May 19, 2010
Day 2 - ending at Macomb, Illinois
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Was up at 5:10am. Had another fifty-cent root beer, and was ready to go at 8:20am. My hope for today was to make it to Spring Lake Park, a park northwest of Macomb. But before that, I'd visit Bardolph, a small town in McDonough County.
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I headed for Canton, planning to eat breakfast at McDonald's. When I got to Main Street, I saw a Hardee's a block south, so ended up there at 8:55am.
There was a group of older folks inside who wanted to know about my trip. There still wasn't much to tell. They were impressed with my plans, but I always feel that until it's accomplished, it's not worth making too much of a fuss about. I looked over maps as I ate my breakfast order (Double Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit, Hash Rounds, Blueberry Biscuits, and coffee). Many of the older folks came over as they left to wish me a safe trip. Some of them had seen The Straight Story.
I left at 9:40am, having determined that I'd go up to Ellisville to cross the Spoon River.
On County Road 21, just after I'd crossed Cypress Road, some cyclists said 'Hi' as they zoomed by on Cypress Road heading west. That got me thinking that Cypress Road must be an OK road, so I turned around and followed them (actually they were out of sight by the time I got back to the intersection).
I ran out of pavement past the Route 97 intersection.
Later, I pulled over for a motor grader that was smoothing the road for me.
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I started having trouble with my right pedal - it was jamming. At 11:30am, after I'd turned north on North Orchard Road, the pedal was close to falling off. Tightening it back on took ten minutes, since my wrenches were at the bottom of the left rear basket. After that I kept the wrenches in the front basket.
I ran into stretches of road that had a new layer of large rocks on them. These were very hard to bicycle over. The middle of the road was impossible, and I kept hitting rocks along the edge.
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At 12:48pm I coasted down the hill to the Spoon River Valley, with the intent of crossing the river at Babylon, whose bridge, I assumed, was very old. A mile and a half away from the bridge, I ran into this sign.
It was frustrating having to climb back out of the valley, but I'd have to get to Route 9 to use its bridge. Riding Route 9 wasn't as bad as I had feared - the shoulder was a little better, and the traffic a little less, than I'd expected. I reached the bridge at 1:45pm.
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I had to do a little walking to get back out of the river valley.
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At 2:17pm, I took a break where Route 9 meets County Highway 15.
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At 3:27pm, I stopped at the Dairy Queen in Bushnell for lunch, where I had a Bacon Cheese GrillBurger and large mint shake. Afterwards, a worker there filled my water jug for me with cold water, since the jug wouldn't fit under the bathroom sink faucet.
The road I started out on from the DQ at 4:20pm was blocked off at the railroad tracks, so I went a few blocks north to get around, which brought me past the old depot.
I turned south now toward Bardolph. At 5:15pm I took a break at the bridge over Kepple Creek.
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At 5:34pm, I was in Bardolph. It's a small town, and the place where my friend Jim grew up in the forties and fifties. I'd told Jim I'd ride through Bardolph and get some pictures of the town for him.
Jim's old high school is now rubble. (Jim had already heard about that.)
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I rode around quite a bit. A grade-school-aged girl asked why my bike had a flag on it. I was happy to answer that it was for safety. I saw adults playing horseshoes, and kids on a trampoline - it was a quiet summer-like afternoon. I located the building where Jim had attended grade school - it's now the community center.
As I was turning onto East Poplar Street, a fellow in his yard asked, "What are you up to?" I wasn't sure if he meant 'miles traveled' or 'why I was checking out their town'. It was the latter. I commented it was good that residents were keeping a watch on things, and explained about my friend Jim, and my bike trip plans. In return I got to hear a little about the town.
Here are a few of the many pictures I took.
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I left town heading northwest, past the cemetery. A lot of people were there cleaning it up, I'm sure for Memorial Day.
Pushing on, I arrived at the entrance to Spring Lake Park at 7:27pm.
I rode around the campsite trying to determine how to check-in. Finally, I stopped and asked a group sitting next to a camper-trailer. They said to just choose a campsite, and someone would find me. They also told me that the bathroom/shower house was closed, since its floor had just been painted. They must have sensed my desperation for a shower, since they quickly added that the north campsite down the hill had a facility that was open.
I headed down the hill and decided on a site with electricity right next to the shower house. This bathroom/shower house had a spotless, newly painted floor - with dry paint.
After setting up the tent, I shaved and showered. I hadn't brought shaving cream, thinking lathered soap (actually shampoo) would substitute. It worked (sort of), but I decided afterwards that since I was on vacation, I'd forgo shaving from now on until I was back home.
There was a pop machine there, so I had a bottle of lemonade with my supper of beans and wieners. I heard raccoons fighting among themselves in the woods, so was very careful not to leave any trace of food. I threw away my trash at a barrel far up the road. In the tent, armed with a Swiss Army Knife and a new LED headlamp that I'd brought along as a spare headlight (which was very bright), I was as ready as I could be for a possible raccoon assault.
Emailed evening report:
Subject: Day 2 - report
Sent: Wednesday, 5-19-2010, 11:21 PM
Up at 5:10am. Had another root beer.
Packed up and left at 8:20am.
Routed for mcdonalds in canton, but ended up at hardees at 8:55am. Left at 9:40am.
Was headed for ellisville, but saw some cyclist take cypress road and it was paved, so headed w toward babylon.
Gravel and dirt roads route turned into was a challenge.
Also right side pedal is jamming. Had to tighten twice.
Bridge at babylon closed, so had to back track some to rt 9.
Spoon river at 1:45pm.
Bushnell dq at 3:27pm. They filled my water jug with cold water! Left at 4:20pm.
Arrived at bardolph at 5:34pm. Bardolph is childhood town of friend jim at church. I took some pictures for him. His high school is now rubble.
Arrived at spring lake park (nw of macomb) at 7:27pm.
Had shower. Have electricity to charge bike battery and blackberry.
Root beer: 0.50; breakfast: $6.20; lunch: $5.48; lemonaid at campsite: $1.50. Haven't paid for campsite yet - no camp host. Was told "set up; they'll stop by".
61 miles.
8.0mph avg moving.
Jeff
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Day Two: 59 miles in 11 hours, 35 minutes = 5.1 mph average progress.
Spent: $0.50 (root beer) + $6.20 (breakfast) + $5.64 (lunch) + $1.50 (lemonade) + $17 (campsite fee) = $30.84 day's total.
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 105 miles (169 km)
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