Day 22 - May 25 - Camp DuBois, IL to St. Charles, MO - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

May 25, 2023

Day 22 - May 25 - Camp DuBois, IL to St. Charles, MO

An Easy Day

John’s Story

It was 65° this morning so it was the first day we rode out of camp with just bike shorts and short sleeve jerseys.

Ever wonder where all that cottonwood fluff comes from? Well here’s a before and after picture.

Right off the bat we ran into a trail closure on the Mississippi river levee. I reminded Edward that the universe is on our side in this endeavor, so we pressed on. There was no problem getting through the inactive construction site on the other side of the bridge.

My old friend the white pelican. These birds have the second widest wingspan of any bird in North America except the California condor. Until recent years I associated these birds with the Florida Keys and a dolphin named Flipper. Now I know that they spend their summers in the northern Rockies and southern Canada.

Beautiful mural on the side of a building in Alton, Illinois

We achieved a major milestone today when we crossed the Mississippi River. Still less than 1/3 of the way across the country

I’ve always called these flowers pink evening primrose. I’m not sure that’s the proper name. I don’t know if the different color combinations of pink and white are different species or different varietals of the flower. I spent years trying to root them out of my flowerbeds in Oklahoma City and was finally successful. Then we decided we wanted more native plants in our yard. I wish I had them back.

Katy Trail State Park is 100 feet wide and over 200 miles long. We’ll be on it from its eastern terminus to Boonsville.

One thing the Katy Trail will provide that we had precious little of riding across Illinois is shade. With temperatures predicted to be in the 90s within the next few days this will be a blessing.

Does anyone know what this particular thistle is called? We found it along the Katy Trail today. I think it’s quite beautiful

Tomorrow we get to enjoy about 70 miles of the Katy Trail. Considering how much dust 13 miles of the trail layered onto our bicycles today, we should be well coated by the end of the day. Dust and sunscreen should make an interesting combination.

I’d like to thank Carol’s cousin Lois for putting us up tonight. We arrived here at 11 o’clock this morning so we had most of the day to spend visiting. Lois let us use her car to go to the post office and to visit a few bike shops. I also managed to sneak in a short nap, something that I didn’t have a chance to do even on our two rest days so far. We really enjoyed the beers that Carol left here last weekend. The two that are left will go into my pannier until such time as a fridge is available to chill them back down.

Now time for some sleep

Ed’s Story

Well, just to let you know, we were not attacked by either coyotes, or any other animals last night in our fort. We were attacked by the beds. Even though our sleeping pads and sleeping bags were on the bed, the wooden slats were very uncomfortable.

Additionally, the room we were in was very warm because there’s no electricity and therefore no fans or air-conditioning. It must’ve been really tough for Lewis and Clark and their band to live under those conditions.

We said goodbye to Camp DuBois, and headed out on our route about 7:15. We found ourselves back on top of the levee. Prior to reaching Alton, we came across the National Great River Museum. There is also a set of locks there.

The Mississippi River brought forth more than water.

We slowly approached Alton and the US 67 Bridge across the Mississippi River loomed ahead of us. I told you about John's fascination with bridges.

We arrived in Alton and found the Germania Brew Haus, a coffee shop. Although the coffee shop did not have any pastries, they directed us several doors down the road to the pastry shop. We bought the pastries to go and took them back to the coffee shop.

At one time, however, it was also a brewhouse. Unfortunately, they have not served beer since the COVID-19 pandemic began. I thought the pandemic was over so why aren’t they serving beer?

At least 16 unused beer taps…what a waste.

We finally got on the Mississippi River bridge. The first half of the ride was fine. There was a nice wide bike lane separated from traffic; however, towards the top, the bike lane disappeared, and the two lanes turned into one. We were now riding between two concrete barriers with cars zipping past us.

The bridge construction put us slightly off route. When traffic was clear, we walked our bikes down a small hill and back onto the designated route. I had to do some repairs to fix my front fender when we stopped for the day. We continued toward Saint Charles, Missouri.

The Rooster Bar has not opened yet. Hopefully some bikers in the future will be able to enjoy a cold one either prior to or after crossing the bridge.

If the rooster doesn’t get you up in the morning, the beer you drink the night before will.

As you may or may not know, I worked at a nuclear power plant for 28 years after leaving the nuclear Navy. What we see here is a coal fired plant with a huge pile of coal; however, it is not operating. We in the industry call that type of plant a dirt burner.

We finally got to the Katy Trail for the next 13 miles as we headed toward our destination. Compared to the C&O Trail and the Great Allegheny Passage, the Katy Trail has much finer limestone and puts dust everywhere. We need to get used to it as we will be on this trail for at least the next 2 to 3 days. We also need to clean and lue the drive chain each night.

If you can read this, you’ve got better eyes than me🤣

We got off the trail in Saint Charles and headed toward our overnight day. We are staying with my brother John’s wife Carol‘s cousin Lois. The hills we have climbed to date were nothing compared to the hill we had to ride, ahem, walk, to get to the top. It is very steep. It is going to be a two brake downhill tomorrow.

We washed our bikes and our panniers to get the dust off; showered; washed our clothes; had lunch; drank a beer; re-packed our panniers; and then went looking for a bike tube for John’s bike. I will let John talk about that excursion.

I get to sleep on an air mattress this evening. The rocking of it will remind me of being at sea when I was still in the Navy.

Inside and softer than what we had last night

We will be eating dinner at P.F. Chang’s tonight. We have not eaten Chinese since our stay at our WarmShowers hosts Jessica and Henry.

P. F. Changs gives the calories on the menu for what you are ordering. However, in the fine print below, it states that the meals are designed to serve 2, and elsewhere that the calories listed are for 1 serving. therefore if you eat the whole thing you’ve eaten twice the calories listed.

We want to get an early start in the morning. We have 70 miles to ride to get to Hermann, Missouri, where we will be staying in the city park campground. The Katy Trail is obviously not flat. We anticipate almost 1700 feet of climbing while on the trail.

Until tomorrow, happy biking!

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 2,903 miles (4,672 km)

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