Saturday, I finished a round trip bike/camping trip from Bettendorf Iowa
to Mississippi Palisades Park (Savanna IL).

Because of Rain conditions, I decided to ride the whole way from Thomson
IL to Bettendorf IA in one long day....

55 miles, including the bridge detour in Rock Island IL.

7 Hours in the saddle.

Generally a 5 to 10 MPH headwind slowing me down.

I ate a good breakfast (3 fresh eggs, 2 fresh hamburger patties and much
coffee) and packed up slowly, talking with people who were interested in
the idea of bike/camping with a child's trailer as the hauler of a
complete comfortable camping site.

Departed about 11:00 AM under nice skies which were beginning to look
dark and dismal on the Southwest horizon.

A few miles into the ride, there were initial twinges of calf muscle
cramps, as I had felt them the night before in getting out of the tent.

I stopped and drank a 12 oz can of "V 8 Vegetable Juice" which is just
loaded to the gills with 800 mg of Sodium and 700 mg of Potassium.
Rested 10 minutes, walked a couple of hundred yards with the bike and
trailer and got back on the bike.

That was the end of the muscle cramps for the trip... no more bother.

Rode to Fulton IL and stopped for my favorite lunch Broasted Chicken,
kind of similar to KFC.  I used to absolutely love broasted chicken when
in college years ago.  I omitted much of that wonderful crunchy crust on
the chicken breast and thigh.  More V 8 juice instead of sweet soda pop.

Rode on to Albany IL and did some business in the Village Office. Then I
rode on.

Cordova IL - I took a scenic detour that some 60+ year old century
riding ladies had told me about. It swings around overlooking the
Mississippi River and a large region of expensive view homes in a lovely
wooded environment. The continuation takes you more or less through the
Cordova Nuclear Power Generation Station.

From there to Cordova proper and a rest stop at a portapotty with
water, shade, bike rack and a picnic table under shade.

Another can of V 8 Veggie Juice, some water and some dried fruit for snacks.

Chatetd 15 minutes with two young town boys who were interested in the
idea of bicycle camping.... and couldn't believe that I had tent,
sleeping bag, matress, field kitchen (stove, pots and pans, and more),
lights, tool kit, clothes for several days, electronic entertaiment
gadgets, a big book, extra shoes, rain clothing, and more all in that
little trailer.

On to Port Byron where I tried to call a friend and would treat him to
dinner at his favorite restaraunt in exchange for putting me and my
biking stuff in his truck and getting me home the last 20 miles. He
wasn't home.

On to Rapids City IA where I stopped at a bar which advertised "The Best
Hamburgers You Ever Et".  It was an OK burger.... and far from the best.
However it was really slowly cooked, as were my favorite burgers at a
bar in Chicago 40 years ago.

On to Hampton IL, and here the rain kicked in real good. Managed to get
to a campground with a covered outdoor picnic area and stayed there for
a half an hour with some ladies and their children. Very cute children.

Put on the rain jacket and go on, and almost instantly the rain resumes.

The rain became pretty heavy and I stopped at a river landing in East
Moline IL.  What could have been a dry spot wasn't. The upper landing
deck leaked rain everywhere, and it was almost as wet under the deck as
in the rain.  After 29 minutes, the rain abated and the sky started to
look clear.

Off again to Moline IL and then Rock Island IL. The head wind had
finally begun to drop.

I managed to get across the Mississippi River at Rock Island Arsenal
several hours before they closed the bridge. They have been doing major
maintainance on many of the river bridges --- and they either close the
bride or close a land or close the bicycle access.

I crossed to Davenport IA and then took the bike trail upriver (and now,
finally, with the wind) a few miles up to Bettendorf IA and home.

I needed few snacks for power along the 55 mile route.

I did have two nice meals in sit down locations.

The V8 Veggie Juice gave lots of electrolytes that tasted good, and
seemed to wipe out a leg cramp episode.  Even warm, V8 Juice tasted
pretty good.

I didn't measure my heart rate.

I didn't measure my calorie burning rate.

I stopped to take picture whenever I wanted.

I had time to talk to interesting people.

I lost a few pounds over the several days of the trip.

I had fun riding my bike, and so should most everyone else.

Except those "Performance" advocates.