Day 11 - September 15, 2010 - Roys Store Road, MS to Vicksbury, MS

Well this was the day we finished our Mississippi River ride. And I don't think we have seen the river in two or more days, just lots of agriculture, cotton, soybeans and even a cornfield or two today. We started at Roy's Store this morning. I did not take a picture but you can see it on Facebook under Roys Store and Cabins. And soon there may be a picture of the seven of us on their Facebook page. I did take a picture of the marker telling about The original Mississippi Highway 1. If you look closley you can even see it in the picture. It is in very good shape considering it is almost 100 years old. Today was a hot day just like yesterday only much more noticably so. Somewhat more humid and probably more windy. In the second picture I am stealing Maggie's idea from Across America North. This is where our ride ended about 10 miles north of Vicksburg. The trail goes on but we didn't. The road to the right going to Vicksburg was very busy and had no shoulder. There really was not much to see as we rode today, but still a good day.

Day 10 - September 14, 2010 - Prichard, MS to Rosedale, MS

85 miles with a forecasted high of 93 degrees, actually it turned out to be 97 degrees but just like Arizona it was a dry heat. The humidity was about 40 plus percent. We did not go through where we could find anything to eat along the route. So Emiel and Don drove to Clarksdale and got everyone a sandwich at Subway. Good old Subway the biker’s friend. By the way does anyone remember Clarksdale, Maggie? The harvest is in full swing here. Cotton and beans primarily, and much of the harvested ground has already been turned over with a chisel plow. John Deere seems to be the only brand of farm machinery we see in the field, but there is a Case-IH dealer right down the street from the hotel. It was a tough day because of the heat and the distanced but turned out to be a lot of fun challenging yourself.

Today's pictures show just how flat this Mississippi Delta is and one has a bit of a civil rights flavor to is.

Day 9 - September 13, 2010 - Covington, TN to Prichard, MS

Today was about 80 miles from Covington, TN to Pritchard, MS. It was chilly as the sun was still low when we left Covington this morning at about 7:15. Once we were off of Hwy 51 the roads were pretty quiet and the drivers courteious. There were a lot of houses the entire distance from Covington to Memphis. The homes were decent close to Covington and then deteriorated into mobile homes and modular homes which continued until we came closer to Memphis where the homes became more upscale. For the middle twenty to thirty miles portion of this distance every house had at least one probably two and maybe up to four dogs. We did not have any close calls however. Below I have added a pictuere of the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) Signs that mark our route. Some of these signs have evidently been in place fore a long time because they are very badly faded. The route has been marked through Kentucky and Tennessee.

The picture was taken on Beale Street where we stopped for lunch. We loaded up in the van and drove thru Memphis.

Day 8 - September 12, 2010 - Ridgely, TN to Covington, TN

Today started out to be a biker’s perfect day, the roads were almost flat, there was no traffic to speak of and life was good. At least until the group rode through a broken glass bottle on the shoulder of the road. When I stopped to check my tires I found a piece of wire sticking out of my rear tire so I pulled it out and put a little bit of water on the hole and it bubbled so I had to replace the tube. Ken Zika stayed behind to help me and we probably had it fixed in about 10 minutes and were back on the road. Our good flat roads lasted about another ten miles and then the road started to undulate up and down pretty seriously for about fifteen miles. Then it became less severe but still continued to roll up and down.

This was our earliest arrival yet. We got to the hotel about 2:15 pm. Today because of all the hills we got very spread out which kept the van running back and forth trying to keep track of evreyone. For that reason we went about 35 miles through the hilly section without a break which was to long for most of us, and we are feeling kind of drained tonite.

Distance = 75.5 miles
Average Speed = 14.7
Maximum speed = 36.0
Time = 5 Hours and 7 minutes moving

Day 7 - September 11, 2010 - Cairo, IL to Ridgely, TN

This morning we loaded bikers and their bikes into the van and drove through Cairo and across the bridge to Kentucky. Initially we could not find a spot to pull over and unload so we ended up driving almost 10 miles before we could offload and start to ride. After about 20 miles we found a nice place for breakfast in Columbia where the waitress was also the cook and busboy. Probably the cheapest place I have ever eaten, toast and coffee for one dollar. Back on the bikes we rode to MeMaw’s Resturant in Jonesborough at about 50 miles. Lunch was so-so and the waitress wore a t-shirt which said La-Tee-Fricking-Da. We assumed that was somewhat of a statement about her attitude in general. From there we headed south once again. Mid afternoon we took a break at Boyette’s Restaurant by Reelfoot Lake State Park. There I read an interesting eyewitness account of the earthquake which happened on December 16th, 1811 and continued on until February 7th, 1812. Very bizarre that it continued on for such an n extended period of time. I have the article if anyone would like to read it. From there we rode on to Ridgley, TN where we all loaded into the van and drove to our motel in Dyersburg, TN. We arrived at the motel at about 4pm, took a quick shower, changed clothes and got back into the van and headed off to 5 o’clock mass. After that it was diner and back to the motel fore some rest.

Day 6 – Friday, September 10th, 2010 – Neunert to Cairo, Illinois

The sky certainly looked like it could rain when we started out this morning. And although it did rain a little while we were on the road it was not a show stopper. We started the wrong way out of Neunert and had to turn around and again later in the day we also had to retrace our steps. We had a really good brunch in a café in Jonesboro. At that point I climbed in the van thinking there would be many hills between there and Cairo according to the Gazetteer Maps. After a few miles it was evident that was not true so I got on the bike and finished the ride. The only interesting site today was the Mound City National Cemetery, evidently confederate which I would like to come back and visit sometime. At some places there seemed to be a bluff on both sides of us but no river so I need to check out the geology and see what is happening there.

At one point we were just a few feet from the nriver and on almost the same level as the water. In most places there is a large levee between the road and the river.

Day 5 - Tuursday, September 9th, 2010 - Valmeyer to Neunert

We stayed overnight in Waterloo, Illinois after riding to Valmeyer, Illinois yesterday. This morning we drove back to Valmeyer, unloaded the bikes and started pedaling in a slight rain. After a few miles the showers let up as we pedaled on. At mile 45 our route took us on route 3 which was very busy with coal trucks going to and from the Chester Dump Site. At the dump locally mines coal is stockpiled until it can be loaded on barges and shipped down to New Orleans. After talking to some local railroad workers at breakfast I had already decided that I was not going to ride on that 7.8 mile streach of Route 3. Additionally, when I got to that point my back tire was very soft so I climbed in the van and proceded to change my tire while Emiel bumped me ahead to the end of coal truck route. By now the rain had started again although not heavy and continued the rest of the afternoon. At about 1:30 we finished the ride at Gorham where we found lunch at a small local tavern (The Bottoms Up). Because of the way we were dressed one of the locals always asks us where we are from or where we are going and in turn we find out a lot about the local history.

Today we rode past the Menard Correctional Facility which was established in 1925. Sorry no pictures. Also we saw a depot where coal trains from out west are unloaded and the coal is also stockpiled for eventual shipment down the Mississippi.

Day 4 - Wednesday, Sept 8th, 2010 - Pere Marquette State Park to Vallmeyer, Illinois

A pretty good day of about 105 miles. The first 40 were on two different trails, the Sam Valobean from Pere Marquette to Alton and then through Alton to the Confluence Trail to Cahokia. Having ridden the Sam Valobean many years ago I was dissappointed to see what bad shape it is in now, another victum of the Illinois fiscal crisis I guess. The confluence trail was fine but had a gravel section and the team elected to ride on Hwy. 3 instead. At the end on the trail we loaded into the van for a 8 mile ride through East St. Louis and had a nice lunch midway at a small diner along Rt 3. After lunch we resumed our ride in Cahokia and rode to what remains of the old town of Vallmeyer. In 1993 the town was flooded when the levee broke. Most residents took a goverrnment buy ouyt and moved on, knowing that the flooding could happen again. Some stayed adr there is still a random house standing here and there. Vallmeyer has now been rebuild on the top of the bluff safe from the Mississippi river.

We also met two guys fgrom Chicago who were riding to New Orleans from Chicago, more on that later.

Day 3 Tuesday, Sept 7th, 2010 Quincy to Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton

A pretty good dayof about 105 miles. The first 70 miles were great then came the hills for about 10 or 15 miles. After that a pretty good run into Brussels to catch the ferry across the Illinois River to finish our ride to Pere Marquete state Park Lodge.

Day 2 - Monday, September 6, 2010 (Labor Day)

Today we began where we left off at Rte. 34 and rode to Quincy.

Today was a much better day than yesterday. I decided not to be left behind and joined in the paceline and it worked. Ken z. , Bill and John pulled most of the time although I did pull for a mile or two until one of the others woulde pull ahead. At about mile seventy the wind was brutal as it had been all day but we were in the middle of a twenty mile straight stretch and you almost wondered if you were about to start going backwards. At about mile ninety I was fried and told the other guys to go ahead and I was going to just crawl into Quincy at my own pace. Don stayed with me and I really appreciated that because in about two miles I developed a cramp in my left thigh. At that point I got off the bike and started walking until I got some relief from the cramp. As I was about to get back on the bike Don suggested I walk even further and walked with me for a while. Then we got back on our bikes and finished the distance to the motel where the last two blocks turned out to be a grade of well over 10%. The picture shows the temple in Nauvoo, and Ken Zika checking out the statue of Joseph Smith and his brother with the Mississippi in the background.

Day 1 - Sunday, september 5th, 2010 - Edgington, IL to Route 34 near the river

Day 1 - Sunday, Sept 5th 2010 Edgington, Illinois to Route 34 where is crosses over the bridge to Burlington, Iowa, where we loaded the bikes into the van and scooted across the river to the Quality Inn in Burlington, Iowa.

This was one windy day, windy to make for some tiring biking. several of ther guys decided to form a paceline and reduce the effort. Not caring for pacelines I decided to go it alone. Probably not a good idea. The wind tough and I after several miles I found myself far behing the group, in fact so far they were out of sight. But I did catch up with them when they took a break.

It was mostly a corn and beans kind of day, without to much out of the ordinary. One thing though, the corn almost appears to dance when the wind is really blowing it around. The tops of the stalks whirl around in circles and sort of bow to each other. Or maybe I was hallucinating.

In the picture Emeil who agreed to drive for our trip has driven ahead and is waiting for the riders to come by on their bikes, after they pass he will jump in the van and scout the route ahead a few miles and then wait for thwem to come by again.