June 19, 2001.
Chester, IL to Pilot Knob, MO. (70 mi.) Mile 1357
West
of the Mississippi
By
6:30 AM we had rolled out of Chester, IL, Home of Popeye (or rather, the
creator of this cartoon character) and crossed the
wide Mississippi
River into Missouri. Our first glimpse of the
Mississippi yesterday, with its barges and expansive flood plain, had an
emotional impact on me. Though I've seen this great river before, finally
reaching it from the east coast by bicycle, after pedaling many miles and following the westward
development of our country's history, gave me a real sense of westward
progression.
1) 
2) 
1) Early morning start past the Popeye statue in Chester
2) Then crossing the mighty Mississippi River to Missouri
It is always good riding when we get an
early start. The morning temperatures are cooler, the
sun is at our back, the sky to the west is a deeper shade of ultramarine, and
the landscape is bathed in warm light. We passed feedlots and hog farms, corn
fields, and rural residences. As we move westward, the architecture of the barns
and houses has been slowly changing. Barn roofs are sometime curved, more complex, and
made of sheet metal.
Mike stopped to
look at the hogs....
and vice versa.
Our new plan, in which we are having
the U.S. Postal Service carry our camping gear on ahead, worked well for me.
Mike has carried the bulk of the remainder of our stuff today while I carried very
little, in order to give my legs a rest on the hills. Mike has also put himself
between me and the more aggressive dogs when we are harassed. Today we
encountered what the eastbound cyclists have told us are the only problem dogs
west of Kentucky, right where the cyclists said they would be outside of Farmington.
When the three dogs came rushing out at us, Mike squirted the lead dog on the
nose, and they all Halted! As we pedaled off, we could see the lead dog in our
rear view mirrors, still blinking his eyes, while his two companions studied him
as if to ask, "Whoa! What just happened to you?" That should be the end of that for our Dog Trouble.
Of the original 4 cans of Halt! we
started with, we have lost one and given 2 to eastbound cyclists now that we are past the worst of the problem. All of the
eastbound cyclists we
have encountered are familiar with the stories, and many have prepared
themselves in various ways. Today we were pedaling along when we saw an
eastbound cycle tourist pedaling toward us. We all pulled over to chat and
exchange TransAm news. The cyclist was Gerald Wier, who is bicycling across
the country from California. He told us of encountering all of the other
cyclists we have met so far (Walter, Paul, and Dale are all ahead of us) and
of cycling for a while with the other eastbounders we had joined for
dinner and a campsite at Cave-In-Rock. Gerald had obtained a long stick for dealing with the
notorious Kentucky dogs. He got our last can of Halt!
3) 
4) 
3) Southern Missouri countryside
4) Marilyn spent time riding without panniers (thanks to Mike) then forgot
she was wearing a safety triangle around town.
The remainder of the day was the
usual pedal, pedal, pedal, with another binge at a Dairy Queen. This time it
was me who had forgotten I was wearing that bright safety triangle over my
lycra-clad backside and wore it into a public place, where I got a lot of
stares before Mike called it to my attention ("ha-ha-ha-ha!"). I
also pulled out a tick trying to bury itself into Mike. This makes one tick
bite for me, three for Mike. Mike figures he must be a Tick Magnet.
