Day 20: Sebree, KY to Elizabethtown, IL

June 21, 2006

64.74 Miles, 5:35:51 Ride Time, 11.77 Average Speed, 33.9 Maximum Speed

I slept well in the church, although a train did wake me up once (I can only imagine that people eventually get used to living near the things, and just tune out the whistles and rattling). For the second day in a row I was fairly efficient, and was riding out of the church parking lot by 7:10. I had hoped I would see Violet, and be able to thank her for her hospitality, but I didn't see her around, and didn't want to take the chance of ringing her doorbell and waking her up.

This was the first day of summer, and was, appropriately, already warm. I rode the mostly flat twelve miles to Dixon, a tidy little town, fairly quickly. I was ready for something to eat, but didn't immediately see anything promising. I stopped at a downtown hardware store (the old-fashioned kind - dark and cool inside, with well-worn wooden floors), and asked the man about a place for breakfast. He advised me to ride on another 10 miles or so to Clay.

The guy at the hardware store had told me it would be downhill to Clay, which was a slight exaggeration; however, it was mostly flat, and I rode quickly past the corn fields. The smell of the chicken farms, which I had noticed from Sebree to Dixon, had been replaced with the smell of freshly mown fields now. I arrived in Clay by 9:00, at just over 21 miles for the day.

I stopped at Jeri's Cafe. As usual in these places, most of the customers were men, and the (mostly farming-related) conversation was loud but cheerful. I ordered Diet Pepsi and pancakes, which were very good. This was the kind unpretentious place where, instead of bringing you a fancy little decanter of syrup, they just give you the big bottle of Aunt Jemima's.

I probably lingered inside too long, because when I walked out, it had become HOT. One of the bank signs read 99 degrees - an obvious exaggeration; the other one, though, said 86 degrees - which felt about right.

It was 20+ plus miles from Clay to Marion, the next town with any services. I had filled my water bottles at Jeri's Cafe, so I felt confident I had enough to drink.

Several miles down the road I met three middle-aged men riding unloaded road bikes. At first, I assumed they were locals, but they quickly informed me they had come from Oregon. They were John, Ron, and Al, and their wives were following in RV's. They told me the Ozarks in Missouri were tough, and I warned them about the Appalachians. From what they told me about their schedule, I got the impression that they were averaging about the same number of miles a day that I am. This made me feel good about my progress, since I'm carrying about 40 lbs. of stuff. As I rode away, this led me to contemplate the different ways of bicycling across the country. These guys were at one extreme - not carrying anything on their bikes at all, with support vehicles following closely behind. Then there are the "credit card touring" people who don't have a support vehicle, but who never camp out, and stay in motels every night - they carry much less weight, since they don't need to carry a tent, sleeping bag, mattress, etc. At the other extreme are totally self-contained cyclists who camp virtually every night and even cook much of the time. Unfortunately, I fall into a category between the second and third - I'm lugging around the camping gear, but usually wimp out at the end of the day and stay in a motel...

As I rode towards Marion, it got increasingly hot. For the first time on the trip, I had to stop and lie down under a shade tree to cool off. I still had water, but it was warm. I forced myself to drink some anyway. After a while I got back on the bike and rode on. I met three RV's, driven by women, who waved warmly at me. They were obviously the wives of the lucky John, Ron, and Al...

Once I got to Marion I stopped at the first service station and bought two 32 oz. gatorades. I drank the first one in one long gulp, took my time with the second one, and then filled up my bottles with fresh cold water.

The ride to Marion was not too hard - some hills, but after a while it flattened out, and of course there was a final downhill to get to the Ohio river and the ferry.

I've taken my bike on a ferry before (across the Ohio River in fact, although near my home, hundreds of miles away from this crossing), so it wasn't a novelty, but it was exciting to finally get out of my home state, and into state #3. The Illinois town on the other side of the river is Cave In Rock (population 346 according to my maps). I looked around briefly, but decided to ride on to Elizabethtown (more populous by two people, according the the same maps).

Much of the ride from Cave In Rock to Elizabethtown was on the shady, secluded (and rough-surfaced) Tower Rock Road. This ride seemed kind of eerie - it was fairly hilly, and reminded me a little of Eastern Kentucky. Most of the modest (to put it politely) homes had multiple "No Trespassing" signs in their yards, nailed to trees, etc. As I had before on the trip, I wondered why the properties that one would be the least interested in trespassing on, had the most "no trespassing" signs...

I rode into Elizabethtown, which is right on the Ohio River, hot and tired. The town contained the following: A visitor center, a modest grocery store, two liquor stores, two B&B's, a few homes, and a laundromat which appeared to be semi-operational. I stopped at the first B&B, The Rose Hotel, and immediately got a room. My justification for splurging on such a nice place: I had stayed for free at the church the night before...

The innkeeper was nice enough, but she did have one odd request: She asked me to take my bike to the second floor veranda (up some very steep steps). Apparently a cyclist had recently stayed at the inn, and had leaned his bike against the windows on the first floor porch. A strong wind had pushed the handle bars against the (antique, presumably very expensive) glass, and had broken it. I asked her about the cyclist, but it didn't sound like anyone I had encountered.

After I checked out my room (nice) and cleaned up, I walked across the street do some laundry. The innkeeper had informed me that the laundromat was operational, if just barely. As I dodged the many wasps that were flying around inside, I determined that a couple of the machines appeared to work. Still, I had to walk next door to the home of the octogenerian owner of the laundry, Eula Mae Ralph, to ask her how to start the machine...

While my clothes were (hopefully) washing, I walked down to the little restaurant on the river for catfish, hushpuppies and french fries. The only soft drinks they had were orange soda, RC Cola, and Diet Rite; I went for the Diet Rite.

After dinner I walked back to the laundromat, and dried my clothes in the dryer, which only accepted dimes. I went to bed fairly early, since I intended to get to Carbondale tomorrow. It had been a long, hot day, and I was satisfied with my progress so far.

I asked the waitress to make sure these were *big* pancakes

John, Ron, and Al, riding West to East. Later I saw their wives driving the three RV's that follow them.

I stopped to rest under this shady tree about five miles before I got to Marion. It was the hottest day of the trip so far.

I rode the "Loni Jo" across the Ohio river to Illinois

View from the little campground on the Illinois side

"Hey, 1973 called - they want their phone booth back."

The pavilion in front of the The Rose Hotel, the B&B where I stayed in Elizabethtown

My bike on the second floor veranda - that's where the innkeeper asked that I put it...

The rather decrepit place I did some laundry. The dryer only took dimes.

Had dinner here - fried catfish, hushpuppies, french fries

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 1,160 miles (1,867 km)

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