Day 5 - Dwight to Bloomington, IL

Day 5
October 8, 2016
62.7 miles today
1005 feet of climbing today
(274.6 miles, cumulative)

(5521 feet of climbing, cumulative)

We were up early for a sunny morning start in Dwight. The railroad culture along Route 66 was interesting to us, and this train station especially caught my eye:

Being the son of a sheet metal contractor, I grew up hearing about all sorts of metal, and what each was used for. So, the gutters and drain spouts on the train station stood out.

Yep, copper! I don't think I've ever seen a full copper treatment for a roof water drain system: 

Riding a bike with smaller 20" wheels we are cautious at rail crossings. We get pinch flats if we hit a rail too hard. Many of these crossings were extremely level and easy to cross. The geometry of the track layout was impressive, too:

Maybe I'm wrong, but these tracks seemed to be more substantial than others I've seen (not that I've mad a habit of examining rails up close).  My finger spread is 8.5 inches: 

The passenger trains came through incredibly fast, up to "eighty miles per hour" according to signs at the crossings:

 

Some old buildings along Route 66 have been restored. This gas station was a prime example:

The sign at the top of the right pillar said "Wash Room" which we as Canadian residents found interesting, since we rarely hear that term in the US:

Three photos of the interior:

The staff person arrived just as we were getting ready to cycle onward. Edith said she loved her job, meeting people from all over. We bought some postcards from her memorabilia shop inside the station:

Upon leaving Dwight we were out among farms in short order. Here's a shot of the old and the new:

Huge fields like these were on both sides of us:

We stopped to see what was growing:

Black-eyed peas:

Route 66 signs were posted at many remote intersections:

Some of the roads were lonely, empty farm roads:

Here we rode on a paved bike path that had replaced one half of the original Route 66 pavement. The main local road is off to the left:

Then on this stretch we rode on the shoulder of the main road, as the bike path on the old Route 66 has disappeared, and the original pavement is not really suitable for pleasant riding:

We even came upon this bike path on which we rode against the oncoming traffic, but at a safe distance:

Time for a break:

We arrived in Pontiac, IL on a Saturday morning. Downtown was full of people at a market, and fall colors were appearing on a few trees:

The street art took the form of small colorful cars in which kids could sit:

A car museum was across the street:

I think my friend Terry would have spent more than a few minutes here looking over the old cars, both inside (which we did not do) and outside:

The route continued, and so did we until we arrived in Bloomington, IL: