Well, Day 18 of Lee’s cross-country bike trip is now done. Today we rode 96.2 miles, from Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL. Time on the bike was 5:39, and that didn’t include the stop within sight of the hotel at the Steak'nShake (their Peach Shake is highly recommended!)

 

As we got underway from Kirksville this morning at 7:00, Missouri got another 70 mile shot at us, and it dished out a ton more rollers, but fortunately the skies were overcast and temperatures cool, and wind was not a factor. We’re all glad to have Missouri behind us; in the three days we rode there, we did over 15,000 feet of climbing in what I used to think was the flat mid-west.

 

The first food/beverage break was in a tiny village of Baring, MO, which looked like it had been very prosperous about 100 years ago. We next made our way to Canton, MO, along the west bank of the Mississippi River. We had lunch there, and watched the ferry ply back and forth that would take us over to the Illinois side. The river was high, and there was certainly evidence of the flooding that has affected this area recently, and is now moving further south. The ferry trip itself only takes about five minutes, and then we started off on the eastern half of the country. Illinois must feel that the ferry crossing is un-sign-worthy, because we had no place to grab our obligatory photos in front of “Welcome to __________”. I guess I’ll grab an Illinois shot by crossing the road for a two-fer when we go from Illinois to Indiana.

 

After a twenty mile ride south along the Illinois flood plain, we arrived in Quincy. This town is surprisingly quaint and well-kept, with a real mid-American charm to it. Unfortunately our stay is in the Comfort Inn and Resort, out a bit and away from the riverfront downtown.

 

Tomorrow we have planned a 106-mile jaunt over to Springfield, where we will be two nights (our second of two rest days is on Saturday.) Looking forward to a little time off the bike to rest my legs and arse.

Lock and Dam #20 are located just upriver from where we crossed the Mississippi by ferry. They were built in  1935 and are 2,369 feet across.