News Flash--The South Has Gotten Over The Civil War

April 27, 2015

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

A few days ago when I was still in Mississippi I noticed a lot of motorists simply greeting me with an index finger raised from the steering wheel. True, there wasn't much effort put forth, but I still appreciated the friendliness. Today, there has been a return of the one-finger-from-the-steering-wheel-wave from oncoming traffic. Here in tobacco country I've observed a slight variation on that wave from a significant number of drivers. It involved raising TWO fingers from the steering wheel--with a cigarette planted between the index and middle finger.

I've also seen quite a few young people smoking cigarettes while bicycling over the last couple of weeks. Smoking and biking seems so incongruous. Maybe they think the positive effects of cycling counteracts the negative effects of smoking. Maybe I'll buy a pack of Camels tomorrow to test that theory. "Mmmmmmm," as they used to say on television commercials, "the rich taste of tobacco!"

You can tell by the name that this Bardwell, KY grocery store is obviously very high quality. And they probably sell some very good brands of cigarettes.

It's true that I'm a biker, not an ornithologist, but I think this is a flock of swallows.

Five minutes later they were still swooping overhead, pissed that I was loitering on THEIR bridge.

After dealing with the irate swallows, I began preparing for the treacherous crossing of the Highway 51 bridge into Cairo, Illinois. There had been mostly continuous truck traffic in the five miles leading up to the bridge, and I knew from research that the bridge itself has a reputation for its two narrow lanes, its 3-inch shoulder covered mostly with sand, and its heavy use.

I stopped at the beginning of the bridge and waited for a bunch of trucks to pass, then I pedaled my ass off so as not to be a traffic obstruction. I have never biked with such a sense of purpose. I knew there was a great view out there of the confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River--two of America's workhorse riverways--but I only dared look at it for about two seconds. Please excuse me for not taking any pictures.

There is a legitimate reason for this state line photo. It's proof that I made it across the Ohio River via the notorious Cairo bridge . . . and survived.

My entrance into Illinois symbolically means the end of the Old South part of my tour, though southern Illinois has much more in common with Kentucky than it does with Chicago, its northern metropolis. I'm happy to report that I didn't get run over by a deranged Elvis fan and I didn't get Deliveranced or Easy Ridered. But crimes worse than that are reported almost every day on the Chicago newscasts, and if you believe everything you see in the movies you might believe that if you visit Minnesota you could end up in a woodchipper, like in the film Fargo.

Readers, I know that bad things can and do happen everywhere. That brings me to one of the things I have learned while traveling in this country: THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE NOT THAT DIFFERENT. Yes, we may have different accents, different regional cuisine, different music, different political thought, etc. It's easy to parody those things. I'm GLAD we have those differences. But, in general, we are united in that we all like to have FUN, we all want to be safe, we all love our families, and we all think we live in a pretty good nation.

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 781 miles (1,257 km)

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