Iroquois, IL August 4

Iroquois, IL. We finally found the tailwinds! After battling winds from the south and heat the past couple days, we have finally found some relief. Yesterday (Tue) we got a late start due to thunderstorms (we actually had to move our tent into the pig sties in Princeton) and found ourselves in the blistering heat later in the day. We stopped at a gas station for a break and found out we were under a heat advisory with a heat index of 110! I felt like I was back in Africa for a day...We stopped after only 62 miles in Streator. The campground there was very bicycle friendly and let us camp for free under their pavilion and they even gave us ice and a fan! Today (Wed) has been a very good day. At our breakfast stop in Cornell we came across another touring cyclist and discovered we had stumbled onto Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier route. This bicyclist had the same idea we did for the western part of the country- he followed the Lewis & Clark trail to Sioux City and then did RAGBRAI. He is now following the Northern Tier to Maine. He started 10 days after us near Portland and turns out he even heard stories about us (he heard about the sprinklers going off at 8 pm instead of 8 am on us in Winnett, MT)! He also told us about another cyclist going the other direction that had a great time in Iroquois the night before. Later in the day the winds shifted to be from the east, then the north, so Alex and I decided to push for Iroquois tonight. Turned out to be a good choice! After 87 miles today, we were met on the highway outside of town by a guy in a car who directed us to follow him. We later found out that he is the mayor of the town and he had heard 2 cyclists were headed his way, so he came to meet us! He took us to the city park, where his office is, and showed us where we could stay- IN his office. There's a bathroom with a shower (and clean towels), a garage where we can put our bikes, and a nice office with AIR CONDITIONING to sleep in! This town really rolled out the welcome mat! To top it off, the banker in town pays for all bicyclists to eat breakfast at the local cafe! We really hit the jackpot here and this town definitely takes "the most bicycle friendly town" award in my book! We are not the only ones to think so, either. There's a whole wall full of thank-yous, notes, and postcards from other bicyclists that have passed through. Hopefully the winds from the north continue tomorrow and we can make some progess south. For now, Alex and I are going to enjoy this wonderful town!