The Captain has ventured into Illinois and logged 3,375 miles! Read all about it below.

Hi gang, here's an email we received today from the Captain:

Greetings all,

I’ve been out of touch for a while since riding has taken up so much of my
time. I’ve just crossed the Mississippi and taking a rest day in Chester IL
(home of Popeye). My odometer now has 3375 miles for the trip and I think I’m
about 3 weeks from the Atlantic Ocean at Yorktown, VA.

After descending out of the Rockies I went through Pueblo CO and started to
head east through Kansas. While Kansas was flat, there was always a headwind
and for a least three days the scene never changed: railroad on the left, grain
fields to the right and the next town’s grain elevator on the horizon. People
in Kansas were very friendly and I often camped in city parts that allowed me
to use their swimming pool (certainly nice as the days are getting hotter).

As I entered Missouri, things really started to heat up with five days above
100 degrees and high humidity. Missouri for a bicyclist is like a “self
propelled roller coaster”, constantly up and down fairly short but unbelievably
short grades (your doing 45 mph at the bottom and slow to 3 mph by the top). I
met Ted in Missouri and we traveled together for four days, nice to have
company.

Today I’m taking a rest day and going through all my possessions to shed as
much weight as possible before the Appalachian Mountains. I’m only about three
weeks away from Yorktown, VA, but three weeks still seems like a longtime.

Captain Bob