Atlantic to Pacific Cycling Journey 2011: Day 19 Carbondale to Missouri

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Miles 56.27 Total Miles 1178.56 Daily Avg. 62.03

Avg Speed 14.4 Max Speed 37.4 Alt gain 2323 Temp 94 Degrees

Today we entered the "West" crossing the mighty Mississippi River, from Chester, IL home of the creator of Popeye, into Missouri. In addition we completed our third of twelve maps.

This morning I awoke at 5:00am and walked outside into a sauna. It was going to be a hot one.

The ride today took us through the farmlands of Illinois. Farmers are playing catch up after the rain and flooding which hit the mid west back in May. The fields are filled with large farm equipment cutting and baling hay, preparing and planting their summer crops. We have replaced the large coal trucks of the mountains with tractors and large farm equipment, as they move between fields.

The roads we traveled today were smooth and somewhat flat until we turned onto County Road 5 at mile 46. CR 5 was a narrow county lane with beautiful farms and vistas. The problem was

the large farm equipment which drives down the road on hot summer days. The heat melts the asphalt and the heavy equipment sinks in the asphalt and leaves large tire tracks. After 46 miles my butt and arms were not looking forward to the bumpy jarring of this road surface for the next 9 miles.

We finished riding at 12:30 and headed into St. Louis for the evening. After touring the Anheuser Busch Brewery and taking a ride to the top of the Arch are legs were done for the day.

I included this picture because it seemed as if it took forever to reach this little town of Wine Hill and I wanted to remember something of it. It could be named Whine Hill