Wind, Wind, Wind ... Fatigue

And it blew, and blew, and blew. We rode Highway 24 East from Peoria, Illinois to Logansport, Indiana. We were each to ride 60 miles, but with the wind blowing from the North East so hard and unrelenting, we reduced the mileage to each of us riding only 50 miles. And did that consume the hours!! Slowest average I have had in a really long time: 14.5 mph. Ugh.
Could have been worse, though. It wasn't directly into our faces, there was no rain or snow, and the high temp late this afternoon was only 83.

We are still in the "heart land" of America. I haven't seen these many churches in such a small space ever!! Mid-town of the town we are now in, in one block, we saw five different churches. We remind ourselves of their godliness as they (not many as now) honk, flip us off, and try to run Mark off the road once. Still beautiful, green-green-green, quaint in appearance, very well kept overall. My assessment of the acres of poor appearing corn now mixed with what appears to be beans was correct. The hotel manager from last night explained they have had one of the wettest springs/early summers in a really long time. That is why so many acreas of corn just aren't surviving. In order to selvage the harvest, they have now planted soy beans which require a shorter growing season.

So trivia: on the Atlas we are using, each state lists their state flag, motto, flower, etc. For Indiana it is "The Hoosier State". To which I naively ask, "What is a Hoosier". Yes, I know there is a basketball team, and one of the State Forest here is named that. Mark said he had to "pick his way through the dead hosiers on the shoulder of the road" - obviously, lots of road kill. However, that brings us back to the question, "What is a Hoosier?".
Ken Googled it. The site gave several explanations. The guys are now trying to help me explain this to you .... they are getting quite carried away. So, I'll let you Google it. Go ahead, then discuss among yourselves. Provides dinner conversation.

Tom, (the best XRay tech in Spokane), yes we have found numerous Road Gods. You were actually on my list of topics to blog. Since you brought it up, I'll respond now.
Road Gods, for those of you who don't know Tom, are the wonderful items you find in the road when riding along. Tom always stops for them, picks them up, analyzes a bit, and frequently brings them home. I'm usually speeding along just enough to see them, but never stop to claim them as mine- (1) I'm going too fast (2) If I get off my bike I never get back on it (3) I usually have no place to carry anything that I pick up (4) all the flies surrounding road-kill are really annoying.
Primarily, Tom, most everything is garbage. 99% of garbage along the roadways are liquid containers: water and juice bottles, beer and other alcoholic containers, pop cans and bottles.
Ken was caught in a construction zone, attempted to detour, wasn't successful, and had to cross a muddy field. He and his bike sank in a mud field, which totally gummed his gears. As he was getting back onto the Freeway, lo and behold, there was a toothbrush. Just lying there calling Ken's name. Very helpful at debriding his gears at that very moment.
I came across the most unusual Road God. While riding on the Freeway in Idaho, there - scattered over a large amount of shoulder - was a total knife & carving set. Looked brand new and in great condition (other than splattering on the ground). Scattered amongst them were pieces of the box they had been stored in. And this was not just your standard dinner knife set. These were large carving knives, curved blades, meat cutters. Hmm.m.m.... I sincerely thought at that very moment, "Tom would have stopped and picked these up". I, however, would be clueless as to what to do with them if I had picked them up. As I rode on, I envisioned I could have inserted, and possibly carried them, through the slots in my helmet. Looking a bit Neanderthal-like. Or Viking. Not really the "look" I wanted to achieve.
I wonder at those times - who packed their car??? Where would you put something like that so it could fall off, and yet, not miss it?
So Tom, that has been the sum of interesting Road Gods, thus far.

We entererd the fourth Time Zone today ... another hour lost on Mark's bike time. Yup, he rode the same distance but it took him a whole hour longer than us.
We are really tired after fighting the wind. Going to collapse as soon as I finish this glass of wine.

Until tomorrow ....