Karma, luck, destiny, whatever. Rode to Champaign on Saturday. It was my usual 100 mile trek. I've ridden it three times already this summer. Beautiful day, little wind and nothing unusual to report. I left my house at 6:30 with the intent to arrive in Champaign by noon. With a 25 minute rest at mile 40 off I went. Shortly after my break, I heard what I thought was a "pop" sound. Expecting a puncture I noticed the tire did not deflate I arrived at my destination at exactly 12 noon. I thought I had just ran over something to cause the noise. After celebrating my mother in laws 89th birthday my wife and I loaded my bike and gear into the car and headed to Carbondale Il.; a 3 hour drive. During my visit I planned to ride the hills of southern Illinois. After inspecting my bike I discovered the rear wheel was out of "true" as it rubbed on the brake pads. That should have ended it right there. But, of course, I was determined to ride while my son and his mother shopped. My plan was to release my rear brakes to allow the wheel to spin freely. Yes, I admit not the brightest idea but that was the plan nevertheless. After they left I put on my riding clothes and began looking for my helmet, shoes and gloves. Nowhere to be found, I realized they were still in the car. Not to worry. I would just call them on the cell phone. But, for some reason my cell phone had no reception. No way to contact them, thus, not able to ride. Drats, riding plan was foiled. Got back to Washington on Monday and took my bike to my bike shop. "Need to true the wheel" I stated confidently. Five minutes later, my bike guy came out with the wheel and showed me a 2 inch crack in the wheel. Then it occurred to my that if I rode the hills of Southern Illinois with no rear breaks, and the spoke comes off on a downhill 40-45 mph coast, the results would have been disasterous. Karma, luck, destiny whatever. Someone or something definitely had my back!!

That's right, it's hot and humid here in central Illinois. Today--96 degrees with high humidity. The temperature all week has been in the low to mid 90's with humidity in the 70-80% range. In addition, the county road workers need a reason to exist to they pour oil and rock chips to make the county roads nearly impassable for a bicyclist. So how do I adjust my biking routine? I golf!! Ha!! Yea, right me golf!! That's ridiculous. What are my other options. That's easy! "man up" "grow a pair" and hit the road!! That's right----mad dogs and Englishmen and noon day sun and all that other stuff. Go hot or go home. Road through the heat and humidity all week and loved it!! All a state of the mind!!

To the county road commissioner I give you a salute Another nice blacktop/asphalt road bites the dust. Cruegar road, that had no real repair issues, has just been oil and rock chipped. And, they used the cheap rock to save money. Each of my daily rides starts out on this two mile stretch of county road. With the crappy repair I'm now forced to ride on state roads. That pisses off the motorists and creates a dangerous situation for me. But it is what it is. Tazewell county now has gained the distinction of the worst county roads in the state of Illinois.

Finished my second century in a month. Wedding in Champaign this weekend so I decided to bike over. Another 100 miler. Good news to report is that I had NO near misses or close encounters. That makes it a successful ride. On another note, the cross country crew just finished their journey. Unfortunately, the ceremonial ride to Revere Beach was in a rain. Not a good way for the 013 crew to end the ride but I still remember what a great feeling it was regardless of the weather. Congratulation to all those who participated in the 013 adventure across America. Like those of us who accomplished this in the past, I'm sure they have many stories to share. I would like to give a shout out to Barbie. She began her cross country journey with the 09 riders and finished it two years later having done it in sections. A good plan for someone who can't take 7 weeks from their work to do something like this. The reason for the shout out is that I could not find Bob Fullers blog. You may recall he had an accident in Ohio that caused him to miss the rest of the ride to Boston. This summer he joined the group where he had the accident so he could finish what he started in 09. I knew he had a blog but couldn't find it. Knowing Barbie follows many of the cross country bloggers, I returned to her site. And, the good news is that Bob's blog was on her site. I was able to enjoy Bob's comments as he completed his adventure. So, thanks Barbie, it was greatly appreciated.

Had a great time last week with Hank and the current CrossRoads crew. This is the 4th year in a row I met the riders in Champaign. Acting as the official taxi service, I picked up Hank from Chicago and Rick from the Champaign airport. Mike Taylor joined the group. He did the same ride from Champaign to Boston with the 09 group and rode in the East Coast ride two years ago. Ronni and I also acted as the official greeters hosting a wine and cheese reception in our suite. A great time was had by all. Hank and I rode every day he was here. We started with a short 20 miler to a small lake near where I live to be sure his bike was ready. The following day we rode 35 miles and Hank showed no duress or fatigue. I knew he was ready to accompany the 013 crew. Because I am quite familiar with Champaign, we had a fine meal at Biaggis with the entire crew minus Tracy. The following evening Ronni, Jan, Hank, Mike and I discovered a new place even I hadn't known of. It was excellent and we enjoyed another fine evening of dining. Unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy the ambiance of my favorite pub, Hubers, due to time constraints. After the traditional helmet decorating following the rest day I decided to join Hank and Jan on the ride to Danville to the first sag stop. A severe cross wind greeted us but I figured it was better than a headwind so I was glad to join them. Hank is currently riding and doing the bag carrying for the crew. I can honestly state that Hank has not lost any of his riding ability. I am truly amazed. Today they have a rest day in Erie PA.

Picked Hank from the Chicago Ohare airport Monday. When we got to Washington we took a modest 20 mile ride to Eureka Lake to be sure his bike was in good working order. Today we did a 35 mile jaunt into a very stiff wind and Hank did a fine job considering he is returning from an extended biking layoff. He is accompanying the CrossRoads team from Champaign to Boston as part of the support staff. He plans on doing some of the rides along the way. From now on he is officially "SuperHanK"

Gloom! dispare! agony! It has been raining and windy since Friday so I haven't been able to get outside since my Fifty Friday. Looks like this years cross country group are running into a little heat in north Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Looks like they have avoided all the rain. Good luck and ride safe.