Day 23: Springfield, IL to Mt. Sterling, IL

Total Distance: 74.8 mi
Moving Avg: 10.1 mpg
Moving Time: 7:22
Climbing: 2000 ft
Elev: 200 ft

Route Summary:
IL 4 S to
IL 125 W to
US 67 N to
IL 103 W to
US 24 W

Unother mostly uneventful day. This morning I woke up really early due
to the lack of airconditioning in my tent. I should look into tent
air conditioners, although I suspect they might be a bit heavy. If my
tent was air condidtioned, I'll bet I'd camp more. 

I didn't mention in yesterday's log that I got a flat front tire just as
I was returning to the campground after dinner. I decided to leave it
till morning since it was getting dark, so when I got up I had a look at
it. As I was looking for the puncture before taking the tire off, I
noted that there were at least 5 peices of glass, rock, and other sharp
things embedded in the tire. And at least 10 more spots that looked as
if they had had such objects in them. Wow! When I pulled the tire off, I
found the single object that had finally broken through the kevlar, and
patched the hole in the tube. I decided to retire the tire and go to my
spare. That tire had about 2500 miles on it, as it was the one that came
with the bike. If you ever want a really really sturdy tire, I
wholeheartedly recommend the Comet Primo (kevlar belted version).

After a fairly short Nick Navigates through Springfield, I found a bike
store, which referred me to another bike store that would have a
replacemnt spare tire. When I got there, I found they carried a whole
bunch of recumbents, including some Easy Racer bikes. The guy I talked
to (also named Nick) even rides a Gold Rush (the Al frame version of my
bike). They had a Comet Primo in my size, but not the kevlar belted
version. I suspect it will be much less durable, but it is only a spare
for now, I have another kevlar one on the bike. If it lasts another 2500
miles, I'll be in good shape. I considered buying a fairing, which I had
previous decided against, but was reconsidering (especially on days with
10-20 mph headwinds). After trying (well, sitting on) Nick's bike which
had a fairing and taking to him, I reaffirmed my earlier decision. 

Otherwise, not much interesting today. This should be my last day in IL,
tomorrow I will cross the Mississippi River into MO. After that, it's
gonna be uphill for quite a long while. Oy.