Day Thirteen (38.4 miles, 513.8 total): Caught In The Wind Tunnel

LICK! LICK! Ella has her full body trying to push my head off the bed. When she can't do that she starts licking my face. Get up! Get Up! Human Get Up! RING! RING! I'm already awake geez! Now that I'm sitting up, she is bouncing around the room like a little furry bullet. I walk her outside and the sun is cooking the pavement already. 6:00am and it feels like noon! I take the fluff ball back inside then head into the lobby for some delicious and nutritious Frosted Flakes.

Back in the room, I finish off the half gallon of chocolate milk I bought the night before. Once the room is all packed up, I tuck Ella into her little harness, toss her up in the basket and we are ready to go! Rolling down Highway 13, we come across a bike painted bright yellow holding a wreath of flowers. It was a pretty neat memorial bike to see. After a quick picture, we cruise on toward Carbondale. It's another low grade all uphill day, but thankfully we had a very wide shoulder to cruise in. It was like having my own personal bike highway!

During the trek, I noticed a small click every rotation of my pedals. Annoying at first, it eventually became background noise with the passing cars. I'll have to check that out later to make sure it isn't serious. Ice Cube blasting "It Was A Good Day", I rolled on with the morning traffic. Despite the sun high in the sky, the headwind wasn't so bad at first. Nice and refreshing, as I powered up the never ending slope. Right as I was enjoying my moments of cool air, it decided to become a giant wind tunnel. Miles and miles of flat farmland surround me, but somehow Mother Nature decides to use her leaf blower on the highway. I wasn't going to be stopped today, I was on a mission.

Ella is happy as a clam, tongue hanging in the wind, leaning out the front of her basket. Maybe she should start pulling the bike! Suddenly, a loud high pitched screech starts in the distance. Right as we leave the rolling green farms of Illinois, and head into the trees and lakes, the screech becomes even louder. A mix of chirping and squealing fills the air, as the screech becomes more distinguishable. BAM! A giant bug slams into my helmet! BAM! Another slams into the front of Ella's carrier.

At first they looked like hornets flying everywhere, but then I noticed how clumsy they were. One of these giant bugs started doing loops and slammed its body on the highway. One after another, these creatures hurled themselves into random directions, usually colliding with the asphalt. They looked like giant green/brown horse flies as they swirled through the trees and dropped into traffic. I kept pedaling faster to get through them. They felt like little rocks when they collide into you. Instead of biting, they mostly fell to the ground and shriveled in the sun. I could hear the unfortunate creatures crunching beneath my tires, as I made my way forward. They littered the asphalt, like shiny little pieces of trash.

Occasionally ducking from the bizarre things, I trudged on into the wind. As the afternoon went on, the cool breeze turned into a blow dryer set on high. I had a rhythm set now, I just kept going and going. I came across Crab Tree Lake which provided some relief dodging bugs and the wind momentarily stopped for the 200 yards it took to get across. There were a few people launching their boats in the shallows and just a handful standing on the banks fishing. It sure would have been nice to take a dip in that cool blue water. I felt like one of those little dried up bugs, so I finally stopped for that frosty blue Gatorade.

As I went to stand my bike on the side of the building, my kickstand snapped right in half. Lucking for me, I don't use it very often! Ella didn't appreciate me almost dropping the bike, but soon forgave me when I let her out to stretch her tiny little legs. Turns out I was only about 7 miles outside of Carbondale at this point! Finishing off the last drop of my daily drink, we hopped back on the bike and sped off down the highway.

As we got closer to the city, the trees gave way to small shopping strips and stand alone ware houses. The road narrowed just enough that I had to get back into traffic. My personal highway wasn't going to last forever! Cars became more numerous and the shopping plazas became bigger. Franchise companies lined either side of the highway and at last I knew I was in Carbondale. I arrived at the oh so luxurious Super 8 to discover my room would not be ready until 2pm. It was only 11:45pm. So Ella and I found some shade out front to relax in and I filled her dog bowl with some water. Ella lapped it up like she had never seen water before.

The air was humid and the sun was cooking it up in the high 80's. Even with my back against the cool concrete, I was sweating bullets. The manager walked out front, no more than ten minutes after I had walked out, to tell me they had my room ready! The staff at Super 8 were really awesome and they all loved Ella. They rushed a room so we wouldn't have to be out there till 2pm and we were extremely grateful.

As it turns out, Joel and another cyclist were staying in the same hotel! I took a shower and unpacked all my gear in the frigid room. Later we all went out lunch at a little burger joint across the highway. Having a real burger with bacon and lettuce and fried egg with fresh fries, was heaven on earth. Not to mention that I got a massive chocolate shake as well. I love a good shake. It was the ultimate meal to end a good week of riding.

We all headed back to the hotel and talked about the trip, bikes, different routes and all sorts of stuff. Eventually everyone headed separate ways for dinner, and I headed to Petco to get a brush for Ella. She wasn't happy about it, but I got her in the bath tub and gave her a bath for the first time in a few weeks.

IT'S SUNDAY! That means Game of Thrones is on and I must leave to go watch! Thanks for following Ella and me as we make our way through the west! We hope you enjoy our adventures and keep on reading!