May 28, 2015
Day 23: Carbondale, IL to Farmington, MO; A Century on a Loaded Touring Bike, That's Crazy!
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(Note to readers regarding the elevation profiles; the profile is calculated from Point "A" on the map to Point "B" on the map. Since I am traveling east to west on the first half of this transcontinental journey, my route of travel is usually shown on the map as being from right to left. However, the elevation profile is shown from left to right, so it must be "reversed" in your head to understand it.)
Climbing Today; 3,435 ft -- Total So Far; 63,375 ft
I woke at 4:30 am and commenced getting Harvey and myself ready for today’s effort. I had a Herculean task cooking in the back of my brain, but I didn’t want to bring it all the way out in the open just yet for fear that the magnitude might overwhelm me. Breakfast at the Super 8 commenced at 5:00 am, and I had a waffle covered with yogurt, orange juice, milk, and just a wee bit of coffee. Finishing packing, Harvey and I rolled out at 5:45 am. Rolling early has many advantages; traffic is light and you get some cycling in before the sun starts cooking. The heat load from the sun is tremendous on a cycle tourist, and the effort practically doubles. But it was a nice foggy morn, and I was spinning easy to start the day when I passed by the edge of the Southern Illinois University (SIU) and spotted these deer;
Rolling on I came upon this sign;
What does it mean? Are cyclists supposed to be using caution here (but not elsewhere)? Are motorists supposed to exercise more caution here because there may be cyclists on the road? What about other locations, do motorists not have to exercise caution elsewhere? The sign is meaningless, as are most cycling-related road signs. Speaking of signs, I was surprised to learn that the Grand Canyon is in Illinois.
And so I cycled on. One has the choice of taking the “Mississippi Levee Alternate” route on this section of the Transam, and I chose to take it. The fog made for some beautiful early morning scenes.
I had been looking for a cornfield in Illinois ever since arriving in the state, and I finally got my wish.
My route took me along a levee adjacent to the Mississippi River.
I came upon this gigantic pile of coal;
The coal was a terminal operated by Kinder-Morgan at Cora, IL. Cycling on, I came to a Post Office in the town of Gorman, IL. Actually, the Post Office pretty much IS the whole town of Gorman. Continuing my quest to shed all unneeded weight, I had a few more things I could ship home and quickly got that done.
The cycling was easy till SR3, at which point the narrow highway with no shoulders was difficult to share with the increasing number of coal trucks that were passing by. I soon cycled past the point where all the coal trucks were headed.
The trucks were dumping their loads of coal, and it was being loaded onto barges for shipment elsewhere. I was glad to reach Chester and be done with the coal trucks. The sun burst through about the time I reached Chester. I needed energy; it was 11:15 and I had a plan to travel much farther today. The only food I could find was a convenience store pre-fab hamburger, so I bought two of them. I sat outside in some shade and ate one, then packed the other away in a pannier for later consumption. I filled Harvey’s main tanks (3 24-ounce water bottles), and bought a 20 ounce Gatorade to serve as the auxiliary tank. The ACA map showed that it could be a long stretch without any water stops, and when it comes to water it’s no fun to be caught shy of enough. Rolling on, I came to my path over the Mississippi.
I cycled over the Big Muddy, unable to stop on the shoulder-less bridge for a photo. But here’s a bad cell phone selfie to document my arrival in the show-me state.
I now found myself in a long shade-less stretch of Mississippi River bottom farmland, and toiled away steadily at my labor. The main tanks were down to about 60% and the auxiliary was fully depleted. Topping a hill, I met Min.
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Byung Ok Min is from Korea. He rolled up looking like a space alien, with everything covered including a bandana over his face, and music playing rather loudly. An interesting fellow, he has cycled from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Pueblo, CO and last night stayed in Farmington, MO at a hostel with some cyclists I have met on this journey. He’s on his way eventually to D.C., with numerous other stops. Wow. We parted and I rolled on. The ACA maps almost aren’t needed in Missouri, as the state has done an excellent job of signage along the route;
I cycled on, encountering a few brief but steep hills as I slowly began to rise from the Mississippi floodplain into the Ozark Mountains. Here’s a shot of the Missouri sky;
The main tanks were down to 25% now with no known water stops ahead. So I went off-route a mile and cycled into the town of St. Mary’s to find water. I circled a Baptist church thinking that there must be an outside faucet, but no such luck. The ACA maps indicated that there was a restaurant in St. Mary’s, but there was nothing other than a Post Office and a small branch of a community bank. So I walked into the bank and asked if I could have water. The two clerks there were very pleased to see me (it seems to be a bit of a lonely place and they were happy just to have someone walk in) and let me fill my bottles from their cold water dispenser. Main tanks and auxiliary at 100%, I cycled back on my way – I still had miles to go before I sleep today. I labored away in the afternoon heat, and the water tanks drained away with my usage when I stopped for rest at the top of each hill. Soon I was down to only 33% capacity in the main tanks and the auxiliary was depleted. I was going to need more water. I found this strange place and ventured in to ask for water.
It looked like some sort of real estate sales or resort office. The door to the only building was locked, so I cycled around it and this time I spotted a faucet and filled all the tanks. The water was a sort of milky-cloudy color, probably from being highly mineralized from the local limestone, but I didn’t care what color it was. As I left, I spotted this sign;
Whatever this weird place was, they had tours of their tigers? I’m glad the tigers weren’t patrolling the back of the building when I got water. And so I rolled on. I was far enough along now to admit to myself the crazy scheme I had; I was going to do a century ride today and make it to Farmington. A century ride is always challenging, even on a light road bike. The organized century rides have food stops set up along the way, so you always have food and water available. Even so, I have always felt pretty exhausted when I do a century – it’s a fairly tough challenge. But I was doing it on a heavily loaded touring bike, with half of the ride being in the Ozark foothills and with no support – that was just plain crazy. It was hard, but I did it and I have now proved that I am indeed a crazy guy on a bike. I clocked 102 miles on today’s ride, and in so doing I managed to catch up with Daniel and James who had taken a rest day in Farmington.
They were staying at Al’s Place, a hostel for cyclists only. As I entered town, Daniel texted me to pick up something to grill and they already had the fixin’s, so I grabbed some sirloin at a grocery store and found my way to the hostel. Niklaus (Nikky) and Sabine from Switzerland were also staying there, and here’s the gang outside at the picnic table;
Lastly, here are a few shots inside the hostel.
The city of Farmington maintains the place for touring and racing cyclists. While other cities also have bicycle hostels, none of them equal Al’s Place. It has laundry, secure bike storage, and it's located right in downtown Farmington. Way cool. I’m tired after my 102 mile day, so good night all...
Today's ride: 102 miles (164 km)
Total: 1,298 miles (2,089 km)
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