Marion to Utica, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance:  72 mi.
Avg Speed:  11.2 mph
Climbed:  3450 ft.
Weather:  58 to 83 F, Sunny, and Favorable Wind

We had a great night in Marion, eating fried catfish with all the fixing's and retiring to our quiet B&B.  We were the only one's staying there.  This area of Kentucky is known for it's deer hunting because of a large herd and liberal laws that allow baiting and other trickery to draw them in.  Our host pointed out that it's not illegal to shoot a deer under the apple tree of his backyard in the city with a rifle!  He's a former policeman, so he should know.  It's just bow season now, but once gun season starts, he expects to be busy.

In the morning I rode through hilly areas with just pastureland and woods, but later the terrain flattened out into corn and soybean fields, and quite a bit of tobacco.  The tobacco has already been harvested and is hanging in barns to dry.

Here's an example of a tobacco barn.

Another major activity in this part of the country is Tyson Chicken farms.  I rode by at least a half dozen just on the roads I took.  They typically have 4 or 5 big buildings associated with them, with windows covered up and fans ventilating them.  They smell not so good.  One of them was unloading the adult chickens into cages and stacking them onto big tractor trailer rigs for transport to the processing plant, which must be nearby. 

The Tyson signs are rather small. No bigger than a realtor's sign.

I rode for a couple of blocks on the legendary Highway 41, running from Miami, FL to Copper Harbor, MI.  It was made even more famous by The Allman Brothers Band.

My father was a gambler down in Georgia.  He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.
 I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound Bus, rolling down Highway 41.
Lord, I was born a ramblin' man.  Trying to make a living and doing the best I can.
( Lyrics from Rambling Man, by Allman Brothers Band )

I saw a few farms with Burros or Donkeys, not sure which.  This one was waiting under an apple tree for some fruit to drop.  Not a bad strategy.  It'll work eventually.

We get to stay at the Utica Volunteer Fire Dept Building, which they make available to touring bicyclists, since there are no other accommodations nearby. 

We get to use their modern kitchen, bath and shower, and can sleep on some mattresses indoors or pitch a tent.  Since we have the place to ourselves, we'll sleep indoors.

Ferne Clyffe Park to Marion, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance:  72 mi.
Avg Speed:  10.3 mph
Climbed:  4800 ft
Weather:  48 to 78 F, Sunny, No Wind

Considering I lost elevation on this stretch, that was a lot of climbing. We're back to the rolling hills, and some of them are pretty steep.  Nothing that required walking, but quite a few where you just put your head down and try to think of something else as you crank your way up in your lowest gear. 

No navigational errors today.  We coordinated to meet at the Ferry across the Ohio River, which was just an hour or so from our final destination in Marion, KY.  We're staying at a B&B with no historic charm, but clean and quiet. 

I have to admit I was feeling pretty fatigued towards the end of the day today, and am going to blame it on poor nutritional effort.  I pretty much ate high carb healthy snacks all day, but didn't include much protein to speak of.  That was different from the previous days, when I made a point to include some healthy doses of meat at breakfast and lunch.  I'll try to make up for it at dinner tonight.

I won a race with a very fast dog today.  He was waiting by the side of the road, but was distracted until I was right next to him, and by the time he reacted I had what I thought was a pretty good lead.  I happened to glance in my rear view mirror and there he was gaining on me, and not wasting any energy on barking.  I stood up and pedaled as hard as I could to pull away from him.  Some of these country dogs are really fast.

Good example of rolling roads and scenery today.

My route crossed the Tunnel Hill Bike Trail, a 43 mi. Rail to Trail conversion that looked pretty nice. I happened to cross it very near the highlight of the trail, a tunnel. 

I don't know what it is, but this is by far the dominant roadside bloom this trip. Second would be Thistle, also purple.  Goldenrod is third.

Just a small ferry across the Ohio that runs every 25 minutes, and is free to the users.

I expect to see a lot of horse farms in Kentucky.

Chester, IL to Ferne Clyffe State Park

Ride Stats: 
Distance:  82 mi.
Avg Speed:  12.2 mph
Climbed:  3540 ft
Weather:  58 - 75 F, Sunny, Favorable Winds 10 to 15 mph

After a great night's stay and a hearty breakfast at The Stone House B&B in Chester, I hit the road with the wind at my back, and was making fantastic time.  That is, until I inexplicably turned the wrong way on a highway intersection and went 7 miles until I figured it out. If that was the only  mistake, it would have been OK, but I made at least a couple of more navigational errors.  This is the first time I've used the ACA maps on this trip, and I guess they will take some getting used to.

My legs felt pretty good all day.  The terrain was unusually flat, and that will probably be a rarity on this trip.  Our destination of Ferne Clyffe is an IL State Park, and was very nice and quiet.  Very few campers in the middle of the week.

This is a good example of the flat terrain early in the day, and some local color.  I know Chicken Booya is common in WI, but I've never heard of the duck version.

Murphysboro, IL is a big apple growing region.  I liked that they created their own cartoon character to promote their Apple Festival.

This seemed like an OK spot to take a break, since they don't specifically mention bicycling.

They have some nice big man-made lakes in Southern Illinois, and not overcrowded.

We found a great little campsite for the night, and enjoyed seeing the stars for the first time this trip.

St Francois to Chester, IL

Ride Stats:
Distance:  55 mi.
Avg Speed:  10.1 mph
Climbed:  3275 ft.
Weather:  65 to 75, Overcast, Occasional Light Rain, Light wind

Apologies for the late posts, but camping and blogging don't mix.  We're back to civilization here in Chester, IL at a B&B. 

I finally came down out of the hills into the flat Mississippi flood plain.  It felt great to climb 6% and lower hills for a change.  I've also now connected with the well traveled Transamerica Bike Trail, and will be following their prescribed path from here to Yorktown, VA.

This valley led me out of the Hills and into the Flatlands. Pristine.

Legendary Highway 61, from New Orleans to Minnesota, made even more famous by Bob Dylan.

God said to Abraham, kill me a son.  Abe said, man you must be putting me on! God said, No. Abe said, what? God said, you can do want you want to but, the next time you see me coming you better run!  Abe said, where do you want this killing done? God said, out on Highway 61.
( from Highway 61 Revisited, by Bob Dylan )

So, of course I had that song running through my head for awhile.

This seemed like the perfect place to take a break.

I would've made better time if I hadn't decided to ride on this levee for a few miles.

No Bike Lane on this bridge over the Mississippi, so I had to impose on the cars and trucks that got backed up behind me.  Everyone was very well behaved, though.  Vintage 1943.  Looks like something I made as a kid with my Erector Set.

Excellent view of the river from our B&B.  Also, saw a Golden Eagle in a tree.

Meramec to St Francois State Park

Ride Stats: 
Distance:  50 mi
Avg Speed:  9.2 mph
Climbed:  4210 ft!
Weather:  60 to 70, Overcast, Afternoon Showers, No Wind

Wow, these hills are getting more and more intense.  Grades of 10% and over are the norm, and the worst was 16%.  I had to walk that one.  I'm naming these hills, Sierra Nevada's East.  The rainy weather system seems stuck over us.  It's a nice temperature for riding, but it would be nice to see the sun again.  After all, I'm carrying sunscreen.

Early in my ride today I was charged by a full size pit bull.  He had a good angle on me and clearly meant business.  He wasn't wasting any energy on barking, and had those "dead eyes" of a killer. I hit him in the face with pepper spray from about 10 ft away, and used his hesitation to accelerate away from him. The adrenalin was flowing after that and I needed it for the hills ahead.

Other than on the Katy Trail, I've had run-ins with dogs several times a day.  The one I call "The Handoff" was one where I snuck up on a house with a porch full of dogs and raced by before they could get a good chase angle.  They chased anyway, with lots of barking, and alerted a house 1/2 mile down the road with another porch full of bigger dogs that were ready and waiting for me.  Had to use pepper spray on the lead dog to slow him down.  The one I call "The Sleeper" was a big black dog laying in the middle of the road at the bottom of a steep hill.  I had to ring my bell to alert him because I didn't want to startle him into running into me as I passed him.  He jumped up when he heard my bell and positioned himself at the side of road barking and prepared to lunge, but I yelled in my most threatening voice and made a hand motion like I was throwing something as I got next to him.  He hesitated just long enough for me to breeze by, and couldn't catch up.  The bad news is, I hear Kentucky's worse.

A great old Jaguar Sedan for $4500.  May need some work.

Masonic Cemetery, circa 1908, on a quiet country road.

Good looking campsite.

 

Pasta and homemade Marinara, with Italian sausage.  Should keep me going tomorrow.

As long as I don't spend too much time at the campfire tonight.

Hermann to Meramec State Park

Ride Stats:
Distance:  57 mi
Avg Speed:  10.3 mph
Climbed:  3620 ft
Weather:  58 to 68, Overcast, Occasional Light Rain

After a big breakfast at Lindy's, a favorite local restaurant that opens at 6am;  I hit the road again, experiencing a mixture of State Highways, and both paved and unpaved County Roads.  Luckily the rain didn't start until I was done with the gravel roads.  The hills are hard enough to maintain traction on when they're dry. 

I must be cutting across some foothills of the Ozark Mountains because the terrain is getting more and more steep.  It's like a roller coaster ride, with painfully steep uphills and breathtakingly fast downhill stretches.  For the most part the pavement is good and the traffic is light enough to "let it rip."  I'm getting a lot of practice with the shifting mechanisms, and have already had to adjust the tension on the rear shifting cable.  I brought extra brake pads, just in case.

Seriously, you've never seen a bicyclist before?

Typical steep unpaved road.  Scenic, but challenging.

Clancy's Deli in Rosebud, MO makes a really good smoked turkey sandwich.  Half for lunch and half for the last hour.  I'm trying to keep my energy level high the whole ride, and avoid the "last hour misery" of last year's rides.

Really beautiful rivers in this part of the country.

Hartsburg to Hermann, MO

Ride Stats:
Distance:  56 mi.
Avg Speed:  9.2 mph
Climbed:  300 ft
Weather:  58 to 72, Overcast, Mild Adverse Wind, but No Rain

The trail was a bit soggy today from the rain yesterday and last night, so Mike and I were glad we had fairly wide tires.  It felt quite cool and never really warmed up. We didn't make very good time, but still enjoyed the tranquil environment.  We saw a flock of turkeys pretty close up.  Even though this trail is level to downhill all the way, the added fristion from a graveled surface slows you down about 15%, or so.  The pain curiously appears in one's posterior, rather than the legs; and we were both at our pain thresholds by the end of the ride.

We're staying in the quaint old German town of Hermann tonight and camping in their City Park.
We wandered the downtown to find a place for dinner, and then said goodbye to our friends.  We're off to another camping destination tomorrow, Meramec State Park.  I charted my own course off Google Maps for the next few days, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the roads aren't too bad.

This is the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, as seen from across the Missouri River on the Katy Trail

 

15' High Rock at trail level has levels of various floods over the past 100 yrs marked on it.  It's easy to see why the RR went out of business.

Bluffs like these were on our left this whole stretch of the trail.

Angela had the camp set up and was relaxing in her favorite chair when I arrived.

Onto The Katy Trail

Ride Stats:
Distance:  75 mi
Avg Speed:  10.3 mph
Climbed:  1700 ft
Weather: 65 to 75, Windy & Overcast with afternoon Showers

After a good night's sleep at the Comfort Inn, and a hearty breakfast, I was energized for another early start.  The country roads were quiet and paved, and I made good time towards my halway point of the Boonville Trailhead of The Katy Trail.  This is a rail-to-trails conversion of the now defunct Missouri, Kansas & Texas RR ( MKT ) that stretches 225 miles across Missouri.  Boonville's the closest access to Kansas City.

My friend Mike and his wife, Kathy are joining us for this two day stretch on the Katy.  Mike and I ride a lot together, but he's strictly a trail rider and not comfortable with traffic on narrow roads.  He has a high survival instinct. While he and I set off on the 38 mi stretch of trail; Angela, Kathy, and her friend Annie did some sightseeing in and around a local winery.

We rode through a light rain for a couple of hours, but had the right gear to stay comfortable.  Luckily the Bed & Breakfast we were staying at in Hartsburg had a hose to clean the mud off the bikes.

Rural Missouri Sunrise

Signs of Fall

George & Annie in front of their House & Shop.  My route just happened to cross paths with these friends of Mike & Kathy.

 

Angela's sporting her Packer Shirt for good luck against the Bears tonight.

The Trail is hard packed fine gravel.

Mike and I riding through the Tunnel at Rocheport.

We've seen Deer, Turkeys, and this Guinea Hen along the way.

 

High Voltage Hazard in a Children's Park?  No wonder rural populations are dwindling.

Fired Up, Ready To Go!

Kansas City to Marshall, MO

Bike Stats:
Distance:  80 mi.
Avg Speed:  10.9 mph
Climbed:  4070 ft.
Weather:  Sunny and Dry, 65 to 90 F, Side Wind 5 to 10 mph

As I was eating breakfast this morning, Angela asked me how I felt; and my enthusiastic reply became the title of this post.  The anticipation has been building for weeks, with practice rides, and catching up on my work, and accumulating all the needed supplies.  The logistics are a little different this year, with Angela as my support driver, and our plans to camp about half the time.  We've been testing out gear and assembling all the things we think we can't live without.  The SUV is full.

My bike, on the other hand, is a little lighter: weighing in at 44 lbs fully stocked with water and snacks.  It felt good all day, handling the bumps in the road and climbing the rolling hills of central Missouri.  I focused on climbing in recent practices, and it came in handy.  I used up a lot of calories, but kept replenishing them on my hourly breaks, and it all worked out well.  Still, over 7 hrs in the saddle made for a long day.

Coincidentally, I'm starting the Eastern Leg of this journey on the same day I finished last year's Western Leg.  I like the symmetry of that. Last year's ride was 31 days and over 2000 miles; and this leg will be about 1750 miles and 25 days. I'm expecting it to be easier, but we'll see how it goes.

 

   I like to get an early start, and this was my view up Main St in Kansas City as I started out.  Low traffic at 6:30 am.

 

 

 

 

 

After climbing out of  the Blue River Valley on the east side of KC, I got my first glimpse of  the sun, and the Reformed Mormon Church Spire dominating the skyline of Independence, MO.

 

 

 

Harry Truman was President when I was born, and this is the house in Independence, MO where he and Bess lived for many years, and spent the summers during his presidency.  It was the so-called Summer White House.

 

 

  

This is a good example of the country roads I got onto within a couple of hours.  Little or no     shoulders to ride on, but no traffic.  I can live with that combination.                                         

 

 

 

 

I took a break here because the shade trees made it so inviting.  There were more than a few of these  old cemeteries out in the country, where significant communities used to exist.  They're   a remnant of the old days of family farms and rural communities that were displaced by more efficient agriculture and large farms.                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

I saw lots of this businesses stone slab signs along the way at small businesses and peoples front yards.  I was thinking they could've done better than " rock solid bargains."   How about "rock bottom prices" or " signs that will last longer than you?"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

 

 

 

This field of soybeans is getting close to harvest. 

 

 

 

 

Most of the corn has been harvested already.  I suppose the drought shortened the season.

 

 

Another Google Maps special shortcut that I couldn't resist.  It actually worked out OK, and kept me off a busy highway for awhile.

 

 

 

 

Map Of Eastern Itinerary

Below is a map of the planned eastern leg of the Coast-to-Coast Journey starting September 12th in Kansas City ( last year's leg ended in Kansas City on 9/12 ) and finishing 25 days later on the shore of Yorktown, VA on October 6th. This is a reasonably direct and efficient route, and incorporates quite a bit of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail which was laid out in 1976. It's estimated to be 1700 miles, which works out to about 68 mi/day. I've scheduled it for the Fall to avoid the hot summer weather, and to give myself plenty of practice to get into bike touring shape.
My dear wife, Angela has graciously agreed to drive along as my support driver; which will give her more peace of mind about the undertaking, and lightens the load of what I need to carry on the bike. That's a win-win. My brother, Eric won't be joining us on this leg. His bicycling interests have turned in other directions.
I'm really looking forward to this leg of the journey. The topography and scenery will be very different from the West, and it'll be more populated. There will be more traffic and dogs, but also better access to food and water and places to stay.


View 2012 Farnung Journey Itinerary in a larger map