ROUTE:
Carbondale, IL to Marion KY |
DISTANCE:
96 miles |
TOTAL CLIMBING:
7353 ft |
Click here for
Garmin daily ride data
Click
here for Summary Data sheet
(This is cool
if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play
and time compress our ride. )
DAILY REPORT: The
weatherman was predicting 50% thunderstorms all day. Temp was 65 and expected to
be in the mid 80's. A southwesterly wind and high humidity.
So let's see how far I get on
today's journal. I'm a little tired and the the hotel's WIFI is proving to be
problematic.....It is hard to believe that we have been gone now for a month.
Wow, time share has flown by and we are eating up the miles with only a little
over 1,000 miles to go!!
To
begin, we had a nice continental breakfast at the Super 8 Motel. They had a
waffle maker which is always a treat -- not as good as home but not bad :) We
had to prep the bikes for wet weather so on went the fenders and we packed up
the rain gear. As with most teenagers, James couldn't remember/find his rain
jacket and the mysterious loss was directly related to his brother. Hmmmm.....
Eventually we hit the road. The weather was the coolest in the last week but
still really muggy.
The route today took us along a
number of lakes and hills. In fact lots of hills. If you look at the summary
data sheet we climbed over 7,000 feet today. That's a fair amount of climbing
considering that there are no mtns here. All in all, the boys rode really well.
We had one close call when a dog ran out in front of us and nearly caused a
three cycle pile-up.
Some of the more interesting
things, at least for me; I finally spotted a flock of
turkeys. I had been looking for some since Missouri. There were about a dozen to
a dozen and a half; out in a field following a tractor path. I wasn't able to
get a good picture but they were neat to watch. Later on in the morning we came
across a rat snake sunning himself on the road. A quick dismount of the bike and
he was caught. He was a little feisty trying to bite me on more than one
occasion. Took a few pictures and put him back in the woods to make sure a
passing car didn't get him.
Skip
did meet us for lunch in Eddiesville. By then the skies had cleared and it
looked like we had missed the rain :) We had another 45 miles of riding to
Marion KY. We biked along the Ohio River and even took a ferry across the river
to get to Kentucky. This our ninth state. One more to go!!
As we were biking into Marion, the
final stop of the day; the three of us were sprinting up the last hill of the
day. I believe the police officer who was looking for speeders as we rounded the
corner into town must have gotten a chuckle to see these three hot and sweaty
bikers mashing gears.
James was victorious and was awarded the yellow jersey for the day!!
Our hotel was about 15 miles south
in the next town, so we loaded up the bikes and headed for Kuttawa, KY. The
manger Nick of Relax Inn had given us one free room which was much appreciated.
We took showers, did some bike maintenance, and then headed out for a Chinese
dinner.
Skip's back had been bothering him
today. While taking a picture earlier in the day he "tweaked" his back
so he was glad to get to the hotel and get e chance to lay down and stretch out
his back. Hope he is feeling better tomorrow.
As
I write this it is raining outside and the prediction is rain all day tomorrow.
We will be heading for Whitesville.
I also wanted to thank everyone
who has donated to our two charities - Boys and Girls Club and the Wounded
Warrior Project. We are getting real close to reaching our goal of $10,000. I
have updated the donation page with our business and
individual sponsors. (If I missed anyone please let me know.) Thanks again!!
Also as a reminder, Jason Parker, president of Parker
Financial LLC is hosting a client appreciation wine tasting and
charity event on Thurs., July 30 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Monica’s Waterfront
Bakery in Old Town Silverdale. He will be collecting donations for the
Riding4Hope Team. Thank you!!
Thanks for joining us.....ride
safely and keep the wind to your back!!
The Riding4Hope Team
www.riding4hope.org
(David, John, James & Skip)
Signing out 7/30/09; 0130
YOU DON'T
SAY:
Skip - during a phone call
we received in the morning. "David, I think I'm lost!" David
replies "How can that be, you have the GPS?!" Skip continues
"There are two Eddyville's, two Marion's; I think the GPS is out to
get me!!"
John - during lunch
"And I thought that dog was going to be friendly!" during our
discussion of being chased by a big black dog.
James - "You know, I
would know where all my clothes were if it wasn't for John."
Sure....
David - "Good thing I
was wearing sunglass today; I could have lost an eye with get hit by all
these bugs!" James adds, "And I had one fly in my mouth. Yuk!
I need to keep my mouth closed while going up these hills!"
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DID I REALLY
DO THAT?
So
I thought I would include a few trials and tribulations for Maria my
wife who was left behind while all of us men folk are out having fun and
taking it easy on this cross country bike trip. This reminds me of days
of old when I would leave on a submarine deployment and that is when
everything would break and/or fall apart --
1.
The microwave has "blown up."
2.
The black jeep will not start.
3.
A black bear walks through our backyard. I wonder if I will have any bee
hives left when I return.
4.
Mice are found living in the kids bathroom down stairs.
5.
The red jeep will not start.
6.
Numerous science experiments were found in the kids bedroom while
cleaning.
7.
The worst heat wave ever and you're not here to experience it!
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY |
John, making sure his bike
is all ready for the day's ride.
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This was one cool bull! (The
one on the left that is!!)
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Hey, we will stop to take a
picture of anything. Note the sign name - Raleigh.
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In a matter of seconds the
kids can be a sleep. I believe they inherited that from Granny Carole!!
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The ferry was a little
smaller than what we were used to seeing in Seattle!! It took about 10 min
to get across the Ohio River. The whole operation consisted basically of a
tug and a barge! Not sure who conducted the safety study on this but it
works.
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James winning the final
stage race into Marion. The victor!!
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More
photos on Facebook Album
Yesterday
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