Day 23 - May 4 - St. Charles, MO to Kampsville, IL - Crossing the T.....Part One

Day 23 - May 4 - St. Charles, MO to Kampsville, IL

Land Between the Rivers

Ed’s Story

Another night indoors completed. Breakfast as usual, then packed up and headed out.

Shortly after we left, I realized I didn’t fill up one of my water bottles. Although we are only riding 41 miles, I like to have all of them filled. I stopped in at a business along the road and asked them if they had a spigot I could use. The man told me they had no potable water, or water bottles. I’m not sure I believe it. He had a dog in the building. What does he give the dog?

We made reservations at the Best Western on the River in Hannibal this morning for Sunday and Monday. Hannibal is a rest day for us.

And the signpost up ahead…no not the Twilight Zone, but the ferry.

It’s not free but it’s not expensive either.

The ferry runs continuously. It only takes 10 - 15 minutes to cross. Back and forth; that’s all they do all day.

As you will see on the ride graph below, once we got off the ferry we had a 250’ climb with grades up to 14%. Needless to say some walking uphill was done.

Not sure what this was…part of a steamboat or other machine? Your guess is as good as mine.

A beautiful Catholic church in Meppen, IL….St. Josephs

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Some uphill and downhills, and we arrived at the Illinois River bottom.

We found our first rest stop at a convenience store in Hardin, IL. There was absolutely nothing before this. An OJ and banana with less than 10 miles to go….priceless.

10 miles later we arrived. We are camping at the McCully Heritage Project. The mission of the McCully Heritage Project is to provide facilities and programs for high quality environmental education and research for youth and adults and to provide the opportunity for the public to appreciate the cultural, historical and natural resources of the lower Illinois River valley. They have 6 campsites here.

The campsites were through the woods. The ground was boggy so we opted to leave our bikes at the top. John is using one of the provided carts to move his bags.

Wd were attacked by gnats as soon as we stopped. Bug spray provided some relief. We need to watch for ticks because we were told they are in the area.

After setting up camp, we had lunch, showered, and headed into town for a beer to get away from the rain.

The rain that was supposed to come at 2:00, moved out to 4:00, and then moved out to 6:00. Who knows if we’ll get it.

We will hang around in town with an adult beverage until 4 o’clock Mass. We are enjoying our visit at Dick‘s Riverside Bar and Grill…nice cold beer. After Mass we will get dinner and then head to camp for the night. We were told it will be dark there; duh, it is nighttime.

Finally had the storm come in at 3:00, while we were at the bar, three hours ahead of the new forecast.

Heavy rain… Hail can be seen on the truck.

First storm passed to the east. If you look close, you can see the Kampsville ferry.

There was a brief downpour during Mass.

Another storm getting ready to hit somewhere while we are at the Pavilion restaurant for dinner after Mass.

Our ride:

Tomorrow’s ride is 60 miles to Hannibal as it is a rest day. There are two breweries in Hannibal, unfortunately, they are both closed on Monday.

Until tomorrow, happy biking!

John’s Story

To begin with, some corrections and updates to Ed’s Story.

It’s only 5 minutes to cross the Mississippi on the Golden Eagle Ferry. That pilot probably crosses the river 10 times per hour; on Saturdays that’s from 5:00 am to 2:00 am.
That hill at the Illinois ferry landing is only 192’ high….
…but the grade is up to 18%. We walked.

Lois bid us a fond farewell this morning.

Some individual portraits. My best side.

We walked up the hill on Fox Hill Road yesterday (the hill taketh) from the Missouri River, and this morning we’re going down the other side of the hill (the hill giveth) back to the Mississippi River.

Not long after we left Lois’s we screamed down the bluff to the Mississippi River floodplain.

And found a muddy gravel path. The combination of mud and gravel provided a symphony of slung stones hitting the fenders. We passed two local cyclists traveling in the opposite direction.

The approach. More local cyclists on the smooth, straight, flat road.

That red bit on the hill profile was uber steep. It was a chore just pushing the bikes up the slope.Lois’s friend Dave wasn’t joking when he laughed last night at the thought of us riding up that hill when we got off the ferry.

One more old brick house waiting for a new owner and some TLC.

After the ferry two very fast, young, strong road bikers (our antitheses) caught up with us. One of them hung back for a few minutes to chat before blazing on.

We were promised a beatific ride today, and it was. Rolling farmland and views of distant bottoms and bluffs.

Nature eventually consumes the works of man.

We came down out of the hills after about 10 miles and found ourselves in the Illinois River valley.

Once on the Illinois River floodplain we passed mile after mile of tall rocky bluff on our west, all the way to our stop just short of Kampsville, IL. Tomorrow we have to turn west and go back over the bluffs to the Mississippi River valley again. I just can’t wait!

The sole business in Michael, IL, population 114 in 2000. I’m thinking it has shrunk since then. We did not stop.

We first saw barn quilts last year in Montana (or so Ed recalls). I bit of Americana folk art. Pardon the thumb.

We set up camp at the McCully Heritage Project, prepared a meal, showered, battened the hatches against the impending rain, and rode into Kampsville to find a place to hide from the rain until time for 4:00 Mass. we found Dick’s Riverside Bar & Grill right across from St. Anselm Catholic Church.

A heritage beer. First developed in 1907 and at one time outselling. Budweiser even in St. Louis, it has de teased in popularity to the point where it is mainly sold in parts of Illinois and Missouri. When I was in college 50 years ago it was possible to buy Stag, Sterling or Falstaff for $0.99 per 6-pack.

In Dick’s Riverside. Pretty sure the premises are protected by a Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.

After Mass we went to the Pavilion for dinner. The Pavilion is a large open-air place with lots of tables and a bar under a barn-like structure, and is completely open to the weather on three sides. There are at least a dozen large garage doors that can be pulled down to close it off, but I see no evidence of a heating or cooling system. I wonder what it’s like in here when the temperature outside is 100 or -10.

Looking out the back of the Pavilion. With all the rain in this part of the country recently the Illinois River is in flood. If it comes up two or three more feet our feet will get wet.

It’s 6:00 p.m., and it looks like the rain has cleared. Soon we will ride back to camp to see how our tents fared in the storms. When we set up camp we were besieged by hordes of gnats and other flying insects. Hopefully the rain and cooler air knocked them down some. There’s no signal out there so that news will be reported tomorrow.

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,125 miles (1,811 km)

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