Yesterday was hard - long miles, heat, hills and even with an early start, it was long. Lisa wrote of it yesterday but there is one thing I wanted to describe for you. We'd ridden forty miles with no services and we were really looking forward to pulling into the little town of Smithland which … Continue reading Day Fifteen: Grand Rivers to Dover, Tennessee

We left Golconda early this morning, trying our best to get out of the Victorian era mansion where we stayed without waking anyone. By 6:15 we were on our bikes and riding down the street where vendors were already getting grills and smokers ready for the town's annual BBQ competition, and we were sort of … Continue reading Day Fourteen: Golconda, IL to Grand Rivers, KY

We left our cottage at about 7:15 this morning and immediately crossed the Mississippi on the beautiful Bill Emerson bridge, named after a long time congressman from the area. It was the third time (I think) we've crossed it on the trip, but notable because we will not see the Mississippi again until we reach … Continue reading Day Thirteen: Cape Girardeau to Golconda, Illinois

We used this as a driving day to get back on course, and went from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau three times because of the absence of one-way car rental drop off options through Enterprise and seemingly all rental car companies in this state. (Again the car leapfrog: drive down in one car, rent a … Continue reading Day Twelve: St. Louis to Cape Girardeau (by car)

We ended yesterday by showering and walking across a busy highway to a Mexican restaurant where margaritas were half price. Strangely, given all the calories we are burning - about 4,000 during the biking portion of the day - our appetites aren’t great. We had good meals but didn’t finish them and I didn’t finish … Continue reading Day Eleven: Troy to St. Louis (but not by bike)

We were up early this morning and eager to get on the road...by 7:15 we were packed and ready and on our bikes, and rode downtown to drop off the key to our lovely little AirBNB at a shop owned by our hosts. It felt SO GOOD to be out in the cool morning air, … Continue reading Day Ten: Hannibal to Troy, MO