I don’t know if having a different time zone to get use to or whether the First Baptist’s hospitality had anything to do with it, but after an American sub at the Pizza Place, a visit to the local bank (it looked so much like one from a cowboy movie that I just had to take a look!), and a spot of grocery shopping at Dollar Discount that I ended up leaving Sebree at 1pm, the latest start so far.
From the word ‘go’ to the very end there was an evil headwind to deal with, it was one of those non-stop energy sapping and soul destroying ones, where the only respite was when the road took you through wooded areas, where it would be dampening for a short period before resuming its presence on the exposed agricultural countryside. So I stopped off at the library in Dixon where I caught up on emails, updated the blog, and tried my best to forget about it.
Further down the road, the strangest thing happened, coming the other way was a chap on a Penny Farthing. A few years ago I heard that someone was to cycle solo round the world tour on one of these, but never thought I’d ever meet that daring individual. So it was great to stop off and hear what Joff had to say and exchange a few tips on what to expect to encounter on the road ahead. Joff’s website is www.pennyfarthingworldtour.com
Joff mentioned that there was a good cafe stop in the next town ahead, so I stopped off to have a baked potato and burger. But could not hang around as time was ticking. It was already 6pm, and normally I’d start to consider finding a place for the night at 5pm, but was leaving things a bit late today.
I reached Marion as the sun was setting, but then discovered that the camping ground was in a park with no showers, and so decided to go with my original plan and head for Cave-in-Rock on the other side of the Ohio River and in Illinois.
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