September 13, 2022
Day Two: Marion, Kentucky to Lake of Egypt, Illinois
I did not sleep well in the church, and woke up every hour or so. Finally, around 3:30, I got up, got dressed, and walked across the street to the FiveStar, which, surprisingly for such a small town, was open 24 hours a day. Even more surprisingly, there were several people in and outside the place. My impression was that they were not fellow insomniacs, but instead had not gone to bed yet.
I bought a Diet Coke, walked back to the church, looked over the cyclist logbooks from previous years, wrote my own entry, and slowly got everything packed up.
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2 years ago
It's definitely not as widely known as the Sebree church hostel.
The fact that I didn't sleep well there is due to my own insomnia - no fault of setup at the church.
2 years ago
Eventually it was light enough to ride, so I headed out, but made an immediate stop at the McDonald's. There was a long line in the drive through, but I was the only one eating inside until an older couple came in.
They were friendly, and asked where I'd come from. I laughed and told them not to be disappointed - it was nowhere exotic, only Henderson, and hour's drive from Marion. I suppose I could have adopted a foreign accent, and told them I was from Italy, or something. I did briefly consider it, but I doubted I could conceal my accent from fellow Kentuckians.
After breakfast I rode the twelve miles to the ferry on the Ohio River. I've done this several times over the years, and it's always pleasant, including this morning.
The abandoned "Pilot House" restaurant didn't look much different than when I rode across the USA in 2006:
The ferry ride was a little slower than usual. It appeared that the two guys who always run the boat were training a new, younger employee, and he was being extremely cautious.
I didn't linger in Cave-in-Rock, since I've been there often, and had a lot of hilly miles to cover today.
I actually missed my first turn onto Tower Rock Road, and instead just took IL-146 most of the way to Elizabethtown, population 299. The highway was surprisingly hilly, with several long, long rollers. Traffic was reasonably quiet. I didn't feel too sad about missing Tower Rock Road, because I'd done it in 2006, and my (now faint) memory of it was not especially positive, probably because of some dog chases.
I looked around Elizabethtown, which seemed perhaps a little more crumbling than it did in 2006.
I stopped in a newer convenience store on the edge of town, bought some snacks, and talked to the friendly women working there.
The next several miles on IL-146 pleasant but unexceptional. It seemed hillier than I remembered from 2006.
I turned onto Eddyville Road, which was pleasant and quiet, but MUCH hillier than I remembered. Maybe back then I considered this terrain flat, because I'd just ridden across the mountains of Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. But now I'm sixteen years older, and have been living first in the super-flat prairie region of Illinois, and then in mostly-flat Western Kentucky. My climbing legs have atrophied due to lack of use.
I stopped in Eddyville for lunch at a bar and grill, "Shotgun Eddy's." During the long wait for my pizza and french fries to arrive, I looked at the map on my phone and made the decision to abandon my route. I didn't want to ride anymore on the boring state highway, which I was supposed to do after Eddyville.
I worked out a 15-mile route through the Shawnee National Forest to the village of Stonefort. I'd figure something out when I got there.
The first road through the Forest was nice, smooth, shaded chip seal. Only one car in the first several miles. Perfect.
Eventually the road became gravel, and then loose, mushy gravel. A large barking dog the size of a small pony ran out from one of the few homes along the road as I descended a loose gravel section. I kept the bike under control, though. I love touring on the Fargo with its big, tough tires, because virtually every kind of road surface is rideable with it.
A car passed me and stirred up a cloud of gravel dust, which annoyed me - how inconsiderate. But then a few miles later a truck slowed down almost to a crawl as he passed me up a steep gravel section, leaned out his window, and told me "I didn't want to fog you up! This is a tough place to bike!" So of the three or four cars I'd encountered on this fifteen mile stretch, only one of the drivers was kind of a jerk. Not too bad.
With about five miles to Stonefort, I developed a throbbing headache. Fortunately that was around the time I passed a country church at a bend in the road, so I stopped and lay down in the shade there for a while. Taking off my helmet and tight cycling cap for a while seemed to fix the headache.
I arrived in Stonefort, population 297.
Stonefort is on the Tunnel Hill Trail, but unfortunately the trail didn't go in my direction. I looked on my phone and found a cheap(ish) motel fifteen miles directly west of Stonefort, called them to make sure they had a room, and set off on a hastily-designed route. The first five miles were very, very nice, but then became a little too trafficky for my taste, and I just ground out the miles. I was ready to be done for the day. All this climbing was a little more than I'd expected.
The motel, about six miles south of the bigger town of Marion, was nothing special, but I just wanted a soft bed and an air conditioner at this point, and after walking to a nearby convenience store for an ice cream sandwich, which was my dinner, I went to bed at 7:00.
Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 148 miles (238 km)
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2 years ago