Today was a lovely if visually monotonous day riding 91 miles across Illinois from Springfield to Champaign. We had 3 family visits. The first was Todd’s wife, brother, and sister-in-law who surprised Todd at the first SAG stop. He was expecting his wife, but not his brother who flew from Germany for the visit.

When we entered Champaign we passed Champaign Cyclery, where Peyton works when he is not on tour. His parents, grandparents, uncle, and various other family and friends were there to greet us with cold water and popsicles.

At dinner we ran into Linda eating with her husband and daughter. Linda was bursting with enthusiasm on Day 0 and her energy hasn’t sagged for a second since then, even when she was fighting her way over the mountains.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so tonight the gourmands (Peter, Barbara, Chad, and I) had Italian food at Nando’s in downtown Champaign. Now it’s laundry time. Tomorrow will be shopping and resting. Our last rest day will be a week from now in Erie, and then the final push to Boston.