SP2M Day 3 – Quincy, IL to Nauvoo, IL

Imagine traveling north on one road for three hours and not passing through a single town. Sounds like something from the lightly populated ranchland of the West or some foreign country, right? I just did that in western Illinois, riding north out of Quincy to Warsaw. Intellectually, I knew that there were no services in that stretch of my route. Even so, it was a brain bender to ride and ride and ride and not pass a single town limit sign, not a gas station/convenience store, not even a bar; just farm field after farm field after farm field.

Check out this panorama photo. If you click on it inside Google Photos, you can pan around and get a feeling for what it was like.

Mind you, “only” riding through farm fields was still picturesque.

I did meet another bicycle tourist on this road, he southbound while I was northbound. We chatted a bit and then each continued on our own way.

Instead of stopping at a restaurant for lunch, I made a couple of snack stops along the road. I feasted on my dehydrated apples, homemade trail mix, and homemade jerky. This also gave me a chance to confirm that DEET really does discourage buffalo gnats.

Twenty-nine miles after leaving Driftwood Campground & RV Park, I turned up the hill into Warsaw, IL. I’ll admit it; I’m a wimp. The 11% grade of that climb defeated me and, once again, I found myself pushing my bike up the mountain. In town, I found a couple of fine pieces of pizza at Casey’s. Then I continued north on what had been described to me as one of the prettiest rides in the area, north from Warsaw into Nauvoo. It’s true.

Eventually the MRT made its way back to the river and sights like this.

The hill up from Nauvoo State Park, where I camped, into the town proper is steep but I made it up this one. Maybe there is a benefit to leaving my panniers at my tent instead of hauling all of that weight along with me.

I caught these shots at the top of the hill.

Nauvoo State Park is gorgeous at sunset. Here is my campsite.

Today is a rest day so that I can catch up on my blogging and make reservations for the next few days. In case you like looking at maps, here is a collection of the rides that I have completed and the next few routes that I plan to take.

To be continued…