Category: Longform
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Zooming to Tennessee
My back felt better this morning, and with 52 miles on the schedule it felt very doable. Especially with all my new ointments to soothe my muscles and keep my rear end happy.
The challenge for the day was that in addition to riding, and needing to move to the next campground, I was also supposed to participate in the Concordia College October board meeting. What to do? Most of the morning was scheduled as committee meetings and the student learning committee had no important votes to make today, so I decided I would ride during that meeting and attempt to participate via zoom as I rode. It mostly worked fine! I was able to listen to 90% of the meeting as I had at least two bars of Verizon LTE for the majority of the ride!
The only part I could not participate in was during opening introductions when I happened to be down in a very pretty valley ā I guess they call them hollers down here in Kentucky? In any case I didnāt have service for a while.
Iām going to claim that this is the first time ever that a Concordia regent has participated in a board meeting, virtually, while riding 52 miles.
Tonight we are camped out at Reel Foot Lake State Park. We have a beautiful spot right on the lake.
Getting into this spot was quite the trick! First we had to back down a lane and then make a sharp turn around a tree, while avoiding another tree with the pickup! Thankfully I married a pro backer upper, and with my expert hand signals šš we were settled in no time!
A relatively early arrival allowed me to participate in the afternoon session from the comfort of our couch, and thankfully we have a good signal at this campground!
Saint Louis to Fort Kaskaskia
Today was another 50 mile day, but thankfully the weather was 180 degrees from yesterday. Cool, sunny, and with a very light breeze that was almost behind me. I even saw my first dead armadillo on the side of the road! Oh joy!
After yesterday, which I will always think of as āthe ride from hell,ā I did a lot of thinking about this journey. I had a lot of time to think as the river was not visible and the scenery was a lot of cropland! One thing that I said to Jane and many others was that we are doing this for fun. If it isnāt fun then why do it? Yesterday was not fun. Enduring 50-70 miles a day on roads where you have to contend with traffic is not fun. Even without traffic which is also the case four to six hours on the bike every day is a pretty lonely experience. There are only so many podcasts to listen to.
According to our guide book for the MRT we are headed into more of the ride that is not very pretty and just miles and miles on roads. The sense of accomplishment at the end of the day is fun, but it all too soon turns into another morning and getting back on the bike. This trip has been hard on my body as well. The ride in the wind really took a toll on my back.
East Saint Louis was NOT fun for Jane either. The RV park was nothing but a giant parking lot behind the Casino. She volunteered to ride across the bridge to a bike shop to pick up some new tubes for our tires and some urrrrmmmm āChamois Creamā for my developing chafing problem. Brand name āDZNutzā š On the way back from that errand she hit a patch of broken glass and suffered another flat. Thankfully she was close enough to just walk the bike back to the camper. This was a good reminder that this trip is not much of a vacation for her. Hooking up the camper, taking care of the āblack water,ā filling the fresh water, all the stuff that we normally do together when camping she is having to do alone.
So, all of those things were turning over and over in my mind as I rode and I think it leads to one conclusion. A little less riding and a little more fun. Maybe more hiking, maybe just some shorter rides in areas that are pretty. Maybe just more time together enjoying our campsites and what they have to offer. It doesnāt mean Iām giving up ā the killer nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Lets just say I am reprioritizing the activities of the trip!
Jane met me with the camper a several miles short of the camp site for the night and we rode those last miles together. We talked about my thoughts from the day, and considered skipping the campground for tonight and moving on to the next so that we could have a couple of nights in the same place. Luckily we decided that we should at least drive through the campground and see what it was like. Luckily we did! Our campground was a real find! Called Fort Kaskaskia, the campground was first come first served. Other than a few campers that were obviously there for the season we had our pick of sites. After getting camp set up we walked back to the main picnic shelter where we had a spectacular view of the mississippi.
This area has a very interesting history. The mississippi changed directions here at one point putting part of Illinois to the west of the river. It was also the site of a revolutionary war battle! Yes revolutionary not civil, I never knew there were revolutionary war battles fought this far west. We met a nice couple who had lived in the area their whole lives who had just come up to the fort after a doctors appointment to enjoy the view. They enjoyed sharing some of the history of the area with us and it was fun to hear it from them.
West Memphis to Mississippi River State Park
This is one of the most beautiful state parks with really nice campsites.
After riding nearly 60 miles today, my back was so sore that I knew my long distance riding days were numbered. The rest of the way will be finding some shorter, more scenic/nicer routes to ride to fulfill the spirit of this trip.
The truth is that riding 100 miles on the edge of a highway through flat farmland lost its appeal. This really is the part of the ride where things get kind of flat and boring. Iām looking forward to that last days ride to the Gulf.
Meanwhile we had a nice campfire and enjoyed a really beautiful night in the park.
A Dogged Ride to Fort Pillow
Today I saw fields of cotton ready for harvest for the first time in my life. What a sight! Acres of white āflowersā against a backdrop of green.
After breaking camp at lake Reel Foot and riding for a while with Jane I got on my bike for the last 52 miles into our destination of Fort Pillow. Less than 100 yards from starting my ride I was chased by two dogs. Of course this was going to happen as I had just commented to Jane that of all the things so far the last couple of weeks I was glad that I hadnāt had to cope with dogs! These two were just a dramatic foreshadowing of my day to come. Following the MRT took me through lots of pockets of rural houses on very lightly traveled roads. But every house had at least one dog and all of them wanted to greet me in some way. None of them attacked, but when you are on a bike it is never fun to have dogs running beside you or in front of you, you just donāt know what they will do.
In addition to the cotton fields I also saw a lot of Kudzu forests. Kudzu is an invasive plant species introduced from Japan. It can grow a foot a day and loves to cover the native trees giving the forests that have been taken over by the Kudzu quite an interesting look!
Todayās ride was also super hilly! The final few miles up to the campground at Fort Pillow almost did me in! Iām very happy that this should be one of the last hilly rides, the rest of the way to Louisiana should be pretty flat.
Iāve read quite a bit about the civil war but had never heard of a general Pillow. Turns out he didnāt last long and neither did the fort. Less than a year from completion the fort was abandoned by the confederacy. It was a very nice campground, and it was a beautiful Fall night. A good chance to have a campfire and enjoy some well earned steaks after a hard ride!
Tomorrow Jane and I plan to do an easy ride on a bike path on the way to Memphis, then Iām planning to take a couple days off as we rest up and take in a few of the sites in Memphis. Hopefully some BBQ on Beale street is in my future.
Trail of Tears State Park
From Fort Kaskaskia we drove to the Trail of Tears State Park. This park marks the spot where thousands of Cherokee were driven across the Mississippi river in a forced relocation to reservations in the west. Over 1/4 of the Cherokee died on the trip. A shameful part of our past.
The campground here is small and remote, except for the railroad tracks that run right next to the campground and river. For some reason the engineers feel it necessary to blow their whistles in the middle of the night for the tiny trail that crosses the tracks from the campground to the river. Needless to say this was not our best nights sleep.
But Iām getting ahead of myself. We were only about 10 miles from Cape Girardeau a beautiful river town, with murals on the cement flood wall that tell the story of the town. On our way into town we stopped at the Cape Bicycle shop to stock up on some supplies. I had a great chat with one of the guys in the store (owner maybe). He gave me some good riding advice, and some recommendations on where we could get a good pizza and some local brew. Minglewood brewery was the place. We were able to hang out, enjoy some beer, tater-tot nachos, and pizza while watching the US Mens national team. I would recommend both Minglewood and the cycle shop if you are passing through.
After a pretty bad nights sleep, my back was hurting, so I just did a short ride around on the park roads.
Jane had taken off with the truck to do a hike and I had left my helmet in the truck. So I didnāt want to go on the highway and I didnāt want to go far or fast anyway, so a gentle ride to stretch my muscles was all I wanted. Janeās hike was like a trip through the jungle, she had to use her walking sticks to clear away the spider webs!
One of the things the guys in the bike shop told me, which of course Jane already knew, was not to ride across this bridge!!
Since it was a day to ride in the truck, I did not! Instead we rode together to Columbus Belmont state park. After setting up camp I had just enough signal to participate in the afternoon plenary session of the Concordia board meeting.
Our campground host was very welcoming, and was willing to deliver a nice load of wood for just $5. This was great as we made some pork satays over an open fire along with couscous and chickpeas.
Halfway there? Or am I finished? A battle of will!
Today started out promising. Like any morning in the camper I made myself some coffee. Unlike most mornings the cell service at Pere Marquette was so bad that the best my devices could muster was a few received emails overnight. Despite Two bars of service digital was just out of the question. Obviously this cell is not designed to handle the volume of traffic at the park. Anything real time was out of the question.
I did pull up the weather and managed to get a frame of radar. Not good! We turned on the TV since we got good TV reception and the weatherman summed it up. Rain this morning, then 30 mph winds for the afternoon with severe weather to follow after noon and late this afternoon. Ugh! So we walked up to the lodge where they had super-fast wifi and confirmed all of this. Yep, lots of rain on the way, then what looked like a break, maybe followed by more rain.
OK, so Iāll work this morning and leave after the rain hopefully finishing before the afternoon showers hit! Great idea. Around 11:00 we saw the sun, so I helped Jane get the camper hooked up, then got my stuff ready and headed out on my bike. The trail, which I had been looking forward to, was a mess! Mud puddles, Mud, downed tree branches, etc. My legs were caked with mud before I had gone 6 miles. The wind out of the SSE was quickly becoming a pain.
When I saw Jane go by on the highway I thought āmaybe sheāll stop and Iāll be done for the day.ā No such luck, OK, I am going to do this I told myself. It seems that cross country biking is a battle of will! Then I got on the highway where the bike lane was nicer, but the wind was fierce. I continued on for another 15 miles, not making great progress, until I noticed I was no longer on the route. Somewhere the bike path had gone to the right but I had continued following the highway. But just ahead was a turnout where I could get back on the path. Iām not sure I should have as the path was on top of the levee, well above the highway! At times I was riding at a 20 degree angle into the side wind! But I donāt think my day was as challenging as this barge driver! He was trying to get the barges into the lock but clearly heading for the shore due to the high winds!
I seemed to continue along the top of the levee in the wind forever. At the Lewis and Clark memorial I contemplated calling Jane again, but I kept on going. About two miles after the memorial I really regretted my decision as the bike path inexplicably turned to gravel, nice rain softened gravel! That continued for at least two or three miles until I got to the bridge to cross the Mississippi back into Missouri. Getting off the levee and back onto the road was hard as the path was chained shut. I felt very isolated and alone, and it looked like nobody had biked this path for years. Tires, old furniture, all kinds of crap had been thrown off the bridge I was to crossā¦ Yuk!
A few miles later I crossed the beautiful āChain of Rocksā bridge. Definitely a sight to behold, but by the time I got to the end of the bridge it was pouring. Thankfully there was a covered rest area at the end of the bridge. This time I did call Jane. But she was on her bike headed out to meet me! She is amazing, she was headed out to meet me so I could draft off her on her ebike for the final 10 miles. āIām almost to the chain of rocks bridgeā she said. āOK, its letting up, Iāll meet youā I replied. But I kept riding and riding and no sign of her! So I brought here up on āFind my Friendsā Ok Iām getting close but she doesnāt seem to be moving! At that point I got a little nervous, but as I got to the point where here icon was on find my and my blue dot showed me, I could see she was standing. Waiting for me? Nope she had ridden through a pile of glass and had a flat tire! Also no spare tube or tire changing tools. How could I let her ride without a spare!!??
Maybe an Uber was the solution, but I didnāt like the idea of her waiting around for me to get back to her, or her riding in an Uber and me just hanging out for an hour for her to come back. So I tried the first step. Just pump up the tire again. No go! Ok, my tubes are not made for her tires, but they will definitely work in a pinch. So I took off her tire and replaced the tube with my spare. We vowed to carry our bikes over the area with the glass. That was enough to get us back to the RV park at the King Power / Queens casino RV park in St. Louis.
Back in the camper, my back is sore from fighting the wind all day and my attitude is marginal at best. I canāt decide if I want to say I made it halfway down the Mississippi or if I want to continue.
Parts of this ride are great and beautiful, and parts of the trip are just gross.
We will see what tomorrow brings but my bet is on me continuing despite past challenges, and future worries. This feels to me like one of those junior high english class āman against natureā challenges, and in the moment that is exactly what it is! What me give up?! Never! On the other hand I only did this because I thought it would be fun. Today was not fun, today was a whole lotta work. I beat the wind and rain and the elements, but at the end of the day Iām tired and my back hurts, and the Alleve isnāt working, and Iām no fun for Jane to hang out with. So we will see what tomorrow brings!
Stay tuned!
Not that kind of biker
Although today was a āday of restā we still made a short ride into Grafton for lunch. Iāll ride this same path again tomorrow so this made up for a little of yesterdayās ride in the truck.
As we rode into town I saw this big sign, āBikers Welcomeā
Nice! I thought until we noticed the 100 or so Harleys parked outside. The banner in the back is also advertising āThe Hawg Pitā. Needless to say we did not stop there for our lunch. We continued on to the Grafton Brewhouse and Winery where we had some pretty good burgers and decent beer. I think they source some of their grapes from California as I did have a nice chardonnay. Good enough that I bought a bottle.
In case you are looking for a fancy place to stay…
Hannibal / Hamberg to Pere Marquette
I awoke with heavy legs this morning! The plan was for Jane to drive me back across the river, retracing part of my ride from yesterday. Then, to drop me off so I could ride to the State Park. Sometimes things donāt go quite as planned.
A mile or two into the ride, maybe even less I noticed that I had a flat. Not so bad, I havenāt had any flat tires for quite a while now. So I pulled over to make the change only to discover that I had left my pump in the camper! Thankfully Jane was only a few miles down the road, and I had cell service. She came back with the pump and another tire and a bit later I was changed and on my way.
Less than a mile down the road I was flat again. Grrr… Maybe it was the tired legs, or the heat, or whatever but that was the last straw for me. On the phone again to Jane. āI guess I was not meant to ride today.ā So back she came again. As I was waiting I took the whole tire off and once again felt inch by inch to see if I could find something. Finally I found a tiny sharp spine that had somehow worked its way through. I had missed it the first time around but not now. Still, when Jane got back I put the bike on the rack and hopped in the truck.
I sat there stewing and angry about flat tires for quite a few miles before I finally decided that maybe it was time to pull off, fix the tire and ride the rest of the way.
The first part of the abbreviated ride was from Hamberg, which was on some beautiful country roads. Here I am as Jane decided to follow me for a few miles just to be sure.
The second part of the ride was along a pretty busy Illinois Hwy 100. Not so great, but here I am crossing the Illinois river about 15 miles short of Pere Marquette State Park.
We put the Instant Pot to work to make some ribs which we finished over our campfire and some cheesy rice. Tomorrow is scheduled to be a day of rest.
Nauvoo to Hannibal
Today was a total washout. I woke up and looked at the forecast and radar only to see a huge patch of rain heading our way. Strangely from east to west. I guess we are in the south now? I just had time to get the bike on the rack and get them covered up before the rain started. So we had a nice breakfast and watched the radar. Clearly an all day thing. I am not into riding all day in the rain so today became a day off. When the rain finally did let up, we did a short hike at Wildcat Den State Park and then drove to Nauvoo.
Here is what it looks like when you are the only camper in the campground!
Nauvoo, home to the grave of Joseph Smith and one really big Mormon temple looked like a pretty sleepy little town as we pulled in. The town turned out to be larger than we thought, but it was still pretty quiet. After setting up camp we took a short walk to the oldest winery in Illinois. We keep trying to convince ourselves that we will find a good wine somewhere along the Mississippi. š¤£
The morning came and the sun was out, a great day to ride to ride. the first part of the day was beautiful, following the river right at river level.
As the day wore on I got further away from the river and more into farmland as well as higher temperatures and a bit of a southern breeze. A different kind of scenery but it was fun to see the harvest in progress.
Heading into Hannibal I rode across the Mississippi on I72 - the only stretch of Interstate in Illinois where bikes are allowed. At this point I was getting pretty tired of riding into the wind and I was low on water, so thankfully I was getting close. After the bridge it was all downhill into Hannibal. Unfortunately our campground was not in downtown, it was outside of Hannibal on the other side of a hill!
One shower and a gallon of water later I was ready to head back into town. We decided, unsurprisingly, on a pizza/pasta place called the brick oven. We were lucky I was ready for an early supper as by the time we left there was a very long waiting list.
Of course when in town you have to stop and help Tom Sawyer whitewash a fence.
On the way back to camp we stopped at Lovers Leap where we had a beautiful view of the river and Hannibal.
I did manage to stay awake until 10, even knowing that I had another 80 miles on the schedule for the next day.
Mississippi Palisades to Muscatine
Today I did 86 miles but it was a very relaxing day of riding. The majority of the day was on trails and it was nice to be away from traffic and goats. At one point I was riding right along the top of the levee but most of the time was just through nice rural roads and trails.
I had to make a stop at the local Caseys to buy a couple of bottles of water since I somehow managed to leave the camper with everything but my water bottles. I now have a morning checklist to make sure I donāt forget stuff!
My route today took me through Cordova, where I stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view of the river as well as through East Moline, and Davenport. My one little snag was the bike trail through the parks area of Davenport was closed due to some emergency training drills, so I had to detour on a little busier road.
When I arrived at our destination for the night near Muscatine, Jane was sitting in the parking area. It turns out that checkout time is not until 4:00 and the people occupying our site for the night were going to get every last minute out of their stay. After 4:00 there was still no sign they were leaving, and I was sweaty and grumpy and out of patience so I went over to the sight to politely ask when they planned on moving along. It wasnāt the most pleasant conversation Iāve had, but it did get the job done!
For dinner we had spaghetti and salad. I had not even finished my spaghetti when I had to do a Zoom meeting with a group of students who are working on a project for Runestone for their Senior Capstone. I donāt mind working from the road especially when we have a decent signal. My schedule is a bit unpredictable depending on how far Iām riding and what the weather is, but I seem to be able to keep up with email and do a little development work in my downtime.