Today’s Date: July 10, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Farmington, Missouri

Today’s End Point: Chester, Illinois

Today’s Miles: 51.67 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 3,099.79 Miles

This was a good day. As I wrote yesterday, Jimmy Ward and Scott (“Scooty”) Latimer came down from Elmhurst, Illinois to drag my butt along and lighten my load, respectively. Oh, and also to entertain me.

The route today was going to be a bit hilly for the first 35 miles until we would drop down from the remnants of the Ozark Mountains into the Mississippi River Valley, with our final destination in Chester, Illinois, a Mississippi River town.

We awoke and ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and were on the road by 6:30 am. Jimmy and I took off for Chester and Scooty went to East St Louis to try and spot a Painted Bunting.

I didn’t mention it yesterday, but Scott is a competitive bird watcher, always on the leaderboard in Illinois for most birds spotted in Illinois. He travels throughout the Illinois area, sometimes like today, searching out a specific type of bird. When I am quick enough with my cellphone I have sent him a few photos of birds to identify for me.

As we tried to get out of the suburban sprawl we were in, I took charge of navigation to get us to the route. After my excellent navigation skills, after 15 minutes of riding we ended up back at the hotel. The second time leaving was more successful and we were on our way, with me sucking Jimmy’s back wheel all the way to Illinois.

Jimmy was wondering about his conditioning prior to the ride, but that fear was quickly quashed as I huffed and puffed behind him. I could not even use the excuse about the heavy bags I was carrying, since Scott was kind enough to put my bags in his car. Nevertheless, it was great to ride the wheel for an enjoyable day.

As expected, the first 35 miles were hilly, with Jimmy getting to experience the joys of the descents that we could ride like a roller coaster. We hit some sections where there was a great deal of big truck traffic, especially near a stone quarry, but we lived to tell the tale. The weather helped, because although it was humid, we were early enough to miss the real heat of the day.

We (or should I say Jimmy with me hanging on his wheel) rode quickly over the hills and covered 35 miles by 9:00 am.

During this stretch we came across Steve, an eastbound Trans Am traveler walking his bike up a hill (been there, done that). We stopped to talk and Steve told us he was part of the Trans Am Race which began a little over a month ago. The Trans Am Race is similar to the Race Across America (“RAAM”) but follows the circuitous route I have been riding. Steve was 70 years old and was the oldest participant. Some of the competitors had already finished, with the fastest completing it in 20 days. What was interesting about Steve was that although he lives in Florida now, he is from Oak Park, Illinois and taught at Proviso East, where he was also the cross country and track coach. We said goodbye although we would see Steve again later in our travels.

It wasn’t too long after our encounter with Steve that we took a break for some Gatorade and some snacks. I thanked Jimmy profusely (at least I hope he thought so) for taking the lead the whole way. He has always been a strong rider and this was only the beginning of his show of strength. While we were snacking, Steve caught back up to us, we had a few more words, and then hit the road.

A short hilly section exposed us to more semi-trucks (no shoulder of course), but luckily they were relatively patient. After 3,000 miles, I guess I am getting used to the big trucks speeding by.

But now the fun part, we crested a hill and had a tremendous view of the Mississippi River Valley below us. We had a long descent to the valley floor and I felt sorry for Jimmy having to constantly look over his shoulder to see when, or if, I would get back on his wheel.

Once we hit the valley floor, we had a six mile stretch that was pancake flat, probably the first time I had seen a flat road since Kansas. At this point, Jimmy floored it and I looked down and we were going about 22 mph, a speed I have only been able to obtain on descents. I am happy that I was able to hang on for dear life (although barely).

At that speed, the six miles literally flew by and we began our approach to the Chester Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. On the other side of the bridge was Illinois.

The bridge is a narrow two lane road that is about .3 miles long that goes uphill until you get to the middle, with sections of the road in bad shape. Once we entered the bridge, there was really no way for any cars behind us to pass, adding to the nerve jangling experience.

We survived again and stopped at a little park that is located on the Illinois side of the bridge. For me, crossing the Mississippi River was a big deal, since the river has traditionally been the demarcation line between the east and west sides of the country. It was also great to share such an event with a good friend, one of many people that have helped me out on this journey.

After a series of congratulatory photos, we set off to find my lodging for the night. In order to provide symmetry to the day, I got us lost in Chester trying to find the hotel, which of course was on a bluff over the river.

We arrived at the hotel between 10:30 am and 11:00 am, by far the earliest I finished a ride for the day. As you can tell from the narrative so far, my only contribution to getting us at the hotel early was to actually add time due to my stellar navigation skills. Now all I need to do is figure out how to get Jimmy to pull all the way to North Carolina and for Scott to carry my stuff.

Scott arrived at the hotel after successfully spotting his quarry, the Painted Bunting. After cleaning up, we went to the Fraternal Order of Eagles for lunch (one of two non-fast foods restaurants in town). To give the boys the ultimate Trans Am experience, we went to DQ for dessert.

After a meal of many more calories than we burned, the boys dropped me off at the hotel. They got back in the car for their 350 mile trip back to Chicago. I was very sad to see them go, not only for the efforts they made today to make my ride easier, but also the camaraderie. It was great to hang out with some friends and share some experiences.

Thanks Jimmy and Scott, I appreciate your visit and help more than you know. For you guys to take the time to travel all this way is amazing, and I am so thankful for our friendship.

Tomorrow, back to it with a longish ride to a bike shop that is off the route for a new cassette. If my navigation skills are consistent, I should get there a week from Thursday.