Man, that's a bummer 👎. But at least you are in the care of friends and not stuck in some soulless hotel room or your tent.

Right back atcha!

“Michigan Pothole” ice cream… LOL! Paying homage to our orange-barreled state!

You’re making great progress, but I’m glad you’re giving yourself some down time. And by the way, congrats on your new niece… she is beautiful, like her Mom!

Wow, how have I gone this far and never even heard of the new Eastern Express part of the trail? Thank you for bringing this up, Kelly! It does look like it would get me a bit closer to Denver with less off-trail improvising on my own. And it'll probably save some time, which I may need. Thanks again.

I'll be very interested to know how your fingers progress. For the past ten weeks or so I've been dealing with a similar issue, but not from overdoing it on my bike. (In fact I've been quite negligent in that area.) Wrist braces / splints have helped (one type for day use, another at night) but the daytime version won't be practical on tour.

And a giant YES to sun sleeves! I saw them in action in Florida in April and ordered a 4 pack immediately after I got home.

I like the people in this photo SO MUCH.

A friend put foam pipe insulation under his bar tape. Think pool noodle, but not as bulky. He said it was a good fix.

I suppose you could split a pool noodle and wrap it around the bars, as is? It would look odd.

Does the Eastern Express route take you in a more direct fashion to Denver? I've looked at it many times.

Here's wishing you happy trails!

Keith Adams
Back in the late 1980s, the unemployment rate in East St. Louis was staggering, and with it the poverty rate. Virtually all of the heavy industry in town had shut down, leaving the place with zero economic base on which to fall back and recover. I vividly recall the wasteland of already-decaying factories and other buildings, crisscrossed by out of service rail lines and spurs.

It was the most hopeless and depressing tableau I think I've ever seen personally.

Yes DEFINITELY better to have waited the storm out than to contend with that, as it was happening!

115 miles in one day, after biking for 27 days makes it official, you are definitely The Rambling Man!
You should treat yourself to a gallon of Ice Cream and Chocolate Chip cookies after that.
Enjoy St Louis!

I lived for six years in Lebanon, a few miles to the east of O'Fallon. If you haven't figured it out yet, the best (almost only) way to get to St. Louis from O'Fallon is to get on the great Madison County Trail system. Take it all the way to Venice, IL. Ride a few miles through Venice and take the McKinley Bridge (with a separated bike and pedestrian lane) across the Mississippi. Then you're on the Riverfront bike trail which you can use to get to the Arch, and downtown St. Louis.

Ah, two excellent contributions that I will add to the playlist I started using the list above. My dad used to play the Allman Brothers on the home stereo every now and then. Gotta love that guitar.

As for the ice cream, you have no idea how much ice cream I can eat if I don't stop myself. On a shorter tour, yeah, what the heck, I'd go nuts. But I can't let myself have a pint a day for four months! (Right?)

As I follow along with you the song I keep hearing is The Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man.” And of course “The Greatest Adventure” from The Hobbit. And Christopher… we need to have a serious conversation about ice cream. Clearly you’ve never been premenstrual. A pint IS a standard serving size. You weigh 120 pounds soaking wet (including your soggy socks) and you’re burning a bazillion calories a day. Let go of the rules! Eat! Enjoy!

Thanks for catching this. It is indeed Illinois. Clearly I was a little sleepy when writing this. I'm correcting the title now.