A shorter day today, only 65 miles, so I set off later after having make-your-own waffles at the motel breakfast. The weather was forecast a sunny 80°F (27°C) and the light wind made it lovely cycling weather again. Before I left the motel I managed to sort out my warmshowers host for the evening; my previously organised host had had to drop out, but gave me the name of a friend of his who could possibly host. I got a reply from Eric, my new host, just before I set off and we organised a meeting point, then set off on my ride along the route 6.
At 1:30 I reached some roadworks on the highway. One workman said I could get through but after getting past some of the bumpy bits of torn up road another workman told me the bridge was out up ahead and that I'd need to go around. A slight detour, but I was ahead of schedule so this was no problem.
Back on the US 6 and a little way up the road I had my first angry heckling from a slack drawl yocal at a gas station: "why don't you use some hand signals before you get your ass smashed". Now, I can't think of any 'hand signals' that would be necessary when cycling down the hard shoulder of a perfectly straight piece of road, though I can think of a few that would be appropriate to show him!
As I got into Davenport I was presented with the challenge of crossing the Mississippi river. There was a big busy bridge, or about an 8 mile longer route around the city to cross at another smaller bridge. I opted for the big busy bridge and made it across safely. Once I'd made it to my hosts house I found out that its actually interstate and I wasn't supposed to cycle on it, woops! The police traveling by the other way didn't bat an eyelid though!
Tonights entertainment was a 20 mile steady paced round trip to a taco bar with a few beer stops on the way! It was a great ride along the river and I met some wonderful new people along the way. The tacos were delicious (I had 4!) and at a great price. Then on the ride back we were treated to a fantastic sunset over the Mississippi, a lovely end to a lovely day, putting me a third of the way through my travels of America.
Miles today: 64.9 (+20 for tacos)
Total miles: 1109.2
At 1:30 I reached some roadworks on the highway. One workman said I could get through but after getting past some of the bumpy bits of torn up road another workman told me the bridge was out up ahead and that I'd need to go around. A slight detour, but I was ahead of schedule so this was no problem.
Back on the US 6 and a little way up the road I had my first angry heckling from a slack drawl yocal at a gas station: "why don't you use some hand signals before you get your ass smashed". Now, I can't think of any 'hand signals' that would be necessary when cycling down the hard shoulder of a perfectly straight piece of road, though I can think of a few that would be appropriate to show him!
As I got into Davenport I was presented with the challenge of crossing the Mississippi river. There was a big busy bridge, or about an 8 mile longer route around the city to cross at another smaller bridge. I opted for the big busy bridge and made it across safely. Once I'd made it to my hosts house I found out that its actually interstate and I wasn't supposed to cycle on it, woops! The police traveling by the other way didn't bat an eyelid though!
Tonights entertainment was a 20 mile steady paced round trip to a taco bar with a few beer stops on the way! It was a great ride along the river and I met some wonderful new people along the way. The tacos were delicious (I had 4!) and at a great price. Then on the ride back we were treated to a fantastic sunset over the Mississippi, a lovely end to a lovely day, putting me a third of the way through my travels of America.
Miles today: 64.9 (+20 for tacos)
Total miles: 1109.2
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