Day 23 / July 22, 2015

As I sit here in my tent with soft and sporadic drops of rain falling, my thoughts are much more clear than the past few nights.  We had been lucky with biker hostels recently, so this is our first time camping in about 150 miles.  Not surpisingly, it's much easier for me to concentrate on my thoughts when we don't have "Deconstructing Harry" or "Bruce Almighty" as the background noise.  I've grown accustomed to not having many distractions the past few weeks.  Before this trip, the only time I wouldn't be playing on my phone or busy with something would be in the shower.  Showering was the only time that I really allowed myself to think.  I don't have much of an opportunity to do anything other than think these days, and I kind of like it.  I haven't come up with any million dollar business ideas yet, but those will come.  I'm pretty tired from our first day in Illinois, so I'm going to bullet out some thoughts from the day:

- We rode the ferry from Kentucky to Illinois this morning.  Crossing the Ohio River lasted no more than 5 minutes.  When we rolled down the ramp and into our third state, we found ourselves in a very pro-biker town.  There were painted bikes used as decorations in front of stores and a few "Welcome Cyclists!" signs.  We had a great first impression of Illinois.

- I (mostly) continued to like Illinois as the day went on.  The roads are a little less narrow and there are considerably less Mountain Dew and Natty Ice cans thrown along the side of the road.   The hills aren't as high as VA and KY, but they're definitely the steepest we've seen.

- I asked Chris if he feels like us being from New York causes us to look down on some food places like snobs sometimes.  He said no and that we just had standards that we've come to expect.  This conversation took place in a restaurant today that had seemingly run out of space for dishes in the kitchen.  The counter had towering stacks of dirty plates lined four feet long.  When we walked in, there were three empty tables that still had their plates and garbage there.  When we left, there were five.  Some of my favorite places to eat back home are on the dive side, but I would never expect to see something like that.  Maybe health inspections are more casual here.

- I saw a few confederate flags today.  I feel like that's a strange thing to see in Illinois. 

- It's interesting to see what sports are big in each state.  Everyone in Kentucky wore some kind of UK apparel, had UK mailboxes, and made an effort to fully rep the school that I doubt most of them went to.  It didn't surprise me when the only ball I saw in the whole state was a basketball.  Kentucky is obsessed with college basketball, so it made sense that it was the only sport people spoke about.  We've only been in Illinois for a few hours, but I've seen a bunch of Cubs hats.  At the dirty diner I mentioned earlier, the waitress and a patron were talking about a few summer league baseball tournaments.    Illinois has more sport options thanks to Chicago, but it's been all baseball so far.

- After setting up my tent, I sat down at a picnic table to relax.  A creamsicle colored cat walked over and tried to rub against me, but I shooed it away.  I wasn't much in the mood to play with a stray cat.  It walked to Chris' tent, paused, and decided to keep moving.  When the cat was next to my tent, it turned back to look at me and, without breaking eye contact, began to piss on my rain flap.  This cat reminded me of my first business idea: the kitten exchange.  Disclaimer: if you're a cat lover, don't read.  If you do read and get offended, I would sooner question you for liking cats than I would apologize.  Anyway, the kitten exchange club was simple in theory; everyone loves kittens, not everyone loves cats.  A kitten wouldn't maliciously piss on your tent, but a cat would.  The idea was a subscription based club where you get a kitten and then, when it becomes a cat, you trade it in for a new kitten.  Yes, I know what you're thinking: what do you do with the cats?  If I had that solution, this club would exist already. 

- Tomorrow's destination is Carbondale.  I have a few packages coming in from my family and I don't know any of the contents, so I'm an

Day 24 / July 23, 2015

Today marked our first morning and last night in Illinois.  Our stay here has been short and pleasant.  On Day 2, we met a cyclist who said Missouri and Illinois were her two favorite states.  My theory is that the short stay means there's not enough time to find negatives. 

Our morning ride was nothing particularly noteworthy.  We met two guys who were heading east.  We asked how long they had been on the road, but the three weeks they spent in Boulder seemed to cloud their memory.  We traded some recommendations for hostels and camping and went in opposite directions.  It's a pretty cool experience to talk to people doing the trail; you rarely exchange names or really any personal information, yet you have a sense of understanding of each other that could only come from an experience like this.  You'll never see them again, but that's ok.  

About 25 miles from our destination of Carbondale, we stopped for a meal at Delancey's.  I don't know what town we were in, but if any cyclists on the trail pass by a restaurant called Delancey's on Broadway in Illinois, go inside.  The food was great, but the advice we got was better.  The waiter told us a shortcut that would save us some hills and miles.  He prefaced it by saying "Cyclists never take my advice and always say 'I have these maps,'" but Chris and I weren't so quick to dismiss the local advice.  He could have ended up being someone who actually hated cyclists and was trying to send us on a terrible detour, but we trusted him and took his advice.  We ended up shaving about 10 or so miles off and had a great ride into Carbondale, so I'm glad we listened.

By getting to Carbondale so early, we were able to drop off our bikes for tune ups and grab our mail and Sonic while we waited.  On the subject of Sonic- I will give them credit for great marketing, but man is it overrated.  They're smart with their advertisements; there are always Sonic commercials in the Northeast, but there are very few locations up there.  You always want what you can't have, so this makes people think that they have to have it when they see an actual Sonic location.  Once you have it, though, it's iust meh.  I'll probably continue to fall for it each time I see a location, though.

We are staying at our first Warm Showers host tonight.  Warm Showers is an app that connects cyclists with people that are willing to host them for the night (or at least just a shower).  Our host signed up because she has been interested in doing the Trans America Trail, so she wanted to talk to people doing it in order to see what it's like.  We were able to shower, do our laundry, hangout in an air conditioned room, and had a few beers with our host- all for free.  I've thought about this for a few weeks, but homeless people should honestly just ride around on bikes.  I'm not saying that insensitively- I actually mean it. We get meals paid for, showers, places to sleep- and why?  As I've said in the past, we voluntarily decided to bike across the country.  No one is forcing us to do it, but everyone we meet wants to help us succeed.  The cyclist community is so helpful and altruistic that's it's a bit crazy when you really think about it.

The beer of choice tonight was Magic Hat #9.  The underside of my cap read: "write your own future."  All of the caps have positive calls to action (not like they're going to write "give up already"), but I still kept the cap.  Writing my future is exactly why I decided to quit my job and bike across the country.  I knew I wanted to have a more interesting chapter in my life than commuting to and from my desk everyday, so here I am.  I don't know what is to come, but I'm the author deciding it.

Day 25 / July 24, 2015

I had initially thought that this morning would be our last one in Illinois, but I was wrong.  It turns out that Chester is on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.  The day was sort of a blur and the one Porter I had with dinner hit me like an ambien, so I'm going to bullet out my thoughts and observations from the day:

- I wasn't planning on weighing myself until the final day, but the host last night had a scale and I was too curious to not check.  I've lost 10 pounds so far.  Shedding 10 pounds in 3.5 weeks isn't bad, but it's a little underwhelming when you consider that I bike 5-7 hours every day.  I was expecting something more drastic, but hey at least I don't look emaciated. 

- The trail had two route options today, so we chose the flatter one called the Mississippi Levee alternate route.  Though I can't speak to how the other route was, I'd suggest everyone on the trail also take the alternate.  For about 20 miles, we were riding on flat single lane roads that were surrounded by water on both sides.  Sometimes biking through hours of corn fields makes me feel too land-locked and uncomfortable.  Cruising comfortably with the flattest terrain, looking over each shoulder to see the water, and having Jack Johnson provide the soundtrack made it my most peaceful ride of the trip.  I was so content.  Of course that route led us directly to a 10 mile strip that had more MACK trucks than a street that allows cyclists should, but that's ok.  The previous views made it worth it.  I took some photos with my camera, but won't be able to upload them until we finally pass a place with wifi.

- That 10 mile battle with the trucks brought us directly into our home for the night: Chester, IL.  After entering the city limits, we began to see images of Popeye the Sailor man all over.  He was on the welcome sign and incorporated into every business' decorations.  We had lunch at a fine local eatery called Subway and checked out a bakery across the street.  While talking with the owner of the bakery, she explained why Popeye was such a big deal in Chester.

The artist who created Popeye, E. C. Segar, grew up in Chester; several of the characters were even based on people that Segar had known in the town.  The baker continued her story and taught us that Popeye wasn't initially in the first comic; he actually didn't appear until almost 10 years later.  The initial protagonist in Segar's stories was Olive Oyl, though her parents, brother, and boyfriend, Hamgravy, were recurring characters.  With the immediate success of Popeye, Segar decided to cut some characters from the plot.  There are statues of the characters all over town, but a mural was what caught my eye the most.  It depicts Popeye and the characters that made the cut on a boat leaving Chester as those that Segar removed from the plot stayed on land and waved goodbye.  The mural cleverly represents when E. C. Segar hit success and left Chester for either Hollywood or Chicago (we heard conflicting stories), bringing Popeye and a few friends with him.  I never expected to learn so much about a cartoon from the '30s this summer, but towns like Chester are exactly what I was looking for when I set trail out of Virginia a few weeks back. 

- We're staying at a hostel run by the Eagles.  They're some type of group like the Knights of Columbus; their lodge (how did they not name it The Eagle's Nest? Come on, guys) is a full restaurant and bar.  We got showers, bunks, and an AC, but I was even more jazzed that we were able to have a good meal, drink some cold beer, and sink some quarters into some old arcade games.  Illinois has been very good to us- as we approach the hills and mountains of Missouri, we will be leaving on low gears and high notes.

- Tomorrow's ride will be a short 45 or so to Farmington, MO.  We could go on to a further town, but there's a White Castle there and we won't want to move after splitting a crave case.  With my birthday being Sunday and the Ozark Mountains starting with the beginning of the week, I'm going to campaign for a rest day there on Sunday.  I don't really care what I do on my birthday, but I'd rather spend it on a couch than my bike.

Well, moving onto the 4th of 6 states tomorrow. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? 

Day 26 / July 25, 2015

Today, I experienced my first real sense of pride for something that we've accomplished in the past 26 days: we crossed the Mississippi River.  I hadn't expected it to be a big milestone for me, but I haven't expected a lot of memorable things that have occurred on this trip (biking 35 miles in the wrong direction and paying a stranger to drive me to the correct town comes to mind).  Like most boys, one of my favorite lessons in social studies was exploration- particularly the western front of America.  With the Mississppi being an integral part of western expansion, my mind always automatically thinks back to my social studies lessons when I hear the river referenced.  The river always seemed so distant when reading about it in old textbooks.  Pedaling myself from the Atlantic to the river that had always been my favorite symbol of exploration and perseverance made me feel like I had accomplished a goal that 10 year old me would be very pumped about.

After crossing the Mississippi into Missouri, we had a nice mix of hills and flats to keep us from getting bored.  The only complaint during the riding would be about the heat, but that's what we get for riding bikes through the Midwest at the end of July.  We had two stops on our way to Farmington: a tiger sanctuary and a brewery. 

While sitting in the shade in the parking lot of the tiger sanctuary, Chris looked at me and said, "You know, if you asked me at the bottom of that hill what would be up around the bend, a tiger sanctuary is not what I would say."  We only pulled in to fill up our waters and cool off in the shade, but we were able to walk by the sanctuary and see a few of the tigers.  I was a bit surprised by how muscular and large the animals were.  I'm usually (over)confident when it comes to me thinking about what I would do in a situation.  When I would hear about people getting mauled by tigers, I used to think I'd be able to outwit the cat or something if I had to.  After seeing one about 10 feet away, yeah- I can be an idiot.

Our second stop was at the Crown Valley Brewery for lunch.  I can admittedly be a bit of a beer snob, so I try to stop at every microbrewery that I come across.  Craft beer can be funny- it takes drinking and makes it sound like a hobby.   I had a local bison Reuben and easily the best shandy I've ever had.  As we were getting ready to leave, a man named Brian and his wife Janine came over to talk with us.  Brian had done the Trans America trail back in '09 (I always think all years post 2001 were recent, but then realize I had just graduated high school and the Yankees were about to win their most recent World Series in '09).  They explained that the Trans America route changes slightly over the years, so an old route used to pass by within a block of their house.  Brian bumped into a girl doing the trail and was hooked on the idea.  He eventually quit his job (sound familiar?) and flew out to Oregon to do the trip West-East.  One thing I regretted not asking was if Brian stayed at home when he passed nearby on the trail.  I couldn't imagine stopping by for a pit stop at home for one night and having to go back out for another 3-4 weeks; that would be so brutal.  Although our conversation was brief, it was definitely one of the best encounters we've had.  Seeing the excitement and passion in someone that accomplished the whole trail is encouraging.

When we got to Farmington, we unloaded our gear and walked inside.  Brian had mentioned that this was the nicest hostel on the trail; I thought maybe he was biased, but he was correct.  The hostel is called Al's Place and it's a renovated jail that is cleaner and newer looking than any place we've stayed over the last 26 days.  There are leather couches, bunks with fresh sheets, and central air.  It looks more like a hotel suite than a cyclist hostel. 

After showering, we biked over to a place that we had our minds set on since Yum mentioned it on day 10: White Castle.  Back in New York, White Castles aren't always found in the nicest areas.  We had one across the street from our high school on Fordham Road and the counter had bullet proof glass.  When we got there, we agreed to split a crave case.  We were feeling cocky, so we also got chicken rings.  I got to 10.5 before I felt like I was going to throw up.  I always say that my pride will be my downfall, but I was ok with admitting defeat here.  I was fine with not finishing the case, but Chris refused to back down.  He finished my last 4 on top of his 15, which brought his total to 19.  I don't think either of us will be craving White Castle for a while.

Tomorrow is my 24th birthday and the only thing I want to do is nothing, so we are going to take a rest day.  I'll be updating the photography on the site, so keep an eye out. 

Day 27 / July 26, 2015

I don't usually pay much attention to my birthdays, but this one is different.  I'm not surprised; it's been one hell of a year since my last one.  For my 23rd birthday, my mom helped me pay for a camera that I bought from the photographer at my old company (thanks AT).  In the past year, I've learned that photography and writing are two of my passions, while spending 4 hours a day commuting to my job was not.  I wasn't happy with what I was doing, so instead of just going through the motions and complaining, I made a change.  Here I am in Farmington, MO over one thousand miles from home, my family, and my girlfriend.  I have no idea what will happen between today and my 25th birthday, but I find that oddly comforting.  The predictable routine was what I was trying to escape, so I'm going to embrace the unknown.

I wanted a lazy day today, so I had one.  The hostel we are staying at has a handful of dvds, so we watched cast away, the campaign, goonies, and are currently in the middle of the departed.  I read off a few movie options to Chris and he chose the departed because, "(he) misses boston."  I assume be meant the accents and scenery as opposed to the extreme violence.  It's a solid choice (side note- the opening scene of Jack Nicholson's monologue is the greatest opening scene in any movie).  The highlight of the day was when Brian and Jeneen (the couple we met outside the brewery yesterday) swung by.  They brought us local cheese, sausage, and great conversations.  I may be speaking too soon as we haven't crossed the Ozarks yet, but the Midwest has been the best part of the trip.  The people are so down to earth and genuinely nice, the towns have been clean, there's less roadkill- everything about the Midwest has been great.  

Brian and Jeneen had mentioned a frozen custard place less than a mile away, so I think I'm going to break my no movement pact and bike over.  Thanks to everyone that has been with me on my ride for the past 24 years; I appreciate all the help I've gotten along the way.

EDIT: I was biking back holding the paper bag of frozen custard concretes for me and Chris. About a quarter mile away from the hostel, the bag broke and the plastic cups began to drip.  I decided that the best course of action would be to walk my bike and hold the spilling cups against me.  It's a good thing I actually wanted a medium when I ordered a large, because that's about how much was left.  Though I absorbed the majority of the spillage with my shirt, shorts, and sandals, it was worth it. 

Day 28 / July 27, 2015

Today wasn't a particularly tough riding day, but it felt extraordinarily long.  We set out with bellies full of chocolate chip muffins from a Farmington cafe later than we should have, but at least we didn't have too much competition with Monday morning commuters.  The heat was hitting down on us as soon as we opened the door and left the air conditioning.  We weren't sure where we'd end up at night, but we knew our first destination was Johnson's Shut-ins State Park.  

We had heard that the park had some sort of swimming section, so that was the only goal in mind when we set out this morning.  Although I was there and sitting in it, I'll let Wikipedia explain what a shut-in (or at least this kind of shut-in) is: "The term 'shut-in' refers to a place where the river's breadth is limited by hard rock that is resistant to erosion.  In these shut-ins, the river cascades in many rivulets over and around igneous rocks worn smooth over many eons. It is used by park visitors as a natural water park when the water is not so high as to be dangerous."  It essentially looked like a fairly wide and relatively shallow natural bath tub with rocks everywhere.  The water looked almost still, but there was one section where there was a current cutting through a row of rocks into a lower part of the river, so we decided to make our way towards that area.  The rocks were extremely slippery, so we couldn't just walk.  The water was too shallow to swim, so we were forced to walk awkwardly on all fours.  We did bear crawls for anyone that recognizes that term from sports practices.  I'm glad that no one was around, because we looked pretty absurd.  I'm happy to report that sitting down in the water on a surprisingly comfortable formation of rocks as the current ripped past was worth the struggle of slipping and sliding there.  After about a half hour, a family showed up.  I think that they must have expected a bigger swimming section (just like us) because they triumphantly walked in with swim toys, floaties, and other swimming gear that required more than 6 inches of water.  I climbed back towards the land before I could see their disappointed faces. 

After leaving the park, we continued on to Centerville.  Chris had been dealing all day with a tire that preferred to be flat, so we were hoping that Centerville would have a gas station with an air pump that would be more helpful than the hand pump he had been using.  About 12 miles after leaving the park, we found ourselves in Centerville.  There was an auto body shop at the city limits, so Chris was able to fill his tire and we hoped that the issue was resolved.  We moved on the length of a few city blocks and were in the heart of downtown Centerville.  I feel like if you're going to call yourself Centerville, you should offer more than a diner, a courthouse, and an auto body shop.  I was expecting some kind of bustling town, but I was fooled.  We looked it up on the map to see if they were the center of something geographically, but nope.  Centerville duped us.  The "campgrounds" turned out to be a lawn in front of a courthouse.  There were no bathrooms, showers, or cell service, so we didn't feel too inclined to stay.  We decided to bike to the next town of Ellington, which was about 15 miles away.  

About 5 miles in, Chris' tire gave up again.  We moved off the road and he began to fix the flat for the third time today.  Shortly after, a family pulled over and asked if everything was ok.  The parents were cyclists and knew how frustrating a flat could be.  They offered to give us a lift, so we loaded up the car with Chris' bike and all of our bags.  There was only room for one bike, but I was excited to be able to ride without all of my gear weighing me down.  I was going to do that full 15 to Ellington if Chris hadn't gotten a flat, so there was no need for me to hitch a ride anyway.  The family pulled away with Chris in the car and left me with the open road.

That last 10 mile stretch was incredible.  The heat had started to break, my playlist didn't play any songs that I keep forgetting to delete because I'm so sick of them, and I felt (and actually was) about 45 lbs lighter without my bags.  I pulled into the hostel in Ellington far before I expected.  I'm hoping that the momentum carries forward into tomorrow.  We are at the starting line of the dreaded Ozark Mountains.  We've been hearing warnings about these since like day 5, but honestly who cares?  There hasn't been an easy riding day yet.  It may not be fun, but we'll get through them just like the 27 previous days.  

Day 29 / July 28, 2015

By picking up some extra miles yesterday, we were able to focus on our one task today: crossing the hills of the Ozark Mountains between Ellington and Eminence.  We had been hearing warnings about this ride for weeks, so we decided to have a good breakfast at a cafe in town.  I was able to have an espresso for the first time in a month; it's the little things like that that make you feel like a human (A few weeks ago, we were in a Dollar General.  It was our first store in a while that had aisles and wasn't attached to a gas station.  Chris walked around grinning and said several times how something so simple like a Dollar General made him feel like a real person).  There were a few Eastbound cyclists in the cafe that had just finished up the ride that we were about to embark on.  They had set out at 4:45am; we hadn't even hit snooze on the alarm for over another hour at that point.  They said several times that the ride was the toughest stretch they've had so far, but the fact that they had made the trip in such good time gave us hope.  As we were pushing our plates away and grabbing our helmets to leave, a few of the group's slower members showed up.  They were very emphatic that we had a rough morning ahead of us.  Chris and I still shrugged it off; how bad could they be?  

It turns out that the reports were greatly exaggerated.   I'm not going to say that the stretch was easy, but I don't think I'd even put it in our top 5 toughest days.  I actually had some fun doing it.  It was kind of like riding a manual roller coaster.  The hills were steep, but they weren't too tall.  We went up and we went down over and over until the ride was done.  I'm fairly sure I hit my top speed today on a downhill.  Overall, I'd say the Ozarks were overrated.  The heat was the hardest part of today.  I'm not sure if it's because Eastbound cyclists have just come out of the flats that we are looking forward to, but the Ozarks have nothing on the Appalachians.

After accomplishing our goal, we rested.  Today was apparently one of the hottest days of the year that Missouri is expected to have, so we didn't feel the need to push on to the next town.  We are staying at a campsite that is situated next to a river, but the water is only about 6 inches deep.  It was relaxing to sit in the glorified puddle and skip rocks, but I just want a river to actually swim in.  

The general store that we are hiding out in is closing, so it's time to go back to our campsite.  Tomorrow's ride is to Houston, MO.  Relatively short mileage and only one big climb (or so they say), so it should be a good day.