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

The Mississippi River at Chester, Il

Chester, IL home of Popeye

These guys Lewis and Clark are everywhere

Get me some spinach

Kelly crossing the Mississippi

Our fourth state

Jim crossing

St Louis

View from the top of the Arch

The Arch

The Budweiser Clysdales

Anheuser Busch Brewery

I did not know Budweiser made Stella

Free Samples brings on the smile

Day 18 Golconda, IL to Carbondale. IL

Friday, June 3, 2011

Miles 65.23   Total 1122.29   Daily Avg 62.38

Avg Speed 14.3   Max Speed 37.2 mph   Atl Climbed 3796

Left the bug fields at 7:30 headed for Carbondale 65 miles away. The day began cooler than the previous few, but the heat quickly overtook us with temperatures near 100 late in the afternoon. There were more hills than we expected today which slowed us down. Kelly decided she did no like Illinois because of all the unexpected hills.

The nicest part of the ride was Crab Orchard National Wildlife Preserve. The grade was flat with shade tree coverage.  The park had many hiking trails, camping area and boating lake.  It would have been a nice place to camp, but we agreed not to camp when the temp reaches above 90 degrees.

Carbondale is one of the larger cities we visit on the TransAm route.  Even so it has a population of 20,000 and is home to the SIU, Southern Illinois University.

Day 17 Sebree, KY to Golconda, IL

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Miles 80.4   Total miles 1057. 06   Daily Avg 62.1

Avg Speed 15.2   Max speed 37.4 mph   Alt climbed 4488 ft

We were up early and out by 7:30am, last to leave but since we are not carrying as much weigh we quickly catch up with those ahead. The sun rises early with the time change, and since we are used to being an hour behind, this early start is no problem. Our ride today started with our last 50 miles of Kentucky to the Cave of Rocks Ferry at the Ohio River and into Illinois. From there we turned south along the Ohio to Elizabethtown. Joey waited for us at the ferry then proceeded to Etown and scouted a restaurant on the riverfront for lunch. A fried food feast, with catfish, cheeseballls, okra, and corn fritters. Kelly and I were slow cycling the final 15 mile to our campsite in Golconda after a heavy lunch and hot humid heat.

The final mile leaving Kentucky was over the flood plain of the Ohio River. Several weeks ago this area was under 16 feet of water.   The road and ferry were closed due to the heavy flooding along the Ohio and Mississippi River. Nothing remained on either side of the road, the fields were barren and filled with sand and silt. It was difficult to imagine the road we were cycling on being under 16 feet of water for up to a ½ mile from the river banks.

With the completion of today's ride we reached two miles stones by entering our third state, Illinois and completing our first 1,000 miles. One quarter down, we are on our way and some of the most difficult riding is behind us.

If you have ever taken a long drive in the summer you know how many bugs your windshield attracts. The last few days we have felt like a windshield.  Insects land on us, sting us, and basically cause a nuisance. While riding I have experienced two bee string one on the leg a second on the face. Yesterday while riding through a heavily infested cicada area Kelly was picking them from her cycling jersey and tossing them aside. I am waiting for a sunglass splat. It's a long trip, we will see what happens.

The bug fest continued this evening at our campground. The cicadas were everywhere and the eerie hum was penetrating. Cicadas were the least of the problems, now we have ticks. Joey was on tick patrol. He sat on his lounge chair reading with tweezers and butane lighter in hand keeping a watchful eye on each of us. When he spotted a tick on us he jumped into action.  Deftly removing the pest and taking care of it with his handy lighter. Amazing how a nuisance can be changed into an amusing time.  Hey, it could be worst we could all be back in Richmond with summer jobs.

\Waiting for the Ferry into Illinois

Crossing the Ohio River

We expect to cross paths with Lewis and Clark many times

Made it to Illinois

We should be heading west ?

Our third state

Old pumping station on the Ohio River

Golaconda flood wall.  It appeared to keep things dry over the past month.  we were driving on the levee

Old Ohio River Pumphouse

War Memorial in Pope Co, Il

Downtown Building in Golcanda, Il

Kelly slept outside in her hammock,  She had plenty of company in the morning. The friendly Circada's

Day 16 Falls of Rough to Sebree

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Miles 73.58 Total Miles 976.66 Daily Avg 61.04
Avg Speed 15.2 Max Speed 36.7 Alt climbed 3497 ft

Yesterday we crossed into the central time zone gaining 1 hour. After a delicious breakfast with the Feltus we depart at 7:45 heading for Sebree, Ky. The roads had less hills today and we actually had a tail wind for much of the ride. What a terrific feeling to already have ridden 65 miles and be cruising the last 5 miles, along flat roads at 20 miles per hour into Sebree.

Riding along we began to hear a few cicadas in the trees. As we progressed the noise got louder and there was a strange hum or vibration sound underneath the cicada rhythm. The sound was as if were were in a strange sci fi movie or an X File episode, I expected to see Mulder and Scully come walking through the woods. The sound intensified as we rode through wooded areas. We learned
cicadas are present every year but every 13^th year the number increase drastically. It was an eerie sound. I would not like to live in the heavily infested areas.

Tonight we are staying in the basement youth center of the First Baptist Church of Sebree. The pastor Bob and his wife Violet have invited us to spend the night and join them for dinner. Joining us are Wendy and Graeme, from New Zealand and Bruce, from Wisconsin and their neighbor Glenn. If we were not cycling so many miles each day we would be packing on the pounds. Joey will have to be careful since he spends a good part of the day behind the wheel. Tonight's dinner consisted of chicken casserole, delicious mac and cheese, butter beans, rolls and cantaloupe. Desert was homemade lemon icebox pie with vanilla ice cream. Another delicious meal this week, from Gail's house in Elizabethtown, to the Feltus', and now The First Baptist Church. We are amazed and humbled by the generosity of the people we meet.

 Feltus Main House

 Cottage our home for the night

 Morning Mist

 Feltus Farm

 Kentucky Farm land

 Kentucky Farmland

Interesting storage shed or outhouse

.Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "tymbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. Their "singing" is not the stridulation (where one structure is rubbed against another) of many other familiar sound-producing insects like crickets: the tymbals are regions of the exoskeleton that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened "ribs". Contracting the internal tymbal muscles produces a clicking sound as the tymbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the tymbals return to their original position producing another click. The interior of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the resonance of the sound. A cicada rapidly vibrates these membranes, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make its body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. The cicada modulates the sound by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the substrate. Additionally, each species has its own distinctive "song".^[1]

Day 15 Sonora to Falls of Rough

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Miles 46.48 Total miles 903.08 Daily Average 60.1 miles

Avg speed 14.4 Max speed 38.4 Alt gain 2037 max incline 16%

Another hot day, I guess we better just get used to them. We planned a short ride today to reach Falls of the Rough where Joey was going to spend the day fishing. This was our first day in Kentucky without any dog chases. The last few days the dogs have been better behaved and controlled.

Twice today we ran into Wendy and Graeme, a couple from New Zealand who are traveling the same route. They are very nice and we stopped and talked about our progress and the heat.

Two days ago we received a comment on our blog from Gary and Beth who live near Falls of Rough and host cyclist at their home.  Beth follows cyclist blogs on cross country tours.  She came across a mention of Kelly, Joey and I on Cory's blog after we offered him our leftover steak on Saturday evening in Bardstown campground.  Beth Googled "Kelly, Joey, Jim TransAmerica Bike Route" and our blog was displayed.  Its amazing how people can connect on the internet.  When we arrived Cory, from Las Vegas, and Bruce, from Wisconsin, whom we first met leaving Radford a week ago, were at the house.  Cory and Bruce stayed in the main house.  Kelly, Joey, Roxy and I stayed in the guesthouse on the farm.

Beth and Gary were such wonderful host welcoming five strangers to their beautiful home. Providing a wonderful dinner of spare ribs, corn, and salads.  Desert was warmed, fresh strawberries with apricot liqueur and  homemade lemon-cello.  Their graciouness continued the following morning as Beth prepared a full breakfast of eggs, bacon homemade biscuits and local jams and jellies. What can you say about the kindness of strangers. 

Throughout our trip we have experienced many such acts of kindness.  Kelly and I were leaving a restaurant after lunch one day and a gentleman stopped us, shook our hands and inquired about our trip.  As he walk away he offered to buy us an ice cream cone.  Wherever we go people ask us about our trip, where we are from and how far we are riding.  They are genuinely interested and want to talk with us.      

We are welcome wherever we go.

The round house

A stop with the Kiwi's Graeme and Wendy

Offered a free ice cream as we were leaving

Joey Fishing as he waits for us to finish riding

You have to love an old barn to explore

Small KY farm

Dinner at the Feltus Bruce(yellow) Corey

Dinner at the Feltus

Beth and Gary

Rest Day

Monday, May 30 2011 Memorial Day

Decided on a rest day after the heat and 81 miles yesterday.  Wee were outside Louisville and wanted to have some fun.  Driving into the city, we came across a city bike ride with people riding on all types of bikes.  The ride ended on the Ohio riverfront with a Richmond band and festivities.  The closed streets caused some traffic, since it was a holiday, but it was not to bad and gave us a good tour of the city.

Downtown on the waterfront of the Ohio River the "Abbey Road Music Festival" was being held.  This was a three day music festival honoring the Beatles.  There were over 300 bands each playing Beatles cover music.  I was surprised to see the band "The English Channel" on the program.  They are a local Richmond band.  I have heard them play last June at JJ's in Richmond.  They are very good, playing British music from the 60's and 70's.

After touring the downtown area and some of the older residential neighborhoods, we headed to Churchill Downs and the horse races.  The grandstands were not very crowded, but there was a buzz around the track as people placed their bets, ate some good food and experienced a cold drink.  It would not be Churchill Downs without enjoying a mint julep.  The day was hot but there was a cool breeze and we sat in the covered grandstands.  Of course we moved to the rail as the races began.  Joey looked like an old pro with his racing sheet in one hand and beer in the other standing a the rail cheering his horse to the finish.