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Lon's Description: We cross the Mississippi River at Chester, Illinois.
This is the hometown of Popeye, the Sailor Man. Southern Illinois
will be remembered for it's small backroads and historic river towns.
We spend the night in Vienna (say VY-anna) at the Ramada Inn.
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Today we rode through the countryside from Farmington, Missouri
to Vienna, Illinois, a total of 134 miles. It was another
beautiful morning, starting out at about 50 degrees.
We had beautiful rolling terrain all day long which gave us a lot of climbing, but the highlight of the day was crossing the Mississippi River, a symbol of moving into the eastern portion of the United States. Immediately after crossing the river, we rode through Chester, IL, the home of Popeye, complete with statue. Cheryl grew up in the Chicago area of Illinois, but never realized the southern part of the state was this beautiful. The scenery all day long was excellent, and most of the riding was on back country roads, which had little automobile traffic. The almost constantly rolling terrain tired us out, but it was an enjoyable day for all. |
| Estimated Distance: | 125 Miles |
| Actual Distance: | 133.0 Miles |
| Cumulative Actual Distance: |
2,236 Miles This includes the following off course added miles: San Diego - 2.0 Miles when Chuck and Bob Harting missed a turn Winslow - 4.7 Miles when Chuck, Ken, and Les Drake went to the mural painting after the ride Pagosa Springs - 3.1 Miles when Chuck missed Lunch Alamosa - 11.2 Miles when Chuck missed the turn for Lunch |
| Estimated Feet of Climbing: | 3,700 Feet |
| Actual Feet of Climbing: | 5,420 Feet (Ouch!!) |
| Cumulative Feet of Climbing: | 68,200 Feet |
| Elevation of Destination: | 440 Feet |
| Average Speed on the Bike: |
16.7 MPH |
| Maximum Speed on the Bike: | 45.0 MPH (Thanks to the Myers Tandem) |
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Chuck's Heart Rate Data: Max Heart Rate was 196 BPM a few weeks ago before PAC Tour |
Time above 150: 0:38 Time between 130-150: 5:20 Time below 130: 3:24 Chuck saw 165 BPM for the first time in weeks as he was hanging onto the back of the Myers Tandem with all he had |
| Dairy Queen Count: |
1 Blythe, CA 2 Twister's Ice Cream in Williams, AZ 3 Dairy Queen in Cortez, Colorado was phenomenal 4 Dairy Queen in Monte Vista, Colorado (PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split: Bananas, 3 Scoops Ice Cream, Hot Fudge on Side: Awesome!!) 5 Dairy Queen in Pratt, Kansas 6 Dairy Queen in Winfield, Kansas - PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split 7 Ice Cream at All You Can Eat Buffet in Cuba, Missouri (Boy, did this restaurant lose money on us!!) 8 Dairy Queen in Farmington, Missouri - Dinner 9 Dairy Queen in Vienna, Illinois - Excellent Chocolate Marshmellow Shake |
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A great moment in time on the other side of the Mississippi River.
There were many days in Kansas where we didn't think we'd ever make it to here!! Left to Right: Chuck Bramwell, Ken Bartholic, Cheryl McMurray, John Ashby, and Johnny Johnson. Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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We were mighty happy to get to Illinois and
were welcomed with lots of blue skies and a perfect day of
cycling!! Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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A truly great day. Near here we saw a "Horse and Buggy" sign so we knew we were in Amish Country for a few miles!! Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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These cows are eating mass quantities.
Just like us at the Rest Stops!! You can't imagine how fast a bunch of hungry cyclists can eat an entire package of Halloween Oreo cookies!! Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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John Ashby is a great guy to ride with.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Charles Groover from Houston, Texas, at the
last Rest Stop of the day.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
| Highlights: |
This day was almost as perfect as yesterday!!
A number of wild dogs chased us today but they weren't as mean or as hungry as those in Missouri. I like to "Moo" at the Cows ... they look up and stare at you very strangely. I thought some of the grades were 15% but Ken felt most of them weren't above 10%. Any way you look at it, they were steep!! The downhills were REAL FUN!! Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman (Lon's parents) came down and met us as we crossed the Mississippi River. They are really super nice folks who have help Lon and Susan on many prior PAC Tours. In Murphysboro, Illinois, we saw some real pride of ownership in people's homes. Today's route had about 100 turns so Lon rode out early ahead of us and painted arrows for us on the road so we wouldn't miss any turns on these very small country roads we were on. The result: perfect navigation!! |
| Memorable Scenery: |
Beautiful farms and cow pastures Many small lakes by people's houses Awesome green forests and canyons Only one trash bonfire in the front of someone's house. This compares very favorably to the many we saw in Missouri. Wild sunflowers on the side of the road. |
| Mechanical Problems: |
None ... our bikes were flawless even
with all of the power shifting we were doing on the
steep rollers and climbs |
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Biomechanical (Engine) Problems: |
Some sore legs after a hard day of cycling but that's to be expected!! |
| What Worked: |
Halloween Oreos were real good No wind Blue skies and warmth of the sun Chuck likes his 27-11 Cogset ... his 11 allowed him to hang with the Myers Tandem from the last rest stop to the finish at full throttle Flat spot on Chuck's profile handlebars in the drops was a comfortable spot today Long Sleeve Voler Jersey was very comfortable for the 4th day in a row: nice and warm under a Windbreaker at the start and not too warm in the afternoon by itself |
| What Didn't Work: | Nothing to report |
| Quote of the Day: |
We're riding our bikes across America!!" Chuck to this fellow waiting for the bus outside of Farmington, Missouri early this morning. "Ya sure you are!!" was his reply in disbelief. |
| Chuck's Song of the Day: |
And I live in a Small Town Probably die in a Small Town Oh, those Small Communities... No, I can not forget from where it is that I came from I can not forget the people who love me Hey, I can be myself in this Small Town And people just let me what I want to be... I was born in a Small Town And I can breath in a Small Town Gonna die in a Small Town Oh, that's probably where they'll bury me." John Mellancamp "Small Town" We're close to John Mellancamp Country now!! We passed lots of Small Towns in the Heartland of America today ... each with a beautiful cemetery nearby. The folks were so friendly: waving from their tractors, porches, and front yards!! |
