Bicycling from St. Louis to New Orleans ought to be easy. Wheel the bike out of the garage. Turn right. Pedal for a long time. It’s all of the darned details that confound.
Do you remember how, just two days ago in St. Louis to New Orleans, I wrote, “Man plans; God laughs.” Well He’s laughing for sure today. I had planned to cross the Mississippi River from Missouri into Kentucky on the Dorena-Hickmann ferry. It was in dry dock for maintenance over the winter but came out of dry dock in mid-March. It was awaiting a Coast Guard inspection before returning to service. I called the ferry this evening to confirm that it is operating. It is not. It is still awaiting that Coast Guard inspection.
Sigh.
There are no other good options for crossing the river by bicycle in that part of the world, since bikes cannot use the bridges on interstate highways, such as the bridge on I-155 in Caruthersville, MO. So I just spent the last couple of hours crafting a new route from Sikeston, MO to Memphis, TN following the west side of the Mississippi River. I also got to cancel hotel reservations in Tennessee and make new ones in Missouri and Arkansas.
On the plus side, my new route is 18 miles shorter and has 4,000 fewer feet of climbing.
We had a beautiful weather day so I got out for a nice ride through north St. Charles county, MO; across the Golden Eagle ferry; and through Calhoun County, IL.
I found the Bike Crusher so my bicycle had to pose for a picture. I also found some killer hills. Let me just say that “Two Story Hill Road” should be named “Makes You Cry Twice Road.” I wish that I could tell you that I cycled to the top of both hills without getting off and pushing the bike. I only made it to the top of the first. But a wise older cyclist told me early in my career, “There is no hill that I’m not man enough to walk my bike up.” That has gotten me up many a steep grade.
I got many cool photos, including this one. Click here or click the Bike Crusher photo to see the rest of the pictures.
Good for you, change is good, keeps the mind and body going especially when “On the plus side, my new route is 18 miles shorter and has 4,000 fewer feet of climbing.”