We expected an easy ride today for our triumphant entrance into St. Louis. However, the day was anything but easy. Because of predicted early morning thundershowers we delayed our start until 6 a.m. (that is a late morning for us). We had fresh doughnuts and coffee at Kim’s Bakery before leaving Grafton, IL. We got about 8 miles into the ride when the sky got black, lighting danced just to our west, and Joe let out an ungodly shriek that stopped traffic. Joe chose the last day of our ride and our worst weather to have a flat tire. No sooner did he get off his bike than the sky opened up and we got drowned. Once we got back on our bikes we cycled another mile and found shelter at an abandoned gas station. When the rain stopped we headed out again on a bike trail. The bike trail was so flooded that when our pedals were in the down position our feet went underwater up to our ankles.
We eventually made it into the town of Afton where we knew they had several restaurants. Unfortunately, they were all closed but eventually we found a Mac Donald’s where we had another short respite. Leaving Afton we cycled on the levee with an asphalt trail. Eventually, the asphalt turned into gravel. Just when we thought that things could not get worse the gravel ended and we sank into mud. Because we were not paying close attention we both ended up in the mud. It was so soft and sticky that we could not move. Mud was caked so thick between the wheels and fenders the wheels would not turn. The mud was so deep and thick that bikes stood by themselves. In addition when we lifted our feet we had a ton of mud on them. With great effort we drug our bikes off the trail and onto the grass embankment. The muddy section was about 100 yards long so we drug our bikes along the embankment for that distance. On the other side we again came to a gravel section where we found water puddles and tried to clean our bikes. It took a good half hour and required some dis-assembly. As we headed off again, we noticed that we missed our turn to cross the river to Missouri. Going back to the turnoff would have put us back into the mud. Going forward meant that we had to carry our bikes for about 20 feet then lift them over a closed gate. Yes, we were having fun and reminded each other that adversity becomes adventure after 2 beers and a shower—rain showers don’t count!
On the Missouri side we stopped at numerous puddles to clean our bikes and bodies. About 7 miles outside of St. Louis we hit a head wind. Joe, the optimist, said that a head wind was good because it would dry our clothes. This is the same Joe who said each time it lightening that it was great that Jeff was taller than him.
Arriving in St. Louis we headed directly to Amtrak to check our bikes then we took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel is an upscale Marriott. When we walked in we were greeted by the manager who wondered how we got so muddy. We told her that we did clean up and that we would be back in 1 hour and show her that we can be presentable.
Sorry no pictures today.
Summary statistics for our trip from Bemidji, Minnesota:
Ø 21 days of consecutive cycling.
Ø 1,200 miles.
Ø 57 miles per day average.
Ø Longest day was 75 miles from Aitkin, MN to Little Falls, MN.
Ø Shortest day was 26 miles from South St. Paul, MN to Hastings, MN.
Ø Indeterminable number of bugs swallowed.
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