The forecast today was for a hot and steamy day with a heat index near 110 and winds out of the west. While it was plenty steamy, I don’t think it ever got as hot as forecast and the humidity dropped as the day went on. If the wind did come from the west, it was so light that I couldn’t tell. I think it was actually more from the south.

When I crossed the Illinois River, the terrain became much hillier and reminded me a bit of eastern Connecticut. The climbs were not particularly steep, but some were pretty long. The change in scenery was kind of nice.

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I had planned to take a rest day today, but the wind was coming out of the east. Even though it was a very light wind, I thought I should take advantage of the tailwind when I had it. I started the morning on Route 66, for a few miles at least. The Mother Road veered off toward downtown Springfield while I continued down a bypass along the west side of the city. There is also a bike path near the bypass, but the shoulder on the highway was wide, the roadway flat and, since it was Saturday, there was very little traffic. So, I stayed on the bypass.

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The corn has really grown and is about seven feet tall now. It kind of creates a forest of a different kind. While riding by a corn field, there is no way to see above the corn to see what is around. Unlike the forests in the east, you can’t look through the stalks to see what else is in the field.

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Highway 24 west of Watseka is pretty straight. I spent the better part of the morning watching the water tower of the next town get gradually bigger until I passed it, then watching the water tower of the next town get gradually bigger. Between Watseka and Crescent City, highway 24 has a narrow but decent shoulder, so I stayed on the highway rather than finding a county road. West of Crescent City, however, there were rumble strips that take up about half of the already narrow shoulder. After threading myself between the rumble strips and the edge of the asphalt for a few miles, I headed south to the closest county road. It was a pretty good choice as it intersected the next highway I was looking for at a truck stop and I was able to get a map of the next state I will pass through.

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