BikerAl Across America 2018

The first picture is the Ohio border. today.  Boy did I ever hit  2 big hills right over the state line.  I told my bike we might be walking this one, but, alas, we rode right up.

The other two pictures are from yesterday of the awesome hosta plantings.  So beautiful.

The ride from Liberty to the state line was great but I wasn’t counting on two ferocious big hills soon after. There was a detour due to a bridge soon after which my brother alerted me  to.  The road out of Fairhaven was as steep as any i’ve seen but we crawled up in low gear no problem.

Soon after I encountered several really steep hills but was able to ride up.  Not walking unless is mandatory.

Got to Eaton in good time in spite of the hills.  Made it to my brother’s before noon.

So last nite’s camping left something to be desired.  It rained about 4 for 2 hours or more while I took a nap.  Boy was my tent soaked. In the middle of the nite, we got another rain and everything was more than soaked.  When I woke up, nothing was dry.  Didn’t leave til 8 O’clock trying to dry out a few things.  Bummer and a half.

But the ride was nice, even the hills and I got to my brother’s before noon.  So all is well.  Cleaned my bike, did laundry, ate well and am now ready for a good nite’s sleep.

23.3 miles today .1514.8 total

Left at usual early time of 6:30 am and had a most awesome ride. The first 20 miles were on a detour route for bicycles since a bridge was out on my main road. My motel clerk was able to print out a detailed guide with every road name, how far to go on that road and which way to turn next. Loved it.

The next 16 miles had a decent shoulder and was fairly flat until the last mile into town, one of the biggest hills I’ve had to ride. But I stayed in my middle chain ring.

The last 11 miles were not so great, pitso shoulder, more traffic than the last 20 miles and hot. But, hey, that’s always the case at the end of the day. Makes you appreciate it when you get to the end.

I took a picture of this fantastic garden of hostas but I guess because I’m out in the boonies, I can’t get it to upload. Maybe tomorrow.

I’m finally camping but i know I’m going to get wet. Thunder is rumbling and the skies aren’t pretty. But it is the first campground I’ve been able to find on my route and I’m not carrying this tent just to build muscles. Lots of campers here.

This park was where my family came once in a while to swim. Geez, that was 55-60 years ago.

Tuna for supper again. And tomorrow I should be at my brother’s. I’ll take a day off and then head north to Canada.

54.8 miles today. 1491.6 total

This was a great day.  Left early and was nervous about the route because I was told by some locals that my main route, (route 44) was really dangerous with lots of hills and very winding with very little shoulder AND heavily trafficked by semis.  Well, I’ve ridden some hairy roads but this sounded really bad.  So I got recommendations from other locals and the optional route wasn’t supposed to be much better.  I fretted all night about this stuff. I hate that.

Turned out, the optional route wasn’t bad at all except the first few miles had some hills that made me sweat profusely at 7 in the morning.  The shoulder was acceptable and I made good time.  I was shocked.  It was longer than the main rte but I still got to Franklin before the bike shop opened.  By the time I found the shop, I only had to wait about 10 minutes.

So I got my tires pumped up and my cleats greased and adjusted.  I was having trouble getting them to click in and now they go in real easy. Also, got info on the next stretch of rte 44.  Was told part of it was good and part no shoulder.  The guy must not have driven out there in awhile because the whole stretch was beautiful and with my pumped up tires, I flew.

The bike mechanic was really funny. He tried to pick up my bike and couldn’t. He wanted to weigh it.  I could have lifted it enough but I didn’t want to embarrass him.  He thinks I’m carrying a lot more than I really am.  I’ll just let him think it.

The hardest part of the day was finding a place to stay.  This town is really strung out and has multiple roads coming into it.  I had to stop twice to make sure I was on track.  Sometimes roads aren’t signed very well.

At one of the gas stations, a gentleman stopped to talk and couldn’t believe what I was doing.  He was very encouraging which always makes me feel good.  At that same station, as I was getting ready to leave, a fellow had a cigarette in his fingers and wanted to know if I had a lighter.  Really?????  You meet all kinds.

So tomorrow’s forecast is for morning thunderstorms.  Yikes.  I may have to start later than I really like to.  Supposed to clear off for the afternoon.  And then get hot.  Plus I have to take a detour due to a bridge under construction.  The motel clerk found me an all back road route complete with detailed instructions as when to turn and how far I go on each turn.  I feel prepared for this detour.  Just hope there are lots of farm houses along the way if I need cover from lightning.

One of my best days so far.

53.0 miles today.  1436.8 total

Wasn’t really sure what I was going to do today when I went to bed last nite but when I woke up at 5:30, I listened to the weather and felt really tired so rolled over and went back to sleep until 8 am.  I guess I was tired.  My legs sure were.

I hate to waste good sunny, rainless days and today was forecasted to be rainy, although it didn’t really rain that much.  But it felt good to lay on the bed and read or do sudoku all day.  I’m ready to go for it tomorrow.  Gotta listen to the body.

I understand the roads tomorrow are hilly so good I rested up.

A tough day but a good day.  Nice roads with varying shoulders.  Many hills but also stretches of long, flat boring roads.  At times, I felt like I was going nowhere, but, it was a break from hill after hill.  I guess I prefer rolling hills to long, flat stretches although I sweat profusely going up hill.  The flat section had a head wind, too, so at least the sweat dried before it could roll down my face.  Just constant pedalling is tiring.  There are NO perfect road conditions but I welcome variety over the same old same thing for miles.

So far rte 67 has been great.  I had to ride 231 when 67 joined it and that was hairy for a while.  All the trucks from both routes joined to the combined route for four miles.  But once back on 67, it was great.  Got into town and nobody knew where anything was.  Ended up riding another three miles trying to find a motel or food.  Unreal.

I did find one lady in a parking lot who advised me on my intended route for tomorrow.  She gave me an alternate, but easier and safer route.  It pays sometimes to talk the locals.  Surprises me how some people know nothing about their surroundings other than where they work or live.  In general, people who work in gas stations and convenience stores know diddly squat.   I just stop and ask whoever I see.  I survive.

Nice scenery today.  Surprised at how hilly parts of this terrain is and then how flat it is down the road.

62.1 miles today .   1383.8 total

Ok, I am really struggling with my blog posts.  I don’t think yesterday’s posted til today and then I lost today’s.  So here we go again.

A most awesome ride today.  Nice rural highway with decent shoulders 95% of the time.  Only one semi.  But, oh, so hot.  I got a late start because I wanted to go to the bike shop, then checked the internet again and they posted that they might not be open.  Great.  So I left an hour later than usual.  Wasted a good ‘cool’ hour.  (That’s all relative to over 90 degrees.)

I still did a shorter day so tomorrow I hope to beat the rain but I have 60 miles to go.  I am leaving even earlier than I usually do.  And it is supposed to be maybe 6 degrees cooler. Ha!

Got into a few rollers the last 10 miles.  Love that kind of riding but, boy, the hills were worse than they should have been.  Still climbed in my middle chain ring but the sweat just rolled off.

This photo is of a hanging in last nite’s motel.  All the states were cut from a license plate from that state.  If this photo shows up twice, I’m sorry.  Operator error, I’m sure.

38.1 miles today.  1321.7. Total

Today started out great. But, Hot, Hot, Hot. I drank so much water and kept watching to see if I was sweating. A little concerned about heat stroke or whatever. But I dripped profusely and probably left a trail. It was way into the 90’s.

There was a 25 mile stretch that was absolutely beautiful. Just farmland but looked so nice. This side of Illinois mows every piece of grass along the road. Just really pretty. And the first 50 miles had nice shoulders all the way with fairly smooth pavement. Loved it.

The last 10 miles were hairy. As I entered Lawrenceville, rte 50 that I have been riding for the last couple days, all of a sudden became off limits to bicycles etc. So I had to take the business route into town, found the police station, and explained my dilemma. The officer on duty gave me the ok to ride those last 10 miles on the 4 lanes, just told me to stay on the shoulder. Once on the four lanes, my shoulder was awful. Imagine a white line, 4 inches or less of shoulder, a 12-15 inch rumble strip and then, maybe 6-8 inches of shoulder before it dropped off into unstable gravel. I knew then why they didn’t want bikes on there. So I had to ride on the very edge of the right lane and twice, had to cross the rumble strip and hang on for dear life. So stressful and it was so HOT. And, no place to really stop and wipe sweat. This was my only option into Vincennes so I just said my prayers and persevered. Not a cool way to end a beautiful start to a day. But, I’m in Indiana. Yeah! No picture to prove it for obvious reasons.

There is a huge bike shop in town and I need to have a couple things checked so I’ve talked myself into going there at 10 and riding a shorter day. I will be leaving in the heat of the day which is really not what I want to do. But one does what one has to do.

62.8 miles today. 1283.6 total

Can’t see this very well but it is an oil well rig.  Didn’t know they did that in Illinois.Today was a nice day.  I shortened it by 20 miles and only did 52 so I could get off the road by noon.  Yesterday’s heat really zapped me and I sweat so much, it runs down my face and drips off my chin.  I even wear a bandanna to soak it up but it gets so wet, it can’t absorb any more.  And I drink constantly.

I was so tired after my frustrating day yesterday, that I could hardly function.  Just about fell asleep waiting for my laundry to dry.  I did go to bed early and slept all nite, unusual for me, but woke up still feeling muscle tired.  Just didn’t feel like pushing it, esp in this heat.  Hence, the reason for dropping 20 miles.

So right out of town, The road is rough and no shoulder with an occasional obnoxious truck.  Only lasted 4 miles and then I had a shoulder of varying sorts the rest of the way.  At least somewhere to ride without falling off the road into gravel.  These IL trucks just don’t get over.

The road surface went from rough to newly paved and smooth with other variations every few miles so I didn’t get bored.  Kept me on my toes.  I like riding on the smooth part of the road when I can and then just move over when vehicles come.  Most shoulders are rougher with debris and causes more drag but very good for having somewhere to go.

The scenery today was great.  Lots of farm land interspersed with deciduous woods.  It really was a nice ride and no thunderstorms pushing me.  I could just lollygag if I wanted and take it all in.

Tomorrow should be another 50 mile day and arrive in Indiana.  Making progress.  Just hope the weather holds.  No rest day til we get a wet, stormy day.

52.5 miles today.  1220.8 total

Oh my gosh, I am whipped.  What I tho’t would be a fairly easy, straight forward day turned into almost a night mare,  I left at 6 am so I could be done by noon or shortly after because it is so dang hot.

A mile out of town I encountered detour signs so I rode to where they were going to send us.  Up a ramp onto a 4 lane restricted hiway.  No non motorized vehicles allowed.  Great.  So I rode back to town to find a local with other options for me.  Turned out that was the best part of the day.  I ended up on bike paths that took me right where I needed to go and got there sooner than I expected. Yeah.

So I rode on and go through this rather large town (9500) and see Wal-Mart, AT&T etc.  I needed a Verizon store because my screen saver broke and I was getting moisture on my phone.  Didn’t see a store so rode on and ate lunch at 10am but also found out where Verizon was.  Right next to AT&T but thier sign was so small, I missed it the first time.  So that was my second back track of over a mile one way.  Really starting to rack up go no where miles! And to make matters worse, they didn’t have one that fit my phone so all was for nothing.

So then I continue on and come to another detour which puts me on the interstate (no unmotorized vehicles allowed).  I was furious at this point.  So I stopped at the gas station and got my options.  Back track 4-5 miles into the town from where I had just come and take a state road south to catch a road that would take me where I needed to go.

This was all very frustrating because I had to get to Carlyle where I had a non-refundable motel room.  When I tried to make reservations at campgrounds, they were all full because of this weekend which I forgot about but I couldn’t have made them earlier because I didn’t know where I would be til yesterday.  So frustrating.  Anyway, I rode probably another extra 5-6 miles and that was with a head wind.  Once I turned on my last road, I still had 17 miles to go and thunderstorms were brewing.  I rode like the wind, or tried to, the last 12 miles so I wouldn’t get caught in another lightning storm.  How much should one person have to deal with in one day?

I was only at the motel a half hour before the storm  hit.  At least I made it.  Called Verizon in this town and they don’t have my screen saver either.  At least I didn’t walk a mile to find that out.  As it was, I walked a mile in the other direction for dinner and had a scrumptious, chicken, baked potato, green beans and soup meal.  I was stuffed but I needed it.

I should sleep good tonite.  I hurt all over.  The riding I did was good, just too much of it that accomplished nothing.  Six and a half hours in the saddle is too much.  With all my stopping etc, I was on the road 8 and 1/2 hours.  Too long in this hot sun.  If I go my intended route tomorrow, I’ll have 70 miles.  Right now, i’m not sure I can do that.  It is a straight shot on a good state road which had a wide shoulder today so if no one throws a monkey wrench in my plans, it should be a good ride, provided the thunderstorms don’t arrive early.

66.6 miles today. 1168.3 total

Finished the KATY Trail today.  YEAH!  On to the paved roads again.  Top picture is of Lewis and Clark at St. Charles.  Pretty cool, I tho’t.

The bottom photo is of a tree that had fallen over the trail.  Riders kept telling me as we passed that a tree was across the trail.  I figured I’d see it so couldn’t figure out why everyone was making such a big deal.  I figured I’d just carry my bike over it, and, if necessary, unload it first.  Then I came upon it, and, whoa, big tree.  Fortunately, enough cyclists and walkers had gone around it so there was a path, but through poison ivy and brush.  I washed off my legs after going through that.  I tho’t it odd that everyone mentioned it.  Obviously, I couldn’t miss it.

After getting to St. Charles, my next decision was how to get across the MS River to Illinois.  There were a couple biking options suggested but it was so hot, 99 degrees, that I just couldn’t see myself pedalling another 20 miles, winding around and trying not to get lost, and then looking for a place to stay.  So I got a shuttle to Alton and rode from there to Wood River on a blessed paved road with a nice shoulder. Oh, how I’ve missed the paved roads.

On the KATY Trail, you didn’t have to worry about trucks, just snakes.  But with my wide shoulder today, trucks weren’t an issue.  However, when I got into town, as happens more often than not, the shoulder disappeared, and two separate school buses did NOT get over an inch.  I had to stop and get over for the first one.  I just stared at him in disbelief.  A school bus not getting over?  Who would think!

Anyway, I’m glad to be on the road again.  Gotta get out there early.  Supposed to be a HOT weekend.

35.3 miles today. 1101.7 total