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By David Freeze

Today dawned with several possibilities. Ride Interstate 55 and hopefully make big time toward Cape Girardeau, or follow US 61 to see if it can find the river. Right now, both of them are designated The Great River Road but 61 would get close while I-55 would not. Here’s what happened.

   I left the town of Arnold after a wonderful night at the Quality Inn and headed for the real thing, US 61 without hesitation. After Arnold, I had almost no shoulder and not a lot of traffic usually. However endless hills, rollers one after another never stopped. So I was forced into traffic constantly and drivers waited behind me while I climbed. Then, US 61 added rumble strips, forcing me into the driver’s lane from there on out. Terrible riding!

   I passed through Bernhardt, Pevely and Festus. Only Festus had much to offer and it had everything. Then another tiny town in Bloomsdale. Up ahead, my map showed that we would get near the water at St. Genevieve and St. Mary’s.

   Stopping in St. Genevieve, I asked about the river. The welcome center lady told me that I would have to ride north on another road and I still wouldn’t see much. I didn’t. She also told me to forget St. Mary’s too because although the river used to run right past the town, it no longer did and had moved farther east. She told me to ride out on Kaskaskia Bridge and look at the dry river bed which I did. Those photos are my best of a poor day of river searching.

    At that point, I still had another 14 or so miles to get to Perryville and a room at Super Eight. Endless uphill riding in the traffic caused me to give in. I got the the opportunity to jump once again on I-55 and pedal the last six miles to Perryville. No problems and nobody seemed to care that I was finally out of the traffic lane and making good time at the end of 68 hard miles. Never a flat stretch all day.

   US 61 or I-55 both remain as options for tomorrow. It’s about 36 miles to Cape Girardeau, one of the focal points of my ride from the beginning. It has a magnificent bridge across the Mississippi, which I might take if time allows, fulfilling my need to at least touch Illinois.

    Home of Rush Limbaugh and a Roswell type alien crash, the city is loaded with other history. It is said to have a magnificent waterfront, which I will look forward to. I will take whatever time I need to explore it. Past that, I’m not sure. US 61 and I-55 both continue directly south and leave the river. Nothing on the Illinois side is close either.

   I will have some kind of plan by morning or will make it as I go. I busted two things today, a lock down straps on one of the bike bags that carries my gear and pedal cage. I can’t repair the bag here but can tie it shut. The pedal cage snapped, the one where my right foot goes. If the bike shop in Cape Girardeau has a set, I will get them. Otherwise I will make do.

   I’m enjoying the Field of Dreams game as I write this. I am looking for plenty more lasting memories as we approach the second half of the adventure. Better pictures are one goal for tomorrow and some more reasonable riding. Perryville is awesome and for the second night in a row, the things I need are close by.

   More good weather is forecast, not a hint of rain since Wednesday of last week. See you back here tomorrow as the adventure continues! Thanks, as always, for a being a part of the journey.

By David Freeze

 Today was going to be a big question mark from the start. I love to study maps, real maps where you can see everything around as possibilities. Last night, I decided to follow US 79 as far it would go into the St. Louis area. Then I picked out a route, not knowing for sure where the bike could go. I had the Missouri map I am using to follow the less detailed Great River Road and the St. Louis area city map. It seems like at least a dozen suburbs make up the city.

   This morning I left out of Elsberry as the town was waking up. Another cool morning helped on the endless hills. Much of the time, I had no shoulder or a very poor one. A sign said US 79 would be repaved this fall. I had to ride in traffic and this was quite spooky at times.

   I passed through Foley and didn’t know when I did. But they did have a stop sign for no reason and a Dollar General. Then on to Winfield, a little bigger with a couple convenience stores. And finally Old Monroe which had little to offer except a better road. Good thing because the traffic was heavy as we neared the greater St. Louis area.

   I stopped at St. Peter’s and talked to Jerry at McDonald’s about this ride and the others while he was concerned about eating so much fast food and brought his lunch for the day. I followed my planned path and jumped on 364, not sure whether it’s more than a county road but it serves as an expressway across much of the city area. Simply put, I raced along on a good shoulder paying special attention to all the exit and entry ramps. The roar of the traffic was tremendous at times and almost overwhelming.

  By following 364, I was able to intersect with US 67, which led to a junction with US 61 which I will follow again for a couple days on the Great River Road. Briefly we also intersected with the Lewis and Clark route. Away from 364, the city is tremendously hilly.

    While all of this describes my day through mid-afternoon, it gets much better. I had made no plans for a room for the evening and made a call to a motel perfectly situated on my planned route. They were full, which left the only option as the higher priced chains. After the runaround at two of those places, I called the desk at the Quality Inn in Arnold, the second best situated motel. Tina gave me a great deal on a first class room and all I had to do was get there.

    Not sure if I could ride on the interstate highway in Missouri, Tina gave me a route that would avoid it. I got Siri involved and again she failed me by sending me on a longer route. I threw caution to the wind and pedaled right on to the I-55 ramp and on the highway. Up to 6 lanes of traffic was flying and so was I, in the breakdown lane. With my history of being stopped by officers over the years, I expected the same thing again.

   With just 4.5 miles to ride to get to the Quality Inn, I thought someone will have to hurry to stop me. I came flying down a hill and a police car was sitting on the side of the road with the door open. Turns out he wasn’t waiting for me but had what looked like sobriety problems with a driver. The officer never looked at me.

   My ride ended at a fantastic motel, surrounded by almost every chain store I ever enter. I stopped at Walgreens and got a fantastic meal at Waffle House. I may go to Target later. Bottom line, I did spot two smaller rivers today but not the Mississippi. There will be at least two more full days in Missouri, with Cape Girardeau the next main target. That is probably the next real sighting of the river.

   The day was perfect, about 80 degrees and a slight tailwind. I honestly felt exhilarated by the whole day! Join me tomorrow for a further journey south on US 61. I hope I get situated in time for tomorrow’s Field of Dreams game, and that you join me again tomorrow right back here!

By David Freeze

  I am watching the minor league game from the Field of Dreams, loving the coverage and excited about Thursday’s major league game. A co-worker asked me the other day what had been the best thing about this adventure so far. It was easy to answer that I got to run the bases on the Field of Dreams and have a video to prove it.

   Last night, I decided to sleep on which way to go today. Options were going to Illinois, returning to US 61 or following the Great River Road on US 79. I expected all three to be hilly because that is what this area does. I chose US 79 in hopes of seeing more of the river than the other two would provide. Leaving Hannibal at 6:30am, I had the trip’s first cool and foggy morning and enjoyed it as the climbing began just past the famous Lover’s Leap. For 15 miles, I climbed half mile long steep hills, rocketed down the other side and climbed another one. US 79 was in the process of paving for at least 25 miles, an improvement definitely needed. Twice I passed scenic outlook signs, something I didn’t follow because more sideways climbing was required.

  The slow pace only had me at about 35 miles by noon. I arrived in Louisiana, Missouri, and took some photos of the river there. Then back to US 79 for a ride to Clarksville, Annada (with a population of 29) and on into Ellsberry, where I’m spending the night, after just 59 hilly miles. A long flat stretch started in Clarksville and I’ve been seeing trains ever since. My motel is across the road from the tracks. Tracks nearby mean flatter riding!

   I had two reasons for stopping here. There has been little to no cell phone coverage for AT&T and Verizon most of the day and I took a chance on the last room of the only motel in Ellsberry. I got the photos out to the Post editors and hope to get this story submitted on the less than stellar WiFi. The second reason was to set the distance for a doable ride through St. Louis.
   I had an ongoing conversation with the motel manager hoping she could free up a room. That part worked, but the details of me making a trip to Dollar General for cleaning supplies will be told in the book. All is well now and I’m hoping it stays quiet. By the way, Ellsberry is really small at about 2,000 inhabitants, but it has a huge DG complete with produce and lots more. I got my food and water for tonight and tomorrow there too.

  When planning this trip, I was going around St. Louis. With the Great River Road map in place, I am going there tomorrow and hope to spend the night on the southern side after battling their traffic. I will follow US 79 to the city and then find my way through using a city map which I will study shortly.

   I did get to see the river numerous times today but probably won’t see it at all tomorrow. The challenge will be finding a safe way through St. Louis, then we’ll resume getting as close to the river as possible.

   See you back here tomorrow!