Day 62 – Farmington, Missouri to Chester, Illinois

Crossing the Mississippi

Tuesday, October 4th was the two month mark of the trip and the other day I went over 3,000 miles. Now I’m at 3,122. For the 52 days of riding that puts me at a 60 mile per day average, and with the rest days included it’s an average of 50 miles per day.

In Farmington, Charlie, Marcus and Kirsty all took a day off as well. Charlie’s wife arrived and they were at a hotel, while Marcus and Kirsty stayed at the same jail converted bike hostel where I was. Charlie’s plan was to do a long day on Tuesday and soon he’ll head northeast towards Buffalo. Marcus and Kirsty have a time limit to their trip because of their visa expiration, so they were doing a longer day as well. It looks like our nice little group may not cross paths again, but you never know. It was great hanging out with them.

The ride out of Farmington was excellent as the route put you on a back road with no traffic. It was green fields and farm houses along the way along with good weather. The hills were rolling and easy to manage. I was having thoughts of a nice cruise into Chester, but that soon came to an end as longer, steeper climbs started appearing. You would think having taken a day off would have helped with the energy level, but these hills were difficult.

A bit later I crossed over I-55 and after that I came to a road closed sign with barricades across the lanes up ahead. This wasn’t good news, but I figured that even if the road was torn up I could still get past it with the bike. I arrived where the work crew was and asked the guys about it. They said I could go through– which wasn’t the case with cars that they were turning back.

The hills continued as I passed through more farm country. One house had a sign from the state stating that the farm has been operated by the same family since 1885.

Later I had to take a left onto a busier road and looked off in the distance shortly after to see the side of a long bridge a few miles ahead. This was the bridge across the Mississippi, which was a milestone for the trip as it meant that I’m really getting into the eastern part of the country now.

As I got to the bridge I wanted to stop and take photos, but with no shoulder on the road and long guardrails leading up to it, I just had to keep on riding. On the bridge there’s a very narrow raised platform along its length, but it’s not a good option to stop on and sightsee. So you view the river as best as you can while riding across. Once you’re on the other side there’s a Chester visitor center with a good spot to take photos. I stopped there for a while, thinking that I arrived at this point by pedaling from the Pacific Ocean.

In the same area as the visitor’s center is the Welcome to Illinois sign. Directly beyond that is a green sign stating to go straight for the mental health center and to take a right to get to the penitentiary. It seemed like an odd introduction to Chester and the state of Illinois.

Chester’s claim to fame is that the creator of Popeye was born here, so there are statues related to Popeye and the other characters around town, as well as some attempts to capitalize on Popeye’s popularity… which is not quite what it used to be.

The “Fraternal Order of Eagles” has a very small structure by its lodge (bar) where cyclists can stay for the night. I went into the lodge and spoke with Jill, the bartender. I asked about the process for staying there and about the cost. She shook her head regarding any payment and said it was my place to use. It was very much the opposite of the decked out place in Farmington. Here they had simple wooden bunks where you use your own air mattress and sleeping bag, but again you’re just thankful that when you roll into town groups like this offer a place to stay.