Normal to Dwight, IL 05-15-2026 Day 35

It had rained overnight and things were a little wet when we awoke. We knew it was going to be a short 55 mile day with likely tailwinds. That meant that we could take our time this morning. We actually had a hot breakfast that included eggs, sausage, breads, waffles (if we wanted), real oatmeal, and bananas! We weren’t on the road until 8:20 and the roads were much drier.

It was still overcast and windy when we hit the road. We both had on our warmest jackets to help shield us from the 15-17 mph winds. At least they were mostly at our back, so we were out of town at a fast clip. Very soon we were on newly paved bike trail along Route 66 leading us into Towanda. It only had a population of 450, but they had constructed an impressive display of informational signage along the bike trail. They had a section with “Burma shave signs” and a marker for each state that Route 66 passed in order from East to West.

You knew where the mental jukebox was going after that …..queue up Jan and Dean

The trail crossed over Route 66 and back a few times. We were using a trail all the way to Lexington where there was some unique artwork made from scrap metal.

It was clear the bike trail was based on an abandoned lane of the original highway. It was at one time 2 lanes each way. Now they took one of the 2 lanes and made (half of ) it into a bike lane.

When we got to Chenoa, we didn’t do much exploring. Ron wanted to find a latte at McDonalds, but their machine was broke and had been for a year! We kept going down the road.

To reach Pontiac, we were now on the road with some light traffic. Along the way there was a train that had the propellers for windmills that covered the landscape beyond the railroad tracks. I marked off the length of the train that carried this load as 1.25 miles!

When we got to Pontiac, we were a little chilled, so we went into the Cup and Scone near the town square for coffee and a sweet. An older man in suspenders asked if we were the ones who had the bikes outside. Lynne was a local farmer who made it a point to say hello and help any biker that he met. We had a long conversation about the history of Pontiac, farming, and the museum we should visit.

We both spent at least a half hour in the museum. Ron was very impressed with the War section where they had various artifacts and QR codes that could point you to links to hear stories of individual soldiers.

Pontiac lay claim to 35 murals. Here is a sampling.

By the time we left Pontiac, we only had 21 miles left in our 55 mile day. For a short stretch we had the road to ourselves. Thee only thing we seemed to share it with was a series of Burma shave signs. See if you can read the message. Hit pause along the way, if needed. I tried not to ride too fast, but we had a tailwind!

Odell was about halfway to Dwight. As we entered town, there was a Standard Oil gas station that had been preserved.

A little further was a large, beautiful church. As noted on the sign, at one time there was so much traffic and congestion at this intersection that they built an underground path for pedestrians to cross to the church.

We debated how to handle our “within 10 mile of finishing” beer break. It was still too early for lunch/dinner. Dwight and our hotel were only another 9 miles away. We decided to relax and have a beer at King’s Crossing in Odell. We both had a local draft and the nice lady serving us overheard some our plans and what had happened on our trip so far. When we went to settle up, she said you guys have worked hard enough – this one is on me. Wow – there was a sign on the bar that said “Free beer – tomorrow”. We had travelled across time!

It was a quick ride into Dwight, hitting 20 mph often. We both got to the depot together.

We split up to see some different sights and met up at Aly Anne’s Bar and Grill. Ron captured a windmill we both wanted to see.

I went west to a restored Texaco station and also got a shot of the Famous Route 66 Family Diner.

I spoke with “Bob” at the Texaco station. He let me sit in a restored fire engine inside the garage and gave me a brief history lesson of how Standard and Texaco teamed up to build filling stations along Route 66. He told me there were periods where you could fill up, but it might be days before the station could be resupplied, so many travelers were stranded for days!

After dinner, which included a couple more beers, we made our way to our hotel. I should have looked at the map a little closer because I led us through a nice, but unnecessarily long ride through town to our hotel. It was one of our shortest rides, with the least amount of “saddle time”. However, we played tourist more than we have during this trip. Given it is almost our last day, it was fitting. Tomorrow I return home to South Chicago Heights where we will stay with my brother Mike. We will be done carrying our panniers, but we won’t quite be done with the ride. What a great day.

The ride stats are here. The 3D video is here.

The Not So Lone Rider