June 24, 2006
Day 23: Chester, IL to Farmington, MO
50.37 Miles, 4:02:28 Ride Time, 12.72 Average Speed, 40.7 Maximum Speed
I rode out by 8:10, after spending a few minutes talking to some hotel guests who had questions about my trip. The traffic was light at this time of the morning - a lady had suggested yesterday that I leave well before 7:00, or well after, because of the large number of people in the area who work shift hours. I had intended to leave before 7:00, but as usual when staying in a nicer place, I didn't feel like rushing, and wanted to get my money's worth (after all, the price of the "free" continental breakfast is figured somehwere in the price of the room...)
I rode down to the Chester bridge, and stopped briefly at the little park next to it to take some pictures. There was a pretty impressive statue of Popeye in the park, but there was no one around to take my picture with it, so I just took a picture with my bike leaning against it. I looked the bridge over - it seemed very narrow, and there was a "No Pedestrians" sign. For those back home, it was actually narrower than the Simon Kenton bridge in Maysville.
I waited for a lull in traffic, then started across. Before long, there were a few cars behind me, so I wasn't able to stop and take a picture of the Mississippi from the bridge (there was no sidewalk on the bridge at all - hence the "No Pedestrians" sign).
When I got across the bridge, I was greeted by the Missouri state sign, a handful of fireworks stands, and the flattest terrain I've seen the entire trip - a preview of Kansas, I hope. I'm ready for some nice, boring, flat ground after the hills of the last 20+ days. The easy riding on the level ground ended after almost exactly ten miles, however, and it was back to the rolling hills.
(One of the different things about Missouri is the use of letters instead of numbers to identify county roads. On the way to Farmington, I would ride on H, Z, N, P, B and F.)
Soon after it started getting hilly again, I began seeing signs advertising vineyards. Apparently, there has been a resurgence in wine making in this part of the state. I saw several signs for Crown Valley Winery, and for their Tiger Ridge restaurant. As I rode toward Coffman, I suddenly saw the restaurant on my right, and pulled over to check it out. It was a very fancy-looking place, and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The sign on the door said lunch was served at 11:00. That was a few minutes away, so I searched for a place to put my bike without damaging the expensive-looking landscaping, and then studied my maps for a few minutes. When it was 11:00, I walked into the place, which was even fancier inside. I was the only customer, so I had my pick of the linen-covered tables. I felt sheepish in this place in my sweaty bike clothes, but the waiter was friendly, and didn't seem offended by my presence. I had the bison burger, which was pretty good. Before I left, I talked to the waiter and the hostess (neither was busy, since I was still the only customer), who were curious about my trip.
I continued riding on the lettered-roads for a while, the traffic getting heavier as I got closer to Farmington, a town of about 14,000 people. Once in Farmington (or more accurately, in the sprawl at the edge of town), I stopped at the first gas station I saw to get some gatorade and snacks, and to check my maps. I've found on the trip so far that it's easiest to get lost when riding through a town like this.
My plan at this point was to ride to Pilot Knob, another 20 miles or so, which would have made this a 70+ mile day. I asked the people in the store about directions there, and all three told me horror stories about how bad the traffic was - "You don't want to be on 'W' this time of day!", "Those drivers are crazy", "There's no shoulder at all", etc. One guy working in the place tried to convince me to take an elaborate detour around the entire Pilot Knob area. I wasn't convinced by their warnings yet, however, and called a couple of places in Pilot Knob. The first motel had no vacancies. The second place had a vacancy, but when I told the grandmotherly woman on the phone that I was on a bicycle, she tried to talk me out of riding there - "Wait until early tomorrow morning, honey, before people start going to church. The road is dangerous." She also told me it was raining in Pilot Knob right now, which would make it even more deadly.
At this point, I was actually getting freaked out by all the warnings about the deadly "W", so I gave in and decided to stay in Farmington. It was looking like rain, which is no fun anyway, so I rode down Genevieve Avenue looking for the Tradition Inn (recommended by the people at the store). As I rode towards it, a woman called out from her yard, "Are you looking for the park?" She said cyclists often get lost looking for a nearby park; I told her that no, I was one of the rare cyclists who carry several pounds of camping gear with them, but hardly ever use it, and was looking for the Tradition Inn. She told me it was just down the street.
The motel was a nice one, and reasonably priced. There was an attached grill/pub called "Spokes", decorated with a bicycle motif, so it seemed like a good choice. I checked into my room, got cleaned up, washed my bike clothes in the sink, and walked over to "Spokes." I had pizza for dinner, which was good. It had rained briefly, but heavily, while I was getting cleaned up in my room, so I congratulated myself on my mostly-unbroken streak of good luck in avoiding rain on the trip so far.
I stayed up for a while working on this journal, since I was several days behind, then went to bed, wondering how I would fare tomorrow on the hyper-dangerous "W".
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Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 1,345 miles (2,165 km)
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