Day 20

Wednesday, July 27

Miles today: 102.75

Today included three great milestones for us. First, we rode a century!!! (bike lingo for riding over 100 in a day) Last night we looked at the map and found a great short cut to Carbondale, IL which would be exactly 100 miles from Sebree, instead of the 135 on the route. Seeing that perfect number "100" sparked something in both of us and we just knew we had to get there and do our century. The day started off a little late because it was hard to get out of those comfy beds in the air conditioning, then we made breakfast, and had to change ben's tube because it broke at the valve. Somehow, bike repairs have become my job so I changed the flat and we got on the road by 8:45. Forty miles into the day, we hit our second milestone: we crossed the Ohio River into Illinois- our third state!

We stopped for lunch and hung out at the public library for a few hours so we didn't have to ride during the hottest hours of the day. We got back on the road around 3pm and just kept riding and riding, determined to make it to 100. It didn't hurt that today's ride was the flattest that we've had yet! Around mile 80 we hit our third milestone: 1,000 total miles so far! Now we are at least 1/4 of the way through, but probably more because we have been cutting off a lot of miles by making our own route with shortcuts.

With only 12 miles left to go, I got a flat tire so that was pretty frustrating to deal with when I thought we were so close to the finish line. I fixed the tire and we pedaled those last 12 miles as fast as we could. After 8 hours and 30 minutes on the bike, we finally made it to Carbondale! We are so proud of ourselves that we rewarded our hard work with a motel for the night! We are going to sleep in tomorrow and do a half day of riding. We are also going to get milkshakes next door to complete our awesome day! We deserve it right?

Location:East Main Frontage Rd S,Carbondale,United States