Day 33: Crossing the Mississippi

Farmington, Missouri to Carbondale, Illinois – Super 8 Motel

This morning I woke up early, at 4:00 a.m., to pack my things up for the day. Bill was waiting for me upstairs with 2 egg sandwiches ready to go. It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of my favorite breakfasts! I ate one immediately and saved the other for later. My hosts also loaded me up with cookies and fruit for the road ahead. I had such a good time at Bill and Annette’s, and was reluctant to leave. I was tired and could have spent a full day there. I had to dig deep, but I finally got the motivation to power on, and said goodbye at 5:30 a.m. Thanks again for everything!

It wasn’t long before I was back on “Bike Highway 76.” I lasted 24 miles before I gave in and ate my second egg sandwich. Thanks again Bill! Not long after that, I was dropping into the Mississippi River Valley, and it suddenly became so flat – no more crazy hills for now. I could tell the river was close, and soon I came up to the bridge over the Mississippi and crossed into Illinois (State #9).

Once over the bridge, I biked into Chester, Illinois which was where the illustrator of “Popeye” was born and grew up. It is the town’s claim-to-fame, and there are statues scattered throughout town commemorating the artist and the cartoon. At right about lunchtime, in the middle of nothing but miles of farmland, an intense thunderstorm started to build to the West of me. I needed to find cover, but it was so rural, and there were no public buildings or stores to be found. As I pedaled as fast as I could to put distance between the storm and myself, I called my Cape Cod support crew to help me try to locate a building or something I could take shelter in close to my route.

At first, using Google, all they could locate were cemeteries and private farms. Then they noticed that a couple of the cemeteries had churches “attached,” and they were both on my route. I got to the first one within minutes, but no one was around. All the doors were locked, and there was no kind of shelter either. The storm was building quickly, and getting very ominous and close as I pedaled off, hopeful that St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, just around the corner, would be open. It was not. No one was around; however, there was a covered picnic area with a table, and I took cover there. Then, in an instant, the full force of the storm; pouring rain, whipping winds, and lightning, came down on me relentlessly. But, my shelter did the trick. I remained dry(ish) while the storm pounded the rafters overhead, and I took the time to eat lunch and rest up for the road ahead.

With the threat of more thunderstorms, I had to cut today’s ride short. And so, with all the energy I could muster, I raced the 30 miles to nearby Carbondale and checked into a “Super 8 Motel.” It was right next to a grocery store, so I restocked my supplies and bought a big, but cheap, microwavable mac’ n cheese and calzone dinner. I am so tired. It will be an early bed for me tonight. VIEW PHOTOS

Distance: 98.66(2531.70 total miles)
Time: 7:57:45
Ascent: 4905
Descent: 5620

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