Jill's Bike Blog 6/17-6/19

6/17 Thur-Chester-Carbondale. (Biked 36 miles; total 374). Really hot & muggy all night, which made sleeping less than restful. Bryce & Mal were feeling wiped out, so decided to SAG to the 1st rest stop, (which was a good indicator how Bryce was feeling because he rarely bails out of activities). Arranged last night to meet “Darren” from the UU Church in Carbondale who’d bring us in on back roads to avoid traffic. On the road by 8:30 am. More rolling hills with some inclines. Around 10:00, out of no-where black clouds started brewing. The started to look really ominous with rolling clouds with greenish-black appearance; looking like tornado clouds. I was passing by a farm with a large barn. Asked for directions from the farmer who was transplanting irises. Just then wind started picking up and he offered that I could take cover in his barn, when the rain started. I managed to get into the barn just before torrential rain came down. Stood in the barn for 50 minutes waiting for the rain to pass. Managed to make contact with the van. “Darren” was riding through the storm to meet us at the convenience store. They came to pick me up so Darren wouldn’t be waiting long at the store. Trevor was ahead of me and holed up in a barn as well, but was further down the road so rode to the convenience store.

Darren looked like a bike racer with large calf and thigh muscles. He trains 2-4 hours per and bikes 200-300 miles per week. Darren guided Trevor, Bryce and me into Carbondale via back roads. Very picturesque with woods and farms. I’m sure it was painful for Darren to ride at my pace, but he was very cordial about it.

Once we arrived a Darren’s house, Claudia, Mal and I made the two hour drive up to St. Louis to drop Claudia off at the airport. Bryce and Trevor hung out in Carbondale. Played a game of disc golf and hung out in an air conditioned restaurant before heading over to Rev. Bill Sassos’ home where we were being hosted for the night. Mal and I stopped for a quick bite at Dairy Queen and so I could post a blog…so challenging to find a place at the right time with wi-fi to post blogs. In Missouri, cell and wi-fi coverage was pretty much non-existent. As much as I gripe about electronic technology, I am realizing how dependent on it I am.

Made cell phone contact with Dan and Rickey Poor from our congregation in Hartland. They’re on their way home from visiting their son and daughter-in-law in Colorado who had a baby girl. They will meet us tomorrow morning at 8:00 am at the Sassos’ to be our SAG (support and gear) driver for two days.

Arrived at the Sasso’s home at 8:15 and Trevor and Bryce got there around 6:30. They looked pretty zoned from exhaustion, (probably from being out in the blazing hot sun all day). They were sitting in front of the TV watching the NBA finals. play-offs. The Sasso family-Bill, Kathy and their ten year old daughter Elaina struck me as reserved and cordial folks. They went out of their way to accommodate us with showers, washing machine, and beds. While Trevor and Bryce watched the play-offs, Bill and Kathy helped me look up alternative routes to ride to Cave in Rock State Park. They found information about Tunnel Hill bike path on the internet, (and printed it out), which wasn’t directly west to east, so we’d have to drive to the starting point in the morning. They also told us about Garden of the Gods State Park.


6/18 Fri-Carbondale-Cave–in-Rock. (Biked 30 miles; total 404) Kathy and Elaina the night before baked a blueberry crumble for breakfast. Rickey and Dan Poor arrived promptly at 8:00 to the Sassos’ home. Trevor was working on tightening his front derailleur. Although he was able to tighten it, the cables were frayed, so could break at any time. Called all three bike shops in town, but none were open yet. Decided to wait until Evansville to have it fixed. Departed Carbondale around 9:00 am.

Route 13, which is what we originally planned to ride, was a very busy highway. Arrived at the Tunnel Hill Bike Trail around 10:00 am. It was already beastly hot outside. Bryce was marginally functioning. He said although he was tired, he was mainly dehydrated. He chugged some water while I started to fix his flat. The first attempt to repair the flat, the tube was pinched. Definite low point…Trevor had a simpler method to change flats, and the second repair attempt was successful. Bryce started to perch up and act his normal self, which was a relief because I was starting to worry about him. Rickey and Dan were very patient with our slow start getting onto the trail. Doused our heads and shirts with water…the only way to tolerate the beastly hot temperatures. (There hasn’t been a day yet since Colorado, that by early afternoon the temperatures have been below the mid 90’s). Hit the trail around 11:30. Rickey decided to drive her vehicle to Cave in Rock State campground to reserve a tenting site and meet us in Harrisburg.

About 0.2 miles back on the rails to trail, was a long tunnel. Pretty cool in more than one way to ride through. Found with the darkness, my depth perception was off. The beginning part of the trail was fairly wooded so we had some relief from the hot sun. It was a welcome change to have neither hills nor traffic. After 12 miles, Dan met us with the van and we took a lunch break. Mal was done with riding. I was glad to see that Bryce seemed to be back to his usual self. He obliged me by slowing his pace to ride with me until the last 7 miles, and then he hastened his pace and left me in the dust. Nice to be able to chat with Bryce’s. Except for when Mal decides to ride, I’m usually biking solo as I can’t keep up with the boys.

By the time we reached Harrisburg, the heat was oppressive. We decided to load the bikes on the van. Stopped at the grocery store to get food for supper. I asked if there was a pay phone near by so I could call the newspaper reporter from the Valley News to set up a time for an interview. There wasn’t one in near proximity, so he allowed me to call using the store phone. Set up an interview time on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon.

Decided to check out Garden of the Gods before heading to the campground. Rickey met us there. It was on top of some bluffs so the temperature was a bit cooler. The trail was ¼ mile long and said it took 45 minutes to walk. We wondered how ¼ mile could possibly take that long, but as soon as we arrived at the rock formations, we understood. They reminded me of Bryce Canyon in the woods. The rock formations were striking, plus on top of the hill, the air was cooler with a mild breeze. We unanimously agreed that this was a worthwhile side trip. The unexpected side trips have often been highlights on the trip…all part of letting the journey unfold.

Headed to Cave in Rock State Park bordering the Ohio River. Back to extremely hot and muggy weather…We set up our tents and Trevor cooked the spaghetti supper and Bryce and Rickey shucked the corn for corn on the cob. Rickey also made a salad. We feasted and Bryce and Trevor almost popped their guts trying to finish the spaghetti so it wouldn’t go to waste. Trevor cooked 3 lbs of hamburger for the sauce! It still never ceases to amaze me how much food the boys can consume.

Headed to the shower. Mal hopped into the shower and was flinching. I thought it was cold, but it was a shocker that instead it was hot water and not adjustable. So much for a refresher shower! We were waiting outside of the shower for Bryce when Trevor discovered the outside spigot had cold water, so he crumpled his body to submerge under the 3 foot high faucet.

As Bryce was coming out of the shower, a young adult who I estimated was in is twenties, befriended Bryce, whose name was RJ. He started in Virginia and was going to end up in California as a fundraiser ride for autism. He was very animated and had some funny stories to tell. We could also tell that he was a bit lonely bicycling by himself. We both could relate with the challenges finding Wi-Fi access and resorting to blogging on a word document and then pasting the blog when we find Wi-Fi to post it.

Lots of mosquitoes and Rickey and Bryce each found three tics on them. We were happy to crawl into the safety of our tents. We vowed to depart from the campground by 7:30 am to take advantage of the cooler mornings.

6/19 Sat-Cave-in-Rock-Evansville, Indiana. (Biked 30 miles; total 434).
Shortly before dawn, the wind started blowing and the air smelled like rain. Rickey and Dan had put their flies on but Trevor and Bryce and Mal and I kept our flies off because we wanted more air circulation to stay cooler. Mal slept through it, but Bryce, Trevor and I bolted out of tents, and in the dark to madly put on our tent flies. The rain never did come, but just a short ways down the road, we could see evidence that it had poured.

We broke camp and put the bikes onto to the van to drive to Shawnee Town where we had originally scheduled to begin our ride. Jan, our host for the night suggested an alternate route to Evansville. We departed at 8:00 instead of 7:30, but we’re improving on our morning departures. I think everyone is realizing the benefits of riding early to try to beat the heat. We briefly stopped to look at the Cave in Rock which faced the Ohio River. Story goes that bandits would hide in the cave and raided ships as they passed by.

We were on the road by 9:30 am. Thankfully it was a much smoother start compared to the previous morning. As typical, Mal and I quickly lost sight of Trevor and Bryce as they biked ahead. The terrain changed to very gentle rolling hills with mainly farmlands and very intermittent woods. After 18 miles, we took a rest break in the shade of trees at an abandoned Methodist Church which was bordered by corn fields. Mal decided to SAG to Mt. Vernon. We ate lunch on the shaded lawn of the Court House. The heat seemed to have depleted Trevor. I called Jan who suggested we SAG to Evansville where there was a bike path along the Ohio since the road from Mt. Vernon to Evansville was pretty congested with traffic.

When we arrived at the bike/walking path, it was 2:00 pm and in the heat of the day. Trevor wasn’t interested in riding in the heat and Bryce and Mal weren’t particularly enthused either. They drove the van to a park about a mile down the road and Rickey, Dan and I walked to the parked. When we arrived there, we found T, B and M racing around a wooden play ground structure playing tag. So much for being too hot to do anything!

We arrived at Jan Stein’s and her partner Susan Thomas’ condo. They had a welcome sign posted on the door and Jan had about 20 children’s books related to bikes displayed on the windowsill which she had checked out of the library. (She works at the local public library). Trevor, Bryce and Mal quickly absorbed themselves in the books. The kitchen counter was filled with snacks for us to munch on, including a carton filled with movie theater size boxes of candy. Their hospitality really touched me. Each of us took our turns taking showers, which helped to refreshed us.

At 6:30 we headed over to the UU Church in Evansville, (about 75 members), where Jan had arranged for a pot-luck supper. A poster was on the door to greet us there as well. Each of us were assigned to a different table to carry on discussion about the trip while eating our dinner. After supper I spoke to the whole group about my motivation and experience during the trip.

After supper we were sent to our respective hosts’ homes. Bryce stayed with Jan and Susan. Rickey and Dan stayed with Isabel Lavens, a 90+ woman who is as sharp as a tack and a life-long Universalist. Trevor stayed with Ed Howard, (almost 80 and who went ballroom dancing for several hours after the pot-luck dinner), who is articulate and with a dry sense of humor. He informed me that he’s a secular humanist and quite frankly liked the days when there were no children in the fellowship, but knew they were the livelihood of the church.

We said our goodbyes to Dan and Rickey since they were heading on their trip back home first thing in the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them better. In the two days we spent with them, I now feel I have a special connection with them. Mal and I followed Rosi Weatherwax to her house across town. They had other company for the evening, so she settled us into their studio apartment above their garage. It had a 3 foot video screen which we watched for about 30 minutes and then turned off because I was bushed.