Jeff's Bicycle Trip Report
Jeff’s Trip Prelude
Day 1 - Morning
Day 1 - Afternoon
Day 2 - Morning
Day 2 - Afternoon
Day 3 - Morning
Day 3 - Afternoon
Day 4 - Morning
Day 4 - Afternoon
Day 5 - Morning
Day 5 - Afternoon
Day 6 - Morning
Day 6 - Afternoon
Day 7 - Morning
Day 7 - Afternoon
Day 8 - Morning
Day 8 - Afternoon
Day 9 - Morning
Day 9 - Afternoon
Postlude
Jeff’s Missouri Bicycle Trip Report - PreludeI’ve been asked to explain how I came to the idea of riding my bike to Springfield, Missouri, where my sister Laurie and her husband Bill live. Thinking back, I’d have to say it’s Uncle Don’s fault (Tahdra’s uncle). He introduced meSo I started researching. One early question: where to cross the Mississippi River? Maybe Hannibal - certainly not at Louisiana (no shoulder on the bridge). (Google Earth was a big help with information like that.) Then I read about the Katy Trail - 225 miles across Missouri on an abandoned railroad bed ( www.bikekatytrail.com ). That meant no hills steeper than a train could climb! Even though that route would be somewhat out-of-my-way, it sounded better and better. Then I could also use the Frisco Highline Trail for the last part of the way ( www.friscohighlinetrail.org ). I purchased the book, The Complete Katy Trail Guidebook, and started planning a route to get to the start of the Katy. My father-in-law offered me a ride to the border of Missouri, which I thought about. I also disassembled my bike for maintenance, which it had never had in its thirty years of sporadic use. (I’d purchased it in 1978 from the Montgomery Ward store in El Paso.)
A friend at work helped me pick out these items to purchase: tires (Continental City Ride 26 x 1.75 Inch), tubes (Michelin C4 Airstop), cleaner (Dumonde Tech Citrus Solvent), grease (Park Tool Polylube 1000), and tire pump (Park Tool PMP-4). On March 12 they arrived - all but the tire pump - that was a birthday present received later from Bill and Laurie. I was keeping the trip a secret from them, so asked for that rather than the Katy Trail book. Further bike disassembly revealed that I also needed a new bottom bracket bearing set. That arrived on April 16. On Saturday, May 2, the bike was finally ready for a test trip, which I made on a very muddy Rock Island Trail.
I’d hoped to do 56 miles that day but ended up with only 44.5, and worn-out at that. Tahdra suggested that I’d better find out if I could do two days in a row. So I planned an overnight trip to Moraine View State Recreation Area, leaving on Monday, May 11, and returning on Tuesday, May 12. I made it! That was 115 miles over two days. Maybe I could plan on doing 55 miles per day.
There were only a few people who knew what I was up to (planning the Missouri trip). This was in part to keep word from reaching Laurie, and in part due to seeing what happens when you announce that you’re going to do something, and then aren’t able to. Those who did know were quite supportive: a co-worker/bicyclist friend, my father-in-law, church friend Jim, and good friends George and Kris. George used my trip as an excuse to purchase a BlackBerry, which he turned over to me an hour later for use on the trip! That was on the Saturday before I left. On Sunday, we attended Isaac’s graduation from Morton High School. During free moments, Jason helped me learn BlackBerry basics.
My family was also bike-trip supportive - they gave up the time and money we would have spent on our family vacation. Though, with a smile, they put it this way: “We’ve been saved from another Family Torture Trip!” Sunday evening I was still trying to get my route finalized and loaded into my GPS’s (a Magellan MAP 330 and my newer DeLorme PN-20). I was also busy printing out county bicycle maps ( www.dot.il.gov/bikemap/state3.html , http://mobikefed.org/momaps.php ) covering between here and there. I was hoping to take ferries across the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, but with the recent heavy rains, wasn’t sure that they’d be open. Here’s the information I had up to Sunday evening. Subject: are you running? I’m hoping
to bicycle through Calhoun County on Wednesday using the Brussels Free Ferry and
your Golden Eagle Ferry. Do you expect to be running that day, or is high water
from recent rains a problem or anticipated concern?
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