I crossed the Mississippi and headed into Illinois (state #8!) this morning. My quick and statistically invalid assessment of Illinois compared to Iowa is as follows: Illinois has better roads with less traffic, fewer pig farms, more soybeans (which means better visibility), and friendlier motorists- I had several honk and wave and one guy just drove alongside me while talking to me! I was a little concerned that after all the hard work going over the Cascades and the Rockies, I would get soft in the flat areas of the mid-continent region. Well, not to worry- I haven’t seen much flat ground at all and some of todays hills looked like runaway truck ramps. With those hills and a stiff headwind, I had a great workout riding to Cambridge! I am staying at a WS house tonight and they are hosting a concert tonight. There will be two local bands and one touring band with people sitting in chairs in the front yard and a potluck afterwards! Daily mileage: 59, trip miles: 2,491.
Going over the Mississippi at Muscatine. FYI, Muscatine was once the home of the biggest pearl button making factories in the world. They used the nacreous layer from fresh water bivalves from the Mississippi River.
The obligatory Welcome to Illinois sign:
As I said, more hilly roads:
Many of the hills looked like this- I had to use my lowest gear to climb them:
Some of the corn plants were 10′ tall (I’m a little under 6′ for scale):
And soybeans as far as the eye could see under building clouds:
My WS host John setting up for the concert under his big covered porch:
Dave Bikes America 
Sounds like a fun place to stop!
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It was fantastic. The touring band gave me a cd and a couple of stickers which I will pass on to you and Matt
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Sweet, I can’t wait to see you!!
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Ditto!
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A little under six foot… Must call lizards alligators in your world
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Hey, hey- you are only supposed to post supportive comments
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It was great meeting you, Dave! Hopefully we’ll see you in Connecticut 🙂
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Thanks Ashley, I enjoyed meeting you, too, and really enjoyed your music! Where are you playing in New Haven?
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Brother Dave,
Congratulations on your accomplishment of crossing the Mississippi River. It is hard for me to comprehend that you’ve been out on the roads for nearly 50 days. It makes my ass hurt just thinking about it. As always, we all love seeing your travel journal each day. Stay safe.
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Why thank you. My bum does need a rest…
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You’re right! Amazed/Jealous everyday I read you posts riding on the train to NYC! Can’t wait to see you in Fairfield! Be careful brother!
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Marc, I’m probably just a tad over three weeks from Fairfield…
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