Chester, IL

We are staying tonight in Chester, IL on the Mississippi River. Today's ride covered 82 miles with a mid morning stop in Carbondale to find a bike shop. I needed new brake pads and the bike shop was nice enough to install them and check things over. The Adventure Cycling guide showed up in the store as we crossed over each other. They are overnighting in Carbondale with a rest day tomorrow so we will likely not see them again. We also saw a young woman at the bike shop just starting a trip to Pueblo, CO with a trailer. We caught up with her later in the afternoon. She seemed a little inexperienced so we wish her well. This area had a severe storm a couple of weeks back, and an ice storm in January. The clean-up was still under way. Storms threatened but did not appear during the ride. Lightening around us as we ate dinner tonight. However, the next week in Missouri promises more storm forecasts.

The route before Carbondale wound several miles through the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge and a sign identified it as a Wilderness Area. Sally had a nice hike there while waiting for me to catch up. Who knew such a thing existed in Illinois? The end of today's ride became a little tedious as we pushed ahead toward Chester. The last 10 miles had the combination head winds, hills, heat, and a rough road so Chester was a welcome sight. The only downside is that there apparently is no Mississippi River casino close by. But we learned that Chester is the home of the creator of Popeye with a Popeye statue by the river bridge. The restaurant we ate in served spinach salad of course.

PS - To Mitchell and Breaca - Hazel should know that the most persistent chase dogs are all Beagles.

Sally PS - My bad. Just because we go into Missouri tomorrow, I assumed the reunion in Door County started yesterday, but it turns out that Bob is just doing so well that we are already one full week ahead of original estimates. Glad Linda put out a message to straighten me out.

Tunnel Hill, IL

It was 26 miles from today’s starting point to the ferry at the Ohio River. We had to wait for the ferry to return and fell into conversation with a local family out on their motorcycles. They told the story of the history of the ferry that started in the 19th century. It seems the original ferry man would size up a customer, and if they seemed to be well off and no one else was around, he would rob them, kill them and throw the bodies into the river. Apparently this went on for years. There was no such danger as we crossed the wide Ohio into Cave-in-Rock, IL, our third state.

When Sally arrived ahead of me at the ferry crossing she caught up with the Adventure Cycling Tour. They are following the entire Trans Am route to Oregon. There are nine riders with two support staff. I eventually caught up with them farther down the road, and will stay ahead as they plan a day off tomorrow. They are camping in parks, church yards and fire house halls.

The riding in Illinois is much like Kentucky. The route goes through Shawnee National Forest. There are some steep hills with rolling sections along the ridge lines. The hills are called the little Ozarks. We finished after 76 miles at Tunnel Hill at the junction of a 45 mile rail to trail bike trail. We walked the quarter mile to go through the 100 yard tunnel. It was much cooler inside than the 90 degree riding temperatures.

Sally PS – Checked in by phone with family and friends at the 1747 Nellis Tavern Rhubarb Festival in St. Johnsville, NY. Chatted with sisters, brother and Tom F., and know that John M. and mom, Alice were also in attendance. Shout out to cross-country biking ladies gathering in Door County WI, today. Miss you all.

Technical note - the SD card reader seems to have stopped working so pictures will have to wait until we can get a replacement. Check back as we will update past posts.

Post update 6/8 - The boy is holding a chicken snake, so called because it eats chicken eggs. He caught it on the nearby golf course and was terrorizing the teenage girls nearby. He is the son of the people who managed the hotel we stayed at.

Clay, KY + 6 Miles

Today’s post will be late as we have no Internet access tonight in our local motel in Marion, KY. UPDATE – Who knew McDonalds offers WIFi? We had another good day of weather. It started out foggy but then turned fair, a little warmer up into the 80’s, and a favorable tailwind out of the southeast. The terrain and country side was much like yesterday, rolling hills with a few 100-200 foot climbs every now and then, and then suddenly we were in grain fields of the Midwest, with corn, barley, wheat and oats. So we just kept moving nearly straight west to complete 101 miles. Now a century was not the goal at the start of day, although I wanted to do at least one sometime on the trip. It just kind of happened. Sally was also able to get out and ride to enjoy the conditions. We met a bike tour going east on the route, a local Kentucky tour of some kind. Our motel neighbor is traveling alone on his motor cycle from Colorado to “see some places he hasn’t seen before”. We will be riding right through his home town of Canon City, as it turns out. So, the full moon is shining in our window, as we contemplate the free ferry tomorrow, over the Ohio River, into Illinois.

Rough River Falls. KY

What a difference a day makes. Today's 82 miles were completed under fair skies, temperatures in the 70's, and with a prevailing tail wind. It won't get much better than this. The country side reminded us in many places of Iowa. Small towns, farms, and rolling mostly flat terrain with a few un-Iowa like steep climbs out of river valleys. Sally visited Lincoln's birthplace park so we are getting our share of Lincoln history. We finally encountered our first west bound bike tourists, a couple from Hawaii. They are riding self contained and are headed to Astoria, Oregon. They are truly touring, having started at Yorktown in early May, riding 50-60 miles a day at about 10 mph, and expect to get to Oregon in August. They reported that there is an Adventure Cycling cross country tour about a day ahead so we will see if we catch up to them. I rode with them for a couple of miles. Sally had ridden ahead for her ride today and so met them on the way back to the truck. Tonight we are staying at a small motel across from the Rough River Resort State Park. The Army Corp. of Engineers maintains a dam here on the Rough River. The resulting lake is a local resort area know for its bass fishing. I am "borrowing" their WiFi sitting outside the main lodge. We expect to hit a local church that was advertising a fish fry for dinner tonight. Finally, we passed a milestone of sorts. We are now in the central time zone, so change your clocks.

Rt 457 and 52

The 74 miles today featured Western NY weather - 60's, rain, and northeast winds. All that was missing were views of Lake Ontario. The good news is the wind was a nice tail wind for much of the day. The route wound through rolling hills with an occasional drop into and climb out of a stream or river valley. Once again I revisited some of the roads from last year's Kentucky ride. This is bourbon country but we did not make time for a tour and tasting.

We passed by Lincoln Homestead State Park. There was a replica cabin built on the original site of Tom and Nancy Hanks Lincoln' home, Lincoln's parents. Sally had a close encounter with a row of vultures along a fence line - we don't think they were waiting for bikers. We ended the ride at a country cross roads and are staying in Bardstown. Dinner tonight will be at the Tom Pig's Restaurant.

7PM Update - Tom Pig's appears to be out of business so we went upscale to the Old Talbott Tavern. We figure I am burning at least 3000 calories a day. So for you foodies out there my dinner consisted of one pint of Kentucky Bourbon Ale, fried green tomato appetizer, salad, pork chop, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and cherry cobbler.

The yarn and button picture is in response to popular demand for all of you knitters out there. This is the sum total of Sally's shopping so far.

Bryantsville, KY

As reported in the last post, yesterday was a rest day. We visited Natural Bridges State Resort Park and hiked up to see the natural bridge carved into the sandstone and the surrounding rock formations including a cave with 50 degree air blowing out. After a picnic lunch we hung around the park reading and napping. After all it was a rest day. On the way back to our motel a storm blew through with strong winds, and bang, a large limb hit the windshield. Fortunately, no damage was sustained other than the sudden jolt to our psyches.

Today the ride wound for 75 miles to the cross road of Bryantsville. There was a transition from the woods, hills, and hollows of Appalachia to the rolling hills and farms of blue grass Kentucky. In fact in my experience it was as dramatic as crossing a county line. The first 20 miles or so of the ride was largely downhill with a tail wind. At 40 miles we reached the town of Berea. Sally rode out to meet me to get some miles in. She also enjoyed some time shopping (Pam, Tracy remember?) and purchased --- more yarn! Last year Sally and I and some friends did a bike tour with Black Bear Adventures in this part of Kentucky, and we stayed at the Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea. The next portion of the ride followed the same route we rode last year so it was familiar, and I managed to not miss turns on vaguely marked roads, unlike last year. Adventure Cycle calls Berea the "gateway to the Appalachians".

I had my share of the usual kinds of experiences that can happen on a bike ride. The Appalachia part of the ride today featured so many dog episodes, I lost count. So far strongly voiced shouts of "stay" or "go home" have kept them from getting within biting distance. I was stung in the face by a bee that hit me on a down hill. And there was a line of thunderstorms to navigate. I took shelter for 20 minutes in what I thought was an abandoned building, but a guy turned up who was using it for a warehouse for his vending machine business. He invited me to take shelter while the worst passed. He told me he can net 20-25% from the business. (Most businesses would die for that margin including my former employer.) A tornado had gone through the area in early May and the damage was very evident. I ended up riding the last few miles in the rain but without much of a storm to deal with.

We are overnighting in the city of Danville. We toured their historic park and met Abby who was manning a cooperative farm stand. She is from Ohio, went to school in NC, works during the school year in Minnesota, and is working this summer in Kentucky because "it's in the middle". We convinced her she has to ride cross country some day.

Stone Coal Baptist Church

Stone Coal Baptist Church was the end of the ride today after 75 miles. The church is essentially at the top of a long hill in the middle of a long stretch between towns in Daniel Boone National Forest. Let's just say I was ready to end the day. We ended up driving about 20 miles to Irvine, KY for the overnight and a rest day tomorrow. So day after tomorrow we will return to the church to resume the ride where we left off.

The route today started off on quiet country roads but then things became more hectic. The route followed two major highways with heavy traffic for about 10 miles around Hazard. There were shoulders but they were filled with those tiny stones that can cause flats and crossed by @#$% rumble strips. Since this was now the work week, the 18 wheel coal trucks were also out in full force until I went far enough west to get beyond most of them. Towards the end of the day it was back to quiet back roads through the forest.

Sally visited Buckhorn State Resort Park on Buckhorn Lake to do some hiking before meeting me down the road at Booneville at about 59 miles into the ride. She commented on how nice the daisies look right now along the road side. Can't say I noticed but I did almost run over a live black snake crossing the road. I stopped at the Buckhorn general store for drinks. It was one of those throw back stores and the proprietor keeps a log of riders that I signed. I learned that I am about two days behind two other Trans Am riders.

A footnote to yesterday's post - our waiter in Hazard expressed interest in the ride and is now following the blog. Check out his comment on yesterday's post.