The Spokesrider

From Tunnel Hill, I took the Tunnel Hill Road west instead of the Tunnel Hill Trail, a more southerly route. What I most remember about this part of the ride was slogging into the wind, again.   I had been riding into the wind ever since Terre Haute, several days before.   But now I was in [...]

Over a month ago, on October 27th, after having spent a rest day in Cape Girardeau being shown around by Ken Steinhoff, I resumed the ride at Tunnel Hill. Two days earlier (blue line) I had ridden to this point on the Tunnel Hill trail. Now, instead of riding it at least to Vienna and from there to Cairo, I decided to leave the trail at this point and head towards Cape Girardeau. (Shown by the red line.) This change was thanks to the advice I got from Ken about routes.

I hadn’t intended that to be on my route to New Madrid until I saw how easy it would be to cross the Mississippi here, and until Ken showed me some usable bike routes south of Cape Giradeau. He wasn’t sure about the suitability of some of those identified as a bicycle route by the Mississippi River Trail organization.

The gravel road was OK. Once I got to Broughton I had to head south into the wind. After the previous day I thought the far fewer miles into a slightly lesser wind this day would be easier. But for some reason I found it even more difficult and tiring than the previous day.

The first question was why I wasn’t riding a recumbent. When we got to the part where I explained that I was riding to New Madrid to see the damage that was done by the earthquake of 1811-1812, they informed me that they had had their own earthquake near here. It was the one early on a Sunday morning in April 2008.

Sat Oct 24. Vincennes IN to West Salem IL. At the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge I forgot myself and crossed into Illinois like I’ve done on previous rides. Then I remembered that I had wanted to try the toll bridge across the river at St. Francisville IL. So I went back to the Indiana [...]

The Blackhawk Battlefield Park in Stephenson County, Illinois, is a favorite spot of ours, not only for its historical significance but because of the view. A gravel road leads up a gentle but definite slope to the highest ground for miles around. At the top are the graves of men killed in the battle of Kellogg’s Grove, which took place nearby.