Day 15

Mileage: 110

Total Mileage: 1183

Ah, today was a glorious day! Fine mileage, good weather and a wonderful stop for the night!

I got the early start I was looking for and managed to put in some serious mileage before it started to warm up. I have to remember that after the time zone change, my 4:45 start is more of a 5:45 start, but it was still plenty cool. This morning I stopped to capture one last roadsign that is just so 'Kentucky.'

I reached the Ohio River this morning around 6 am, just as the ferry was opening up for business. As the ferry crossed to my side, two cyclists got off, going the other direction, all loaded down for the day. I asked about the road behind them, which they described as "hilly." After today's relatively flat ride, I'm thinking they might have some surprises in store for them in Appalachia. I heard today that 90% of cyclists who complete Kentucky (going East to West) end up completing the whole trail, but without a baseline statistic to compare that against, I have no clue if that means the hardest part is over, or if most people just end up finishing this trip one way or another.

Illinois has some gorgeous flat roads with a few rollers. One of the most beautiful legs of my trip today was the stretch from Goreville into Carbondale. I got to ride past two lakes and through some wide open farmland on some intense rolling hills. The only downside was that the roads were really rough, so I couldn't get up much speed and certainly couldn't sit my saddle the whole way. Either way, it forced me to slow down and enjoy some great views. 

Today I also passed a lot of livestock doing the smart thing and hanging out in the shade. Here I think I've interrupted a cow-moot. When I left, they were trying to decide if they were marching on Isengard or not.

This evening I rolled into Carbondale!! Celebrating a little over 1/4 of the trip behind me. As the weather has changed I've found my optimism about the whole trip shifting rapidly. Yesterday at Jeri's diner, I spent a few minutes calculating the minimum number of miles per day I need to ride so that I  can still get back before classes start. (just over 70 if you were curious with 4 zero days) Today I was seriously considering skipping my first rest day in Carbondale tomorrow and just continuing on. Even after 110 miles, I still felt fresh. Also, side note, today should have only been about a 100 mile day. Around Goreville I made an unplanned 8 mile detour before I realized I had missed a turn off main street. A saying on the trail is "Bike your own bike" (adapted from the AT's hike your own hike) and it means that you shouldn't let anyone else tell you the "correct" way to do your trip. In light of that wisdom, I'm not going to say I got temporarily lost, I'm going to say that I "included 8 miles of off route scenery in my ride today."

A little more in that vein, Virginia was beautifully signed for route 76, all the way across (with one exception outside of C'ville). Every turn was signed with an arrow, and once you had made the turn there was usually a sign confirming that you were on the right path. In Kentucky things were still reasonably good. There were USBR76 signs at almost every major intersection and you could always turn around after you made a turn to confirm that there was an Eastbound sign on your new road, going the other direction. Illinois, on the other hand, seems to be a crapshoot. They DO have bike route signs all over the place, but they're the generic "designated bike route" signs that could pertain to any small state trail. Additionally, the planning for sign placement is hilarious, there's no rhyme or reason to it. Today I made a right turn onto a highway and then knew to look for an immediate left turn off the road because my map said so. Sure enough, there was a small sloped path that I managed to catch because I was looking for it. 100 meters down the path, around a corner and hidden in the trees was a bike route sign. It seemed to say "glad you figured that bit of trickery out on your own."

I got into Carbondale around 6pm, washed up at a McDonalds, ate at a pizza place and started to walk around. I ran into a similar problem to the one I had in Lexington where I didn't have anywhere to sleep, and couldn't really just crash by the side of the road because the police would wake me up and make me move. Fortunately, I talked to a kind police officer who told me about a bench in a dark spot behind an abandoned strip mall which he agreed to conveniently not check for the night. I've decided I'm going to take my first zero day here in Carbondale tomorrow to head off some of the fatigue I've been dealing with after pushing hard through these hot afternoons. I also have to apply for next year's financial aid and get some tune-ups done on my bike, so it's as much of a logistical stop as anything. On the upside, it means I have a little more leeway with my bedtime tonight, which is awesome because there was a free concert in the park!

When I showed my ID and entered the concert, there seemed to be a lot of police around and one of them seemed like he was eyeballing me. I figured that was just my imagination, so I turned around to ask the gate-guy who had taken my backpack if I could chug my water bottle before I entered. Suddenly there were four officers flanking me and the one who was eyeballing me came up to ask for my ID and question me. Apparently they were looking for a tall blonde kid with a wimpy beard and I fit the description. At least I had a good alibi, my UVA med school ID, AZ driver's license and backpack loaded with cycling/camping gear were enough to convince them that I was just another crazy guy on a bike.

Also at the concert, I met a girl named Desiree who used to work as an EMT / nurse and is now coming back to college here in Carbondale for a little different career direction. We talked for a couple hours and after the concert ended, she offered to show me around town, taking me to a few of the local bars and eateries and introducing me to a bunch of the folks she knew. She's also kindly letting me crash at her place tonight, so as tempting as that dark bench behind the abandoned strip mall sounded, I'm going to give it a miss.

This evening is shaping up to be a good one, so I'm going to cut out here and say G'night!