddle of water. When we realized that the puddles were all over and getting bigger, we decided to evacuate. So we put all our things in plastic bags--thank heavens Matt talked me into bringing the large, industrial-strength garbage bag--and left them in the tent, and carried our sleeping bags up to the dining tent. While we were packing the wind and rain got even worse. The tent was blowing all over, and we were worried it would collapse. It was leaking like a sieve by this point. Not a fun experience.
So we got up the hill, and staff and crew members told us to go into the high school whose grounds we were staying on. We went into the gymnasium, where a few hundred people were already staking out space. It was pretty chaotic. Luckily, they were passing out towels and mylar blankets. The towels went a long way toward making everyone happier. A little.
Susan's sleeping bag was totally drenched, while mine was just a little damp. So we laid hers out on the floor and put mylar blankets over it, and spread mine out to dry on some bleachers. Much chaos ensued, the end result being Sue, me and a friend of Sue's curled up in mylar blankets trying to sleep. By about 12:30 the gym was pretty much quiet, and we were all able to sleep a little.
Lying there was kind of surreal, listening to the rustle of 1200 mylar blankets. It sounded like a hurricane was constantly blowing in the gym. I doubt that anyone slept very well, but most of us managed a few hours until people started getting up around 4:30.
After we got up we headed back to the tent. There was a couple
inches of water in it, and our therma-rest pads were floating. Miraculously,
our bags hadn't gotten any wetter, thanks to the plastic bags.At first I was thinking I didn't want to ride at all today; instead I'd get back to camp early and start laying things out to dry. Once I'd gotten up and about, I thought maybe I'd ride to lunch and sag from there. But after a nice, hot breakfast and getting washed up and packed, I was feeling a lot better and decided to ride the whole day. The crew must have worked their butts off to put everything back in order and get things running normally again.
The staff tried to stick to the usual schedule of having everyone out of camp by 8:00, but it was tough, since there was so much salvage work to be done. I left about 7:58, and Sue was still pumping up her tires.
Once I got going, I felt great. It turned out to be a good day. I think hanging back with Janine yesterday was a really good move. The first 16 miles to pit I went really fast, although it was just about all cornfields. There weren't nearly as many hills as there had been farther north. One of the sweep crews had left notes for us on the road, and those were always fun to see.
Today was Dress Red Day, a.k.a. Red Dress Day. Everyone was encouraged to wear red. I didn't, unfortunately, since there's nothing red in my wardrobe that could possibly be worn while bicycling, and I just wasn't going to buy anything new. I'd say about 90% of the riders were wearing red, though, and a lot of the crew members were, too. Some riders had a really good time--especially the cross dressing. There was one guy in a frilly, poofy dress that looked great. Greg, one of the TC captains, wore a bustier, and Bob, the other captain, had a lovely feathery frock. If I were to do this again, I'd try to come up with something outrageous. This year, though, I was worried about having to ride 88 miles in the outfit of choice.
Back to the ride. After the first pit stop, the next stop was to be a grab-and-go 10 miles later. But it ended up appearing after just 7 miles. A miracle occurred--they actually shortened the route by 4 miles to make up for all the morning's chaos. It probably only saved most people 15-20 minutes, but every little bit helps. Everyone was worried, though, that those miles would reappear later.
The stretch before lunch was a little long, and the cornfields couldn't possibly have been more boring. There was still a south wind, but it wasn't nearly as strong as it had been before. After lunch there were three short segments.
When I was going through Lake Geneva, Bob flagged me down and informed me that I needed to stop at an ice cream shop called, I think, Kerwin's. I did, and it was fabulous. There were a bunch more riders in there, and I chatted with them for a while in air-conditioned comfort. It was much better than a typical pit stop, since it had a/c and flush toilets. Plus the ice cream. Mmm.
So I skipped Pit 3 and went straight to Pit 4, which was only 8 miles
on. Several TC members, including Bob and Greg, were there and suggested
we wait for more people and ride in as a team. We stayed there till
5:30 and rode out. We hit the Illinois border right away--it's not
marked, but some people had put up a sign, so we stopped for a photo op.[Ed: That's me in the Ben & Jerry's jersey.]
(It's now 4 a.m. Saturday morning. I really had to go to bed. We just got woken up by a little rain, and I had to use the toilet, and now I'm wide awake. If Matt wants me to stay up past 9:00 tonight, I'm afraid he'll be disappointed.)
Right after crossing the border we started seeing red ribbons and signs on all the poles. They were put up by the "Ribbon Lady," whose name is Jackie. She's HIV-positive and has some form of cancer, and she says that when she was living here she loved seeing the AIDS riders come through because it reminded her that she wasn't alone, and she wanted to thank them. She's been doing the ribbon thing for years, and this year she flew in from California to continue the tradition. Seeing them was really overwhelming; for a while they were on just about anything that wasn't moving. It felt so good to know that we were so close to home.
Since we'd stopped at Pit 4 for so long, it was about 6:30 when we got in. I immediately dashed over and got my bag and laid my sleeping bag and pad out to dry. They were still a tiny bit damp but usable. Team Canticle had a pizza party, then it was off to the showers.
You know, I forgot to mention that it was hot. They were saying highs in the mid-80s, but I bet it got up to 90. Not as bad as June, but we'd gotten pretty spoiled by the cool weather the first four days. So everyone was drinking more than usual and fighting for bits of shade at the rest stops. I started putting ice in my water bottle, which was nice, and was prepared to put it in a bandana around my neck, but the stops were frequent enough that I didn't need it. The sun seemed stronger, too--I was re-applying sunscreen like crazy, but I still got a little red.
On the whole, it was a good day of riding, and I can't believe we did it on so little sleep. The whole week has pretty much been a demonstration of what one can do if one puts one's mind to it. I'm kind of kicking myself for sagging on Tuesday, but I honestly can't say if it was the right decision. It would have been nice to finish, but if it would have ruined Wednesday, it wouldn't have been worth it. And I will say, I enjoyed Wednesday much more than most people.
We had volunteer entertainment last night, which was fun. Some people are surprisingly talented. I didn't feel like sitting in the dining tent, but the speakers were loud enough to hear it in other places. It was nice to have a few hours to relax.
Finally got hold of Matt, too. It was good to talk to him--especially since he checked the weather forecast. I'll be glad to see him this afternoon and to get home. I've been a little envious of people who have friends and family around, but there's something to be said for having to get validation from yourself, I think. Even if there's no one here to congratulate me on riding three consecutive centuries, I'm damn proud of myself. Although it was nice to hear Greg say that Thursday was a really, really hard day. I think he ended up getting swept--probably spent too long at the early pits.
It's been fabulous this week seeing people help each other out. Whenever I've hit a really rough patch there's been someone there, and we've helped each other through it. Riders are cheering each other on up hills, and I've seen people drop back to stay with other riders and ride back down hills to encourage more people up. Apparently Team Large and Team Canticle have been doing this, and the attitude is spreading to others. The Chain Bite Gang has been great, and their thong day on Wednesday was a hoot.
I have no idea whether I'll do this again next year [Ed: Not an option, unfortunately], but I can see the appeal. (And I never would have believe that on Tuesday.) It's a lot of training time, but it's fun, it's challenging, and the people are great. And if I keep spinning this winter, I could get away with less riding beforehand. At the end of today, barring disaster, I'll have ridden over 1700 miles since April. Wow.
OK, time to go back and start packing up--for the last time! The rain has passed; I just hope it doesn't start up again when we leave. I'll try to write again tonight, if I can stop talking long enough. And assuming I don't fall asleep when I walk through the door. As amazing as it is to have ridden this far, I really can't believe I've done it on so little sleep.
On to Day Six
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