Day 13 - July 4 - Carbondale Il to Salem Il - flat landscape and flat tire

 Weather - a bit cooler in the morning at 8am but humidity just as high.  The heat index reached 105F (40C) by early afternoon with strong sunshine.  Then the clouds built  from the West and the big thunderstorm hit Mt Vernon (where I was) about 2:30 with lots of heavy rain.  After an hour, the rain eased, the temperatute had dropped by about 15 degreesF but the humidity rose.  Winds were gentle from the West earlier but after the storm, shifted to the NW and were stronger.  They were a bit of a headwind for me for the last 90 mins.

Distance: 83.5miles (137kms)

Calories expended: 

Average moving speed: 14.2mph (23kph) in 5hrs50mins of riding

Elevation gained:

Shvitz Index:  8.5/10 in the morning until the thunderstorm came, then 5/10 so average about 7.5/10.  I fought back with a large iced coffee, about 2 liters of water, about 48 oz of Powerade, 2 Cokes and a lot of ice.

The day started off well since the temperature was a little cooler (about 5 degreesF) than the past week.  But the heat index soon reached its maximum for the day at 105F (40C).  It's strange that a heat index of 105F feels like a bit of a break from the higher values up to 120F over the past week.

My first stop of the day was in Du Quoin, known in Illinois as the location of the state fair.  The fairgrounds are also the site of all sort of racing - horses, motorbikes and cars.   Since it was the 4th July, it promised major fireworks later in the evening.

Du Quoin is also a station on the Amtrak line from Chicago to New Orleans and the overpass over the tracks provided a view of the busy line (but only a couple of trains a day in each direction.




A second stop in Sessor was at a memorial by the UMW (United Mine Workers) in a nice park.. The central feature is an obelisk that commemorates the lives of those who lost their lives in nearby mines.    There are many dozens of names on here with the respective mine where eack worker died



My third planned stop was to be in Mt Vernon, a sizable town, but it proved to be a lot longer than I expected.  As I came into town, I got that familiar sinking feeling as the front tire slowly lost air.  I pulled into a truck stop to check things and managed to fix the flat (put in a new tube) in a relatively speedy manner.  Just as well because things deteriorated further.



Just as I finished up, a thunderstorm rolled into town in a very frightening way with very loud thunder, lightening, and then the skies opened.  I packed up quickly, left my bike and panniers outside and hurried into the truck stop/restaurant.  There i had a long lunch while checking the radar to get an idea of how long the storm would last.



After about an hour,I ventured out on the last 30 miles of the day under dark skies and what seemed like a lot more rain. Luckily I encountered only a short (Irish-type) shower on the way to Salem.

As I came into town, I saw this house, the birthplace of William Jennings Bryant, the oft-defeated Democratic candidate for President around the end of the 19th century.  I had no idea that he was an Illinois native, which is dominated by the Abraham Lincoln legacy. 


The day was marked by more flags than I have ever seen in the US, whose cititzens are not shy about flag-flying.  Lots of people were wearing red, white and blue clothing.  The BBQs and picnics were in full swing by noon.  Later in the day, I heard a lot of fire crackers, and noticed that many exuberant activity were outside the many crowded bars that I passed.


Hopefully, tomorrow will be less eventful.





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