Today was a change of direction as well as slightly different cycling conditions.

Since Albany my primary direction of travel has been west. Almost every day going a little further west. Today and upcoming days, the direction is instead to the North East and headed to Chicago. The route today was parallel to Interstate 55 and much of the route was on frontage roads parallel to the interstate. I’ve found these to be busier than my country roads in Indiana and Illinois. Still reasonable cycling but not as peaceful and quiet. I have been following the Bicycle Route 66 from Adventure Cycling. This part of Route 66 was essentially upgraded to an Interstate so I am following the historical route but also in a busy travel corridor.

Otherwise, I had one line of thunderstorms today and from this a nice chat with a retired man in Lawndale Illinois, but I am getting ahead of myself…

I had a motel right next to the Capitol in Springfield so the first several miles were going through rest of the city.

Eventually I made my way to the north side of town and little town/suburb of Sherman which was doing its part to use the “Historic Route 66” branding.

A lot of the route was like this, I am on the frontage road and to my left is the interstate. The frontage road was reasonably smooth and the interstate was noisier than my quiet country roads. This was just as I entered a new county with small settlement of Elkhart straight ahead.

Lincoln, population 14504 was the largest town I crossed today. The Lincoln theater downtown looks boarded up but an interesting building. It was getting warm and humid today and I was glad I got on the road early.

As I left Lincoln, it was getting darker and more ominous. At first I wasn’t sure if it was haze returning but soon enough I noticed a much darker area to the west. I cycled a few more miles and spotted place where a road crossed the interstate. Perhaps there would be some shelter underneath? The road above was narrow and pretty high so figured it wouldn’t give much shelter from the rain. However, I had just passed a sign for “Lawndale” and so turned back to see if I might find a business. The only business in town was closed and the post office also closed. However, on my way I passed a house where someone was sitting in his garage with the door open. So on the way back, I asked if I might join him in the garage.

Dwight was 75 and retired from the railroad and now living in Lawndale. This area had lost power in the wind storm event yesterday and still wasn’t restored. The rain came strong for a brief while and then just as quick became less. I said farewell and was back on the road.

Note: You might also notice that the “RealFeel” forecast was 102F, so the rain was a welcome cooling effect.

This is a bit what Lawndale looks like.

Back on the frontage road. The road was still wet and the right lanes of traffic were stopped and going very slowly. As I came past the blockage, I saw two fire engines and two police cars and slowly letting traffic past. Not sure exactly what happened, though it almost looked as if there had been a vehicle fire.

I learned later that this part of I-55 had been closed after the wind event. They were still working to restore power for Dwight and others.

The last town I came through was Atlanta. A nice cute downtown.

This giant hot dog man is among the claim to fame.

A little more about the Bunyan Giant. Interesting that this was originally supposed to go to Sacramento and that the hot dog was an addition.

In front of the cafe.

After this cycled the last few miles to McLain and my 25th Patel owned motel. It looks like there will be some unsettled weather the next few days. As long as it isn’t too severe this should be good for the farmers as June was rather dry. As long as it isn’t too severe it should also help bicyclists by keeping the temperature from getting too warm. Otherwise starting my exploration of Route 66 – though a lot of it looks like a road along I-55.