BikerAl Across America 2018

We all woke up tired and feeling like our bodies were operating on a deficit.  It was to be another long, Hot, hard day.

As soon as I left camp, my bike started making screechy noises again. It came and went, then later was less obnoxious but was there all the time.  I rode with Allen again and he passed me on a down hill.  That never happens but I couldn’t get it to go any faster.  And climbing the hills today were terrible.  By mile 30, I was ready to start walking up hills. So I called for a sag to pick me up and am I ever glad.  No way I could have ridden the whole 83 miles today.  My legs were screaming, sweat was pouring off like crazy and I was extremely over heated. Allen even said to me, ” Are you getting sick?  You look terrible”.  We picked up one other guy, too.  The others are all animals.  I don’t know how they did it.

In our first five miles this morning, we had to cross a bridge on a closed road.  We lifted our bike across the guard rails, walked over and then lifted them over again.

One of the attractions along the road today was the largest rocking chair.

Once in the van, I watched the road and was so glad I wasn’t still out there.  Alison is 5 ft 1 and a real fireball.  She woke up to a flat tire, changed it and then had a faulty valve.  All before she left camp.  I would have had a tizzy fit.  Those kind of things are right up there with car trouble which I don’t handle well.  And she rode all 83.5 miles.  She is my idol.

So once I got to camp, Johnny took me to a bike shop to have my bike looked at and picked up another rider who had had some work done.  Supposed to get my bike back tomorrow morning.  I hope the problem gets fixed.

31.3 miles today.  4421.6 total

Woosie day.

Couldn’t get internet last nite so this is late.  Sorry.

Another brutal, hot, hard day.  We rode 77 miles in that heat and I tho’t I would melt.  It was 95 degrees at one point.

The hills weren’t steep, just long and relentless. The sweat just rolled off.  I had to stop at the top of every hill to wipe sweat out of my eyes, face and  arms.  Disgusting!

We arrived at Casconade campground in the boonies, much better than the Merrimac Valley campground the nite before.  That one was the least nice of all we’de had so far.  Very little grass.

We went through a town called Devil’s Elbow where rte 66 used to go through.  Had one establishment, a bar and grill.  We stopped to fill up with water and lots of old cars were there with their drivers.  They were having lunch there.  Old GTO’s and other classics.  Kinda cool.

The road out of that town was all uphill and very rough.  My butt was crying out for mercy but there was nothing I could do to avoid the rough spots. Ouch!!!

Twice we got caught in a downpour.  The first time, five of us were under a carport at a church.  It really poured.  Then we took off and got caught in a second downpour as we were going down a rather steep hill and being passed by at least 15 school busses.  That was kinda hairy.  Took shelter at the bottom of the hill.  Once it stopped, we rode on and the sun came out and it felt like a sauna.  I was loving the rain as it cooled us off but that was only temporary.

Got into camp and no internet.  Down in a hollow with hills all around.

Couple interesting shots along the way.

77.7 miles.   4390.3 total

A brutally hot day.  Tomorrow is another 20 miles longer and heat still in the forecast.  Today we saw 95 degrees.  I may melt along side the road.  We all got in before 2 and to think we may not get into until 4 is depressing.  We’ve had no clouds whatsoever.  Shade has been hard to come by.  And when you go from light to dark pavement, you can feel the heat go up by several degrees.

The place to turn off route today was teally confusing.  I was probably the last to get there so couldn’t wait for someone to show up and confer with.  I hemmed and hawed and finally went on the correct route but there were no street signs and our instructions were a little dubious.  It was a guess for me.

Allen is a very good navigator but he wrote his directions down wrong.  So he ended up going into town and riding an extra 6 miles.  He laughed about it but even one mile in this heat is too much.

We have a guy on our trip, Mark, who is very bike mechanically inclined and apparently just loves to work on bikes.  Yeah!  I have a problem and I know where I’m going.  He offered to look at Alison’s and my bike on our rest day and we said, “sure”.  He oiled our chains, checked our tires for possible issues, and even worked on my hub.  I am so grateful.

We are all in bed by 8, almost dark, and up by 5:30, still dark.  We need the sleep but it is so hot, we just lay in our tents and sweat.  I hate it.  Not a breeze anywhere.

56.2miles today . 4292.6 total

We all left camp around 7 am because today was going to get hot (and it did, 97 degrees about five miles from camp) and there was potentially lots to see.

First item of interest was crossing the Chain of Rocks Bridge.  We all got there and had to wait til after 8am for someone to come unlock the gates.  What a bummer.  All that cool morning riding, and that’s all relative, was wasted sitting there waiting.

But the bridge was cool.  It had a 30 degree bend in it. The internet can tell you all about it.

If you look closely, you can see part of the gate on the other side.  We have no idea why they lock it up at night.

So we crossed the Mississippi and are now in Missouri.  Never saw the MO state sign but the bike path took us right beside the Arch.

 

Today, I rode by myself at my speed and stopped when I needed to stop and just took my time.  I was able to navigate through St. Louis and I didn’t get lost.  That’s a biggy for me.  Everyone complained about the heat today, not just me. And it looks like three more days of this heat.  At least so far, the humidity hasn’t been that bad.  I can’t believe how much water I drink during the day.  Sweating it all out cause I only make one pit stop, usually when I eat lunch.

One of the things I have noticed on this trip is how newish looking everyone’s clothes are.  Now all of you who know me know that I wear my stuff out, sometimes wearing it longer than most people would.  But, hey, if it still works, I wear it.  I am not so vain as to have to look cool in the latest styles.  So I noticed my jacket from Odyssey, 18 years ago is really faded, a tear is held together with electrical tape ( works really well ), and I just repaired some seams this past rest day.  I’m not the best seamstress so if anyone looks, they’d probably be apalled.

The jersey I wore today is faded, has stains from rain on The back, and really looks tacky.  But it is my most comfortable top and I’m going to keep wearing it.  I have two pairs of bike  shorts that are faded but broken in so they aren’t going anywhere.  Wait til I pull out my 30 year old head band when it gets cold.  My favorite and it is really in bad shape but still works.

Now I do have other clothes that aren’t so bad but they just aren’t as comfortable.  Comfort is #1 priority.  Looks ranks near the bottom.  No one has said anything yet and I doubt they would but I just noticed today that I look like the poor one on this trip.

However, my tent and bike are right up there with the best.  Just aren’t as old as my clothes.

 

59.1 miles today ..4236.4. Total

Hot one again today.  I didn’t get up til after 8am and felt like I still needed more sleep.  I did laundry first thing and spent the rest of the day reading and doing sudoku.  Just no energy to be out in the heat.   I went back and forth from sitting on the cabin deck to inside in the air conditioning. I truly rested today.

Several people rode to see some sites, others took a taxi into St. Louis, I held down the fort.  Was not getting on my bike and definitely was not going site seeing in the hot city.  It is 90 degrees out.

One of the guys got a tick bite and went to the emergency room to get it looked at.  Got all red and swollen so probably a good thing he went.  When he came out of the hospital, he said the temp read 105 degrees in town.  Yuk!

I have to say I am more than pleased with Adventure Cycling’s van supported trip.  Oh, my gosh, they feed us too much.  First nite, I pulled out my crazy creek camp chair and Jared asked me why I didn’t use one of their chairs.  Didn’t know they supplied them.  Then when it was time to do laundry, they supplied soap.  I could get spoiled.  And, of course, every day we ride in there is soda pop and chips ready for us.  That really hits the spot when we are hot.

I didn’t know what to expect but they are far surpassing any expectations I could have had.  Having traveled solo, self-supported, I feel I have everything I need so being pampered is a luxury.  I even brought a few energy bars for the road but didn’t need to.  We have so many choices that it is almost overwhelming.

Heading into Missouri tomorrow.

After the last few day’s heat, I decided to get out of camp early today even though we had a short day.  And I decided to ride slower by myself and not try to always keep up with the guys.  I had a very pleasant ride, didn’t get lost, and didn’t overheat from pushing too hard.  I just have to listen to my body because I was more tired than I should have been.  It was another hot, sunny day but the riding was great.

We are staying at a KOA in Granite City for two nights.  Out in the middle of nowhere but so far seems to be quieter than anywhere else we’ve been.  We have 2-5 people in a cabin so we aren’t tenting the next two nites. And, we have air conditioning.  Oh, my gosh, what a luxury.

Last nite at midnite some obnoxious young woman ( prob teenager) came through the campground on a four wheeler yelling and carrying on twice and the second time even honked her horn a couple times.  I was ready to jump out of my tent if she had come again and I was going to threaten to call the police.  No excuse for that behavior in a campground.  Consequently, sleep alluded me again.  Good thing I don’t need a lot cause I’m not getting it.

Our scheduled breakfast time is 7am but everyone keeps getting up earlier and earlier due to the heat and this morning, when Jared announced that breakfast was now being served, everyone had already eaten and most were done.  We just laughed as he did, too.  The people who cook at nite are responsible for putting out breakfast and lunch goodies.  I guess we are all over achievers.

Everyone got into camp before noon so we have had a leisure afternoon just coming down from 6 days of riding.  I did 362 miles this week.  That’s more than my usual but I feel good to have done it.

We all went out to dinner at a barbecue place and ate more than we should have.  Restaurants always give us more than we can eat.  I tried but I could not eat all of it.

38.3 miles today . 4177.3 .Total

Pictures from yesterday.  This was a gas station on the route from many years ago.

 

And the awesome bike path through the corn fields.

Today we had clear blue skies, no wind but HEAT.  It was 95 degrees at 12:30.  I thought I was going to melt.  But very little humidity, thank goodness.  I was really suffering from the heat when we got in.  I felt like I could hardly function.

This was on the wall of one of the buildings at last night’s camp. And today, we stopped at a museum in Litchfield where I got a postcard of every state. Cool!.

Several of us stopped at 12:30 in the shade to rest before the last eight miles.  This contraption was by the road and tbe guys said that is how they changed the oil in cars.  Obviously hasn’t been used in 40+ years.  Note the big tree growing in the middle of it.

 

We are camped at Rustic Acres Campground, again out in the middle of the corn fields.  I still don’t know how people know this is here but it is full of RV’s.  Amazes me.

Today, I noticed that farmers north of Farmqersville have already started picking corn and combining beans.  Down the road, fields are still somewhat green.  But what was harvested was ready.  Quite the difference in just a few miles.

One of the things I have been meaning to mention is that we have two Canadians, one Brit, actually from the Netherlands, and eight Americans on this trip.  Quite the congenial group.

I have noticed many, many woolly caterpillars on the road.  Someone told me that means an early, harsh winter.  Hope that’s true in Idaho but not before I get home.  We need a good hard winter.

Tomorrow is a short day and then we get a rest day.  I am ready and really looking forward to a day off the bike.  My seat is starting to wear and the stitching has come undone so this afternoon, I tried to repair it.  Me, not a seamstress.  But Alison helped and it looks good.  Then I covered it with electrical tape.  All across America, I had this saddle sore in the same place I have it now and then I finally figured it out to be that rough spot.  Slow to catch on.  Geez.  Only took 4,000 miles.  And, now, is not the time to break in a new saddle.

Yesterday’s total miles. 4075.9

63.1 miles today.  4139.0. Total

A hot, but clear blue sky day with very little wind.  Great riding.  Went through Springfield which was not traumatic at all.  Ended up on the neatest 10 mile bike path right at the end.  Nice way to end the day.

Last night we stayed at Hickory Lane campground and tonight we are at the Double J, again out in the middle of cornfields.  I don’t know how people find them.  This one is so much better than last night’s.  The water had a sulfur smell, there was only one shower for each and our spigot sent water out in two directions.  The place looked run down.  We only had a light bulb above the sink.  The ones for the shower and toilets were apparently burned out.  No soap or paper towels in the dispensers.  The grass was nice but that was about it.

Now tonight is the exact opposite.  Great shower, clean, very friendly, helpful hosts.  We never know what we are going to get.  Really liking this place.  However, it is near the noisy interstate.  Can’t have it all.

The internet keeps kicling me off so not sure if this will send today.  Can’t upload pictures so they will come tomorrow.

Last nite, Murray and I cooked dinner.  He made a great salad with lots of veggies and I made a pasta, mushroom, chicken, cheese dish.  For dessert we had Oreos and frozen yogurt.  It went over pretty well.

Need to save my juice as no way to charge tonite.

63.6 miles today.

 

 

 

Another beautiful riding day although it got hot about noon.  And tomorrow is forecasted to be 83 degrees.  Yuk!  Too hot for me.  Sunny all day and I had put sun screen on but I still got sunburned on my arms.  Guess I’ll have to use zinc oxide tomorrow.

Rode with Murray and Allen today and I really like Murray’s style.  He stops at 20 miles to eat a snack and every 10 miles after.  It seemed to make the day go by much faster.   I liked that.  This is one of our stops.

This shot is of housekeeping after a long day’s ride.

Wasn’t much to take pictures of today but it was a great ride.

Last night we had a trail angel come to our campground with goodies and then again this morning, he brought two dozen donuts.  Such a nice guy.

So my bike made all kinds of noises all day yesterday and was driving me nuts.  Several guys tried to find the source and no one could.  So I cleaned it, thinking maybe sand was stuck somewhere.  Never saw any fall out but today it was quiet.  I was going to stop at a bike shop and have them look at it but I didn’t stop today because the noise went away.  Go figure.  I just hope it doesn’t come back.

As a result, I was a little preoccupied last night and this morning when I went to unlock my bike. I couldn’t find my key.  Not to worry, I have spares.  But I was beside myself wondering how I could have lost my key.  Well, tonight when I took my shower, here was my key safety pinned to my blouse.  I blame my bike for making me do somethimg out of routine.  That’s ok.  All is well and I won’t hold it against my bike.  Not his fault.

Our campground is literally out in the middle of the corn fields tonite.  Last nite, we were at a fairgrounds and the acorns were falling off the trees on to the metal roofs.  It sounded like gun shots all nite long.  So loud and we were right next to the interstate so truck traffic was constant.  Another sleepless nite.  Now tonite we have cicadas and cows.  No interstate but it is still noisy.

65.3 miles today .4012.3 total

Another beautiful day.  Perfect except for the wind that came up about noon.  It did get pretty warm, too, but we survived.

I am taking pictures every day but not of everything.  There are so many rte 66 signs and places of interest, it is almost overwhelming.  Highlight of the day was the Polka Dot Cafe.

This was listed as a point of interest and it was cool, right on rte 66.  We were too early to get to eat there but I at least took pictures.

Our ride today started on a bike path.  The rest of the day was on roads of all kinds.  Beautiful quiet backcountry roads with no traffic, route 66 old highways with very little traffic, to major highways with no shoulders, skinny shoulders with a rumble strip, to major wide shoulders that were awesome.  And the shoulders came and went with no warning so we really had to be on our toes.

Tonight was our first meal prepared by riders.  Doug and Steve made macaroni and cheese with veggies added in, a salad, and pies for dessert.  It was so good.

We are camped at the local fairgrounds tonight.  Great showers compared to last night.

Tomorrow is my turn.  Hope I  and my partner are as successful.

One irritating thing that happened today was my bike was making all these noises that no one could pinpoint.  I stopped four times trying to figure out where the noise was but to no avail.  No one could figure it out.  When I got to camp, I cleaned my bike and rode it around. No noise.  Just like taking your car to the shop when it makes noises.  It sounded like metal on metal or a rock against metal or brakes rubbing or whatever.  In camp, I had our leader who knows a lot about bike mechanics look at it and of course it didn’t make the slightest noise. I am stopping at a bike shop along the way tomorrow if there is the slightest noise.  Just can’t take that.

73.5 miles today.      3947.0  Total