The title will draw a few sports enthusiast googling basketball trivia, but no, this ‘zone’ has nothing to do with sports. If you do end up here by accident read it anyway. It might be useful to your game.

My use of the word ‘zone’ reflects upon a state of consciousness highly focused upon a singular task. In my case it is the task of putting one foot in front of the other continually 9 to 10 hours a day. This task has certain obstacles that change as your environment does. Here in Illinois the roads are as straight as a surveyor could manage. The other element, ’flatness’, had no human control applied. Nature did a perfect job of rolling central Illinois flat as can be. Dare I complain after the choppy waves of Iowa prairie, or the long ups and downs of Nebraska? Of course. In central Illinois there is nothing to change up my pace. Nothing requiring more effort and nothing less. Gone are the days of having my cart pull me down a steep incline at a trot. Gone too are those moments of heightened exertion to reach the crest of the next looming hill in front of me. Now the day is a process of pushing forward as far as the eye can see with corn and soybeans draping both sides of my road. My spatial markers are intersections with county roads that make up the quadrants of farm land and the occasional grand Illinois farmhouse with its barns and grain bins to break up the green seas of corn and beans. The day can get terribly long if you let the sameness wear on you. I find I can get in my zone for two + hours at a time. I cant manage much more without a break and another attempt to refocus. Music helps. Daydreaming is useful. But best of all is to simply forget where you are and what you’re doing. This I call The Illinois Zone.

The Peoria skyline

Its been a number of days since I walked out of Peoria and began the trek east toward Indiana. I ate my way out of Peoria. Breakfast sandwiches and old, local bakeries in East Peoria were but starters for this Western Kentucky grub worm. Later came chicken noodles ladled over mashed potatoes, ice cream cones, and iced tea wherever I could find it to break the heat. With all this eating I still managed to get 19 miles out of the city and began to see the !Illinois heartland. This is Ronald Reagan’s countryside.

Fresh raspberry pie

The Peoria skyline

Guest blogger: Will Martin

A few people have asked about the route Steve will follow to NYC.  The daily route is always subject to change given the condition of a road or the need to find a place to stay, but the route below provides a basic outline of the last leg of the journey.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions about parts of the route.  We’re always open to new ideas.  Also, if you happen to know anyone with a guest bedroom along the way, please let us know!

Illinois and Indiana:  Steve will follow Hwy 24 almost the entire way to Ohio, passing only through small towns along the way.

Ohio:  There are a few options here, but Steve will most likely stick to Hwy 24/224 or switch to Hwy 30.  Depending on the route, he could end up passing through Wooster, Akron, and/or Youngstown.

Pennsylvania:  This is the longest state remaining on the route.  PA has hundreds of small, state and county roads.  This can be a blessing and a curse when planning a route.  He’ll stick close to the I-80 corridor through most of the state, probably spending a lot of time on 322, but there’s countless options along the way.

New Jersey: Steve will probably only be in New Jersey for a few days, which is for the best.  Nothing against the Garden State, but traffic will certainly be an issue here.  The rough plan is to stick to Hwy 46 most of the way into New York City.

New York:  Steve’s final mile will be crossing from Fort Lee, NJ to upper Manhattan on the George Washington Bridge.