Jill's bike log 6/16

6/16 (Wed-Biked 50 miles)-Bryce spent the morning getting his bike ready to ride. Had to put his pedals on adjust his brakes. Mal, Claudia and I went to a wi-fi café so I could post my bike journal which I hadn’t had a chance to do for over a week. Didn’t get started until close to noon. Mal and Claudia hung out at a municipal water park in Farmington for a few hours before heading to Chester, Il. Once out of town, I lost sight of Trevor and Bryce. New experience biking by myself… Enjoying daydreaming and taking in the scenery and listening to the birds.

I’ve quickly realized that I’m not in my twenties anymore, as there’s no way I can keep up with the boys. It’s hard for me to fathom in 1979 that Carol and I biked an average of 90 miles per days with loaded bikes by the time we reached Missouri. We had however been biking for 6 weeks and got up at the crack of dawn to begin biking. Never the less, it’d be challenging for me to bike more than 60 miles per day. I’m feeling a little disappointed that I’m not putting in the miles that I had hoped, but am very nourished by how well everyone is connecting on the trip from my Colorado buddies, to Mal, Trevor, Bryce, Claudia and I.(It was one of my biggest goals). In case something ever happens to me, it is comforting for me to know that Mallory and Bryce have made connections, with people who have been influential in my life. (I regret that Bryce wasn’t able to experience the whole trip). Claudia has grown into a very competent and mature, and fun woman to be around, and was indispensable as our sag driver. I am grateful that Mallory has been able to maintain a relationship with her birth mom. Speaking of mature, Trevor has been a huge help and very accommodating on the trip except for that one blip yesterday.

Throughout Missouri, ¾ of the vehicles have been pick-up trucks. The apparel for farmers have been overalls and straw hats or caps. As we’re heading out of the Ozarks, the architecture of the home have changed from tiny bungalows, often sided with metal or tar paper to modest homes often built out of brick.

Passed through mostly farm lands with rolling hills and not as wooded as the previous few days. The secondary roads follow the natural contour of the land, so there’s no grading of the hills…some definite butt and thigh burners, but not quite as challenging as the previous two days. It’s been constant up and down rolling hills.We didn’t pass by any convenience stores to fill up my water bottles. I was beginning to feel parched so I when at the top of one of the hills, in the middle of no-where in the woods was a sign for The Tiger Restaurant. I pulled in and asked if there was an outside spigot I could use. The restaurant was very fancy with white table cloths. Hunting down the outside faucet, I noticed a very high fence, which appeared like an animal enclosure and from which came a roar of a feline. I was all I could do to not go over to investigate, but a sign stated, “Do not enter unless authorized.” I was entertained for a number of miles coming with a story about it.



Mal and I started biking in Bismarck. Rode 10 miles on a very busy highway and then turned

Crossed the Mississippi River into Chester, IL, home of Popeye. The bridge was somewhat dilapidated with crumbling cement, so I was a bit nervous crossing it on my bike. I had called and left a message for Claudia and Mal to head over to the municipal pool. Got a call from Trevor and Bryce who were trying to locate the pool on their bike. They had gone up and down a very steep hill into Chester twice, thinking that I was on a different road going into town. Bryce started his first day on one of the more challenging days between the intense heat and lots of hills, so the second time riding up the hill, his legs cramped up ¾ of the way up it.I connected with Trevor and we got better directions and headed over to the pool.

We went over to check out The Order of the Eagles where we we’re going to stay for the night before heading back to the pool. They have a shower, bathrooms and apparently an air conditioned bunk house which wasn’t available. We could set up our tent on the lawn though and use the facilities. There were quite a few bikers camped out with a Trans America group. We headed back to the pool for 45 minutes until it closed. Refreshing. Trevor, Mal and Bryce were into doing crazy dives. Claudia had got a good burn while reading during the day at the poolside. Tried to locate a geo cache at the park without success.

Headed back to the Order of the Eagles, and ordered dinner in the pool hall. Not the typical place I’d frequent, but the folks there were friendly. Set up our tents on the lawn. Very hot and muggy. Went to the McDonalds for Wi-Hi so Claudia could check in for her flight from St. Louis tomorrow. Went to Wal-Mart to get aloe vera. Headed to bed around 10:30.