Day 17

Lovely spot in Eureka Golf Course .. wakened with the Dawn chorus but it was the usual 06:30 before I was on my way. Feeling good but am wondering if I should take a rest day ... the terrain is becoming a little undulating and there are many small lakes around ... if I could just find a nice place for a general cleanup then I would stop. Lots of commuters charging into town so I have to be careful. I'll stop for a while and have a look around, talk to a few people and see what unfolds. Notice that my back tyre is wearing down more than the front so might have to swap them over or redistribute the load ... I'll put that on my todo list. I'll tell you a thing that does surprise me about some of the people I meet. Very few of them know much about what's outside the boundary of their local neighbourhood. If I ask about stuff 10 miles up the road then they don't seem to know ... or care? Wonder if I've got that correct? Hmmm Peoria doesn't look too promising ... a big steel bridge over the Illinois River takes you into a very dirty industrial area ... passed along a quiet Main St ... Oh! There's the courthouse where Abe Lincoln gave his famous speech against slavery ... and there's a statue of him beside a fountain. Not much to see in this part of town so I'll make my way towards route 116. It's obvious that I'm in a bad part of town ... my face doesn't fit here and I don't like the neighbourhood one bit ... keeping my head down and battering on ... I'm outa here! Temperature is 87F and it's not too comfortable. Stop for a slug of warm water and get chatting to a friendly sole. I ask about places to take a dip and he tells me of a small lake a few miles up the road where folk fish and swim. Magic! That's for me! Well? ... it must have been some time since last he visited the spot. The pond was covered in a slimy weed and full of frogs and yuck! I was gutted ... funny how you can become so angry over nothing? Not to worry ... I'll push on and just put in my quota for the day. This part of Illinois is not as nice as the earlier bits but maybe it's because I'm too close to built up areas. The weather forecast mentions rain ... lovely rain ... I just hope it's not torrential stuff ... I would like an hours worth of heavy cooling drizzle please! Finished the day on the far side of Roseville ... did 78 miles in high temperature and humidity ... really pleased with myself. Tent up and in bed by 20:30 .. Zzzzzzzz

Location:Peoria, IL