We have now ridden just over 5,000km since the start with only another 1,600km to go.
Tomorrow is the 4th July and we will stay in Hendersen to celebrate with the locals.
With the big American joining us for the ride, the pace seemed to pick up as we cruised through the Illinois countryside passing a number of operating coal mines. The weather decided to give us some respite from the rain yesterday and we rode in near ideal conditions. We crossed the Ohio River about half way through the ride into ..... Kentucky. Got to try some KFC while we are here. This 100km ride ended in Hendersen where "Ned" once lived so it will be a trip down memory lane for him. Because the ride was over so quickly we decided to celebrate in another state and drove over the Ohio River again into Indiana to sample a few craft beers in Evansville. Great day given a 9 out of 10 and then Andrea returned to make it near perfect. We have now ridden just over 5,000km since the start with only another 1,600km to go. Tomorrow is the 4th July and we will stay in Hendersen to celebrate with the locals.
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Ron "Ned" Kelly has returned. Sitting reading our blog at work each day since he left us in Lander finally made him crack and he has returned for a week in the Appalachians. Welcome back Ned. We promise to be gentle !! We have deviated from the Trans Am path because of a lack of hotels to sleep in over the next few hundred km's and we don't do camping. There has to be some benefits from getting older. This was a gentle 85km ride in the back blocks of southern Illinois that Rodney managed to successfully guide us through. Beautiful green countryside with lakes and dams everywhere. All was going "swimmingly" until the last 10km when the heavens opened up on us. But torrential rain when the temperature hovers in the 70's isn't so bad except we couldn't see much. Illinois then decided to give us a cycle path to finish on and all was good. Pity we wasted our time on washing yesterday. Wortho gave this a 3 because of the rain. The rest of us gave it a 7 despite the rain. You won't shrink Wortho. Tomorrow another state (try guessing again you geographically challenged readers) So what did you workers do on this first day of the FNY? The group did all it's usual rest day chores (washing, bike cleaning, shopping, hair cuts etc) and then we discovered that this area has a number of wineries and breweries so with an afternoon to kill off we set out to explore. And what an experience. A few wines and sample beers at Von Jakob's followed by a few samplers at Hedman and Alto Vineyards. As we headed home we crossed paths with the Abbey Bridge Brewery and Tap House. What a discovery and what a great bunch of people. The Owners Cindy and Terri were incredibly hospitable. Then Rodney and Trish talked with Eric and Monica who were equally generous. Wheel Chairs of Kids is better off for these people. Thanks guys - we loved meeting you. The EOFN and to celebrate we crossed the mighty Mississippi River and into Illinois (how many of you got the quiz right yesterday?). The ride out of Farmington was still hilly with the Ozarks giving us one final test but having overcome the test we had a wind assisted ride into the Mississippi flood plan, over the bridge and into a new state. We crossed a true engineers bridge - built in 1942 when rivets were all the go. The crossing point was into a town called Chester and its claim to fame is being the birthplace of the guy who created Popeye. "Popeye the sailor man, he lived in a caravan ....". All you children of the 60's and 70's will remember. This was another 150km ride made a little tougher at the end when our selected nice flat route was closed because of flooding to be relaced with a more hilly section. This area has had the wettest June on record - the mighty Miss was in full flow. Fun day to be followed by a rest day so it gets an 8. This was a long, hilly 140km day with the Ozarks throwing everything they had at us. But we survived. The first third of the day was nothing but hills - all short but very sharp with nothing under 10%. The second third was still hilly but with some relief and the last portion a bit more gentle on worn out bodies. What fun. This is the Ozarks conquered and tomorrow we ride down into the Mississippi River and a new state (guess which one it is). We also had out first taste of dogs off leashes - we have been warned that Eastern Kentucky is the home of the rabid dogs and today we had our first taste of them. Lots of yelling and screaming seemed to do the trick however. We need to perfect our technique before Kentucky. Howie lucked in and managed to book us into a hotel with a pool, a bar/grill and local Missouri beers on tap. What a way to finish an 8 day. Yep the Ozarks have arrived. This was a 125km ride that covered 1800m of vertical climbs, most of which occurred in the last 50km. The hills are shortish but have gone from a gentile 5 or 6% in the Rockies to a more challenging 10 to 15% here. Why is it that we never have enough gears when we get into the hills? Despite the hills this was a fantastic ride - not too hot, winds that helped us most of the day, green, good roads and plenty to keep us amused. Being a Sunday we decided to count the number of churches we passed on our travels. We gave up at 50 - Howie ran out of fingers. This really is the bible belt of the USA. All very friendly people who take the time to chat with us whenever we stop. Being deep in the hills the only band we could play while we tried our first Missouri brewed beer was the Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Jacquie Blue. Go on,u-tube it. We drew the line at watching Deliverance however. A great day (because the hills were back) assessed as a 9.5 The weather forecast said this would be a cooler day with the chance of thunderstorms and rain. They were not wrong. Bang on our departure time of 7am the thunderstorms arrived and the rain poured down. So we got another cup of coffee (yes it was drip) and waited for it to abate while admiring the lighting display. Two hours later we were on our way and within 10km Missouri welcomed us - rain gone, cloud cover, lower temperatures and a slight head wind. Perfect. We are most certainly going into the Ozarks with the hills getting more frequent and steeper. On our way into Ash Grove the local bank (Old Missouri Bank) was putting on a "thank you to the community" lunch and asked us to share some food with them. Talk about asking locusts into your wheat field... delicious pulled pork rolls with beans, chips and drinks. Thank you to Mark and Jason for your generosity. Our ride has now crossed the old route 66 and the hotel we are staying at was on the original path. Chuck Berry blasting out "Route 66" while we quenched our thirst was an excellent way to end this 155km day. Judged as an 8. The weather continues to treat us kindly with cloud cover, temps in the early 80's and a light breeze. It made for a great days riding over the 120km to Mountain Grove with the long straights on Kansas being replaced by rolling hills that seem to be getting steeper. In 2 days we will be in the heart of the Ozarks so we will find out then how steep they really are. The corn fields are much higher here and the spring flowers seem to have hung on longer. The highlight for the day was getting to ride the first 40km on the old route 66 road which has now been replaced with a major interstate 6 lane highway that runs parallel to it. Very few cars on the old route and thoughts of Elvis, Chuck, Johnny and other greats of the 60's rolled through the group over this trip down memory lane. Riding, rock and roll and a few beers .... near perfect and it gets a 9 today. After a few long days we had a day in Pittsburg to pass the time, have a swim, find something other than burgers to eat and do some work (Trish !!). The hot weather had taken its toll and a day of doing mostly nothing was in order. After weeks of burgers and steaks (preferably chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken) we needed a change and ... we found a Thai restaurant. Yippee. Yellow, red, green - whatever colour curry we wanted was on order. Eat up Wortho. The pool also got a workout as the temperature hovered in the 90's. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain and get cooler - now that would be a nice change.
No we didn't take a wrong turn and end up in Pittsburg Pennsylvania (Bob), this is Pittsburg, Kansas and a chance to recover after another 190km ride. Kansas was feeling magnanimous today and gave us a south westerly wind on a day when we were predominantly heading east. It made a big difference compared to our introduction to Kansas. The temperature still climbed close to 100F and the humidity is rising but a tail wind made up for all that. This will be our last ride in Kansas as the Missouri border is just 20km outside Pittsburg. We are also heading in the Osark Range and the hills are appearing again. A much better day and we gave it a 7.5 We picked up a couple of scots, Michael and Gordon, who are riding across the USA on a slightly different course (San Diego to New York). This route intersects ours here in Kansas. They will ride with us with a couple of days while we quiz them on tennis, cricket and Scottish independence. But tomorrow we rest before heading into Missouri. This was a 120km day without Andrea who has abandoned us. With Trish driving for the first half, too much testosterone was on the road and the pace picked up to breaking point. The third dummy spit by the phys-eder calmed things down as we slowed to a cruise into our lunch spot at Cassoday. We again met a number of the Trans Am racers, specifically Adam (USA) and Alec (French). Do you know him Claude? He is from your country. The highlight for Trish was racing passed them on the road. The fact that they planned to do another 120km before stopping didn't matter. Over the day, the cornfields, wheat, grain silo's and trees seemed to disappear to be replaced by endless paddocks and cattle and the hills returned. They call this area the Flinthills of Kansas which is probably a clue. The temperature didn't abate but the wind at least calmed down to a light gale and so we gave the day a 7.5. Tomorrow another big one .... After the length and heat yesterday and our quiet prayers, this was a recovery day. Probably wouldn't have called a 100km ride a "recovery" three months ago but with the wind blowing 20mph from the south west and our route taking us 70km east and 30km south, this was an opportunity to let the wind help us for most of the day. The 30km south wasn't so much fun but that was a small price to pay for the benefit. The temperature stilled climbed to close to 100F but we were done soon after 1pm. When we got to Newton we visited the local bike shop run by James and Heather who are providing support to those mad Trans Am racers we previously mentioned. They had cold beer and whiskey which is pretty good for a bike shop ... After yesterday this was a 7 day. Another long day tomorrow so it may well be an early night and early start to try and miss the heat. It was the summer solstice, the first day of summer in the USA, fathers day here, we rode 190km in 100+F heat, the wind wasn't any help except over the last 6km, we ended up in a town that is "dry" and the only restaurant that was open was subway.... how do you think we are feeling? There are many ways to describe the group but very few of them are about "energised", "raring to go" or "can't wait for tomorrow". This was by far the toughest day include all those climbs in the Rockies. It was also Andrea's last ride before she returns to Perth for 10days to sort out the sale of their business. She is looking forward to that first G&T on the plane and who can blame her. Stirling effort (get it ??). She has promised "I'll be back". The remaining hard men and the token woman Trish (or so Howie described her) will push on without her. Please wind, blow from the west tomorrow? We sleep in hope .... A rest day in Ness City and a chance to catchup with the local Rotary Club who kindly offered to host a lunch for us. Galen and Debbie were the perfect hosts providing a great lasagne meal and a chance to talk with a few of the local Rotarians. This part of Kansas was settled by a large number of Russian/German immigrants a few generations back. The day was also incredibly hot (over 100F) so sitting around the pool enjoying a few drinks with our hosts was a great way to end the rest day. Tomorrow we venture out into the heat again .... After yesterdays long ride, today was scaled back to a relatively easy 89km - except for the wind that decided to accompany us for most of the day. However it was not directly in our faces and Kansas obviously felt generous and turned it through 90 degrees so that it was more across than in front. Thank you Kansas. Straight roads continued however. Only a few highlights on the day. We actually took a bend at about the half way point - what a change and then it turned back again. Two bends in one day. We also met one of the Trans Am racers (Brian). These guys are doing the same route as us but as an unsupported race ie no cars to help. The current leader is an ozzie and is expected to finish inside 20days doing in excess of 300km per day. Brian is just taking it easy and expects to take a whopping 24 days to finish. Lazy. When we got to Ness City we decided to have a swim in the pool as Brian kept riding in the 100F heat. Mad .... |
The ChallengeTo celebrate Wheelchairs for Kids 30,000th wheelchair, a team of nine people including Trish O'Reilly, CEO of AAMIG will be riding the 6,600km TransAmerica Trail starting in Florence, Oregon on 11 May 2015 and finishing the challenge in Yorktown, Virginia on 19 July 2015. This cycle challenge is about raising awareness of this inspiring charity. To donate, please visit: https://give.everydayhero.com/au/aamig-challenge Archives |