Day Two – Champaign IL to Lincoln NE - Miles: 495
We walked to breakfast at Perkins which sat in the Hampton parking lot. We rode west on I-74 for a time but jumped off on US136 before reaching Bloomington. US136 is about as straight as can be for 70 miles before reaching the Illinois River at Havana. It doesn't change a whole lot after that but it got a little better riding through some of the small towns that dot the landscape. We rode through Macomb and noticed they had completed the construction that caused so many detours back in 2021 when we rode through stopping at Forgottonia Brewing. We rode north on US67 a short time before heading west on IL 9 that took us over the Mississippi River and our first stop in Fort Madison. We stopped at a spot along the river with the Fort Madison bridge in sight but the spot was not that great. The river was in front of us with the Iowa State Penitentiary behind us. In hindsight we should've stopped along Business US61 where saw as we rode by we saw historic Lone Chimney monument where the Old Fort Madison stood which was built in 1808. It was the first fort built on the upper Mississippi but was abandoned in 1813. We rode west on IA 2 where we stopped outside Plano at the Little Flock Chapel. The chapel sits just off highway 2 and is a nice clean and welcoming area with covered picnic tables, restrooms and a chapel that holds 6-10 people. We continued on IA 2 stopping next at Waubonsie State Park where there is a scenic overlook. The park is located in the unique Loess Hills, a landform found only along the Missouri River. As glaciers melted 14k to 28k thousands of years ago (caused by manmade global warming) sediments of silt, clay and very fine sand particles called loess were carried by strong westerly winds and deposited when these winds encountered the steep slopes of the east valley wall. It was only about 60 miles to Lincoln and we would arrive in time to wash the bikes and stop at Boiler Brewing for a quick pint before finding our hotel which happened to be by another brewery where we had dinner. All in all a very good day and a very easy 500 miles.
