Well, the terrain has definitely smoothed out, but between headwinds and my right leg's hamstring being very sore in two separate spots (probably from playing shock absorber all day yesterday), it took us all day to do this short day. We discovered something else, as well -- Illinois drivers, at least those in the areas we were riding in -- are really not thrilled with us coming through their state. Lots of riders were reporting curses and other abuse from drivers, and we had our first experience with it this day as well. *sigh*. And I'd so liked Chicago when I'd visited it before!
We left the fields and headed into more cities, through Genoa and Burlington to St. Charles for lunch. We ate at the Filling Station, and ex gas station from many years ago. Very yummy food!! We then moseyed on to see Fermilab, entering at the Broken Symmetry gate, and following the road around to the main office building (Randolph Hall? I thought I remembered...). Fermilab is really cool -- not only are they looking for ways of reducing the amount of electrial energy they purchase, but they're also using the area inside the Main Ring/Tevatron circle as a restoration area for the prairie, and hosting a buffalo herd and wetland restoration areas on their site as well. They have a policy which explicitly states that they will always place human rights over technical expediency, and definitely incorporate art and beauty with functionality, as exampled by the many sculptures, the amazing main Hall itself, and the overall layout of the site.
We did eventually get to camp, at the Benedictine University fields. We set up our tent to dry, but decided to join several other riders in the gymnasium, to not just stay dry but to get an early start the next day, another century ride. Dinner was at the University Cafeteria, where Tom Snyder, a stand-up comedian that has been riding his bicycle to his gigs for the past 11 years, performed for us -- that was fabulous, he was really funny, especially when showing us some of the funny-sign pictures he's taken over the years. We were rolling! The gym was really really warm, and it ended up not raining that night, but we got sleep, and that's what we really needed!
