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Bike from Oregon to Virginia, June/July 1999 Day 44: Pilot Knob, Missouri to Chester, Illinois What can I say, Missouri was great but I'm glad to be in Chester, home of the creator of Popeye and just east of that great wide muddy river, the Mississippi. This morning we left the abysmal campsite at the RV park motel 9 riders strong. After 20 miles we reached the next town and regrouped. It was decided that we ought to buy our lunch here, then ride, and then eat. A fine solution for the group but not for me as I knew I could ride all the way to Chester before lunch, so I did. Now I lounge at the pool, having already bought and eaten my lunch and been to the post office.
The big question today was whether or not my maps would be at the post office and… they were! Of course that means I now have no excuse not to finish the ride more quickly. The New York girls are breaking from the group tomorrow, heading north toward home and I think I will leave at the end of Illinois or the beginning of Kentucky. Day 45: Chester, Illinois to Harrisburg, Illinois
Leaving the birthplace of the character Popeye we road out of Chester and on non transcontinental bike roads until the college town of Carbondale. There I quickly found the famous "Bike Surgeon" who, after introducing himself, asked if I needed a place to stay. As it was before noon I declined and put him to the task of finding the cause of the squeak in my bike. Simple solutions were ruled out until the point were he had to go take the bottom bracket out. It was fine but lacking grease, upon reinstallation the noise was gone. An attempt was made to pay for services rendered but he would have none of it. As he drove away in a limousine I wondered when I had entered backwards land. After Carbondale everything went to hell. Originally we planned on riding about 20 miles to the next town and relaxing by the pool as it was only 2:00 pm and we expected to be all done riding in another 2 hours. We were only 5 hours off! The first problem occurred just outside Carbondale when Barbara slit her tire on some glass. Luckily, with a cell phone, she called the "Bike Surgeon" and he rode his bike out with a new tire and tube, all for only $15 (of course all of this happened while Ned and I were a couple of miles ahead wondering were everyone was). While all of that was happening Katy Martin was stuck with a flat between Ned and myself and the slashed tire group. Now normally a flat tire isn't at all a big deal but the Virginia girls operate in strange ways. Emily carries all the spare tubes but no pump, Katy H. has a pump and patch kit but no tubes, Katy M. has a pump only and I have no idea what Barbara has. Basically, Katy M. had to wait an hour before the group caught her and could provide her with the tools needed to fix her flat. Finally everyone caught up to Ned and myself and we rode on, until Katy M. got another flat tire. This time it was quickly patched by herself but upon riding a bit more it went flat again. This time I took action into my own hands and quickly patched the tube and changed the tire but unfortunately I missed a tiny sliver in her tire liner so after a couple minutes her tire went flat for the 2nd time. Again we patched the tube, found the sliver and were once again on our way but that darn tube slowly began leaking again. It was decided that since the leak was so slow we would just pump up the tube every 1/2 hour or so until town and then deal with the problem. Sounds simple enough until Katy M. tried to put air in her tube and instead broke the stem. Once again the tire came off the bike and a new tube was put in. By this time the sun was starting to set and we didn't get into town until dark. After a day like we had, with the heat and humidity, all I wanted to do was shower and get a meal in a restaurant but as we were on a shortcut we had no idea where to camp and no one was interested in a hotel except Barbara. Much to my disappointment we ended up staying on the lawn of the Lions Club and eating pasta. Had we not found a faucet on the side of a building and had I not bought a half gallon of chocolate ice cream I would have killed someone. After 2 showers and about 1/2 of the ice cream I went to sleep and awoke the next morning at 8:00 am in 90 degree heat. By the time we got on the road at about 10:00 am it was already 100 degrees.
In seconds I will board a ferry and cross the Ohio River into Kentucky. |
