Another weekend, yet another biking adventure...
We were a bit slow getting around Friday morning, we didn't get going
until about 7:45 AM. It was a cool morning, but only long enough for us
to both comment on that fact... It warmed up pretty quick! we headed East
on Benton to the edge of town then turned South to the first crossroad
out of town. Turned left past the sewer plant... One mile down!
At the next crossroad, we turned South again. The first house on the left
had a dog that barked, but didn't chase. The next house on the right also
had a dog... It was out in a bean field and looked like a dolphin leaping
above the waves! We cranked harder and left it behind.
At the next crossroad... a "T" actually, we turned back East again. There
was a Doberman, but he was in a fence... On past the sight of the old 1883
barn. Nothing but beans now... Another "T" road, back North and almost
immediately East again at another "T". Curve South, across a plank bridge
...watch those cracks! Again, almost immediately curve back East, up a
hill... another dog! Just lying on the porch, clueless to his day's
coming adventure...
Here he comes! Bark! Bark! Bark! Translation: "Come on guys, let's play!
I'll chase you then you chase me! I'll run right in front of you, and you
try not to run over me!" Mile after mile... I kept thinking that he would
eventually give up... Chase us out of his territory and return to his porch,
satisfied that he had protected his master! NOT!
This dumb mutt was now ours!
After the next crossroad is a stretch of hills... STEEP hills! The first
one peaks at a "T" road. We stopped here and I took some pictures of the
hills and the dog! Between this hill and the next is another wooden plank
bridge... You have to slow down as you cross because there are
bike-swallowing cracks in this one! The next two hills aren't as bad...
they are more like steps... Next stop: Rt 32!
Now the road angles towards Shelbyville for a ways... On the right is a
trailer that has a bunch of geese and guinea hens... We thought that this
might give the dog something new to play with and he'd forget about us!
Nope!
Next, the road curves more towards the North, down a hill then back
East again across the Peek Bridge over Robinson Creek. The planks are
fairly new, but the guardrails are gone! On Eastward... the dog finds a
mud puddle to lie down in briefly... I think it was about this time that
we named him Stinky!
Something in the road ahead... Two buzzards are cleaning up the night's
road-kill... The smell of death lingers in the air.
At the next crossroad, we make a change of plans... Instead of turning
back North... more hills, we opt to go straight... flat! Curve North
then back East and we are soon on the road South of Shelbyville...
The one that goes past the Hospital... We make our way through town and
stopped at the County Sheriff’s Office... Don Selby was in talking to
some people and I jokingly asked him if he wanted to return the dog...
he wanted no part of it! They called George, the Animal Control guy...
and he put the dog in the back of his truck and gave it some water... By
now, all the poor dog could do was lay in the shade and pant!
Free of our K-9 friend, we headed North... Past the park and across the
dam... It's a good thing we aren't on alert or that road would have been
closed, and we would have had to taken the highway UP the hill! The four
lane stretch of Rt 16 is not too bad... cars have another whole lane to
use to avoid you... You DO have to watch the storm drains! They could
swallow a tire... For about the next two miles, we are on and off the
highway... We have seen bikers ride the edge even in traffic, but we're
NOT that brave/stupid! There is sand on the side of the road, but enough
1 to 2 inch rocks to make it rough... All kinds of cans, trash and broken
glass... ink pens, and these days, pieces of broken orange reflectors!
No $10 bills this time... Darn!
At the Lithia Springs road, we head North again... They used some LARGE
gravel on this road and it is pretty rough! Down the hill, across the lake
and UP another hill... At the 4-way stop, we head East towards Windsor...
This is a fairly level road and an almost straight shot all the way to
town. We cruised Maine Street and stopped at Casey's for more drinks and
a snack! Hostess Cherry Pie! Yum! Debby didn't want the extra calories...
We topped off the tires on the bikes and headed for the park. There was
something going on but we aren't sure what... a bunch of young girls
dancing on the stage... We made a restroom stop and put on some sun block.
We had mostly cloud cover so far, but it was beginning to break up...
Back on the road again! We followed a road off the Northeast corner of
Windsor and headed East. Curve North a short ways to a "T" and back East
again... Sitting on the corner was an old man... Bibs, blue work shirt and
a straw hat... and a DOG! A German Shepherd! The dog just stared as we
rolled by... and continued on for another mile. Along this stretch, we
passed a guy riding a bicycle! No shirt, but plenty of tattoos! After we
jot by, I commented to Debby that he was cute! (LOL!) She decided that
her version of cute differed from mine... At the end of this mile, we
turned north again for a good stretch.. two or three miles to the
Western Avenue Road... From here, The road has two jogs and very few hills
all the way to Mattoon!
Mattoon. My home town! (Along with Windsor and now Tower Hill, but Mattoon
was my original hometown...)
We continue East on Western Avenue to 27th street... Watch the parked
cars for people opening their doors! At 27th, we turned South to
Charleston Avenue... Charleston to 26th and then South again to Rt 16...
Marshall Avenue. It took us a while to make it across Marshall to Oakly's
Bike shop. We stopped in to see if we could get Debby a mirror like mine.
They were out. I looked at some Panniers for my bike... Saddle bags...
LOTS of storage space! I reasoned that with the extended day trips we were
starting to take, and plans to ride multiple days on the Katy Trail, this
would give us more room to carry the extras we would need. We also got the
chance to check out the Doppler Radar! Nothing around! This was the first
place that I spent too much time...
We took the back street to Casey's for more water and then to the stop
light at 21st and Marshall. Straight North several blocks to Richmond...
(Where the old Coke plant was...) East on Richmond to 6th street then
South again. East on Broadway the to the East entrance to Peterson Park.
I thought maybe we could find a bagel at the Bagelfest! That search didn't
last long and we decided on PBJ's instead...
From the park we headed North to the bike trail... The Abe Lincoln
Prairie Grass Trail... Paved in town then limestone screenings all the
way to Charleston... The pavement is nice, but it was good to hear the
sound of tires crunching limestone! Bike trail! No cars! SHOULD be no
DOGS! There was one section of trail that someone had driven a tractor
on and it was VERY rough! It didn't seem to take long and the next thing
you know, we were cruising into Charleston! (once we got past some soft
spots on the trail... Debby ALMOST lost it once...) Once again, we were on
paved bike trail! Unfortunately, one of the hazards of nice, urban trails
is not so nice urban kids who think it is funny to smash glass bottles on
bike trails...
We stopped at 57.2 miles on Debby's odometer! About a block West of an old
warehouse... At one point in time this was Ted's Warehouse. A local club
that had band's on weekends... Rock 'n' Roll legend says that this was the
place where Bruce Hall was playing the night he got a phone call to join
REO Speedwagon. Anyway, after a few quick pictures of ourselves and the
bikes in front of an old train station with the word "Charleston" on it
for proof, we were ready to satisfy the "and back" clause of this trip...
After taking a few quick shots to show that we were indeed in Charleston,
it was time to head home... Departure time: 3:20 Pm. We made pretty good
time on the way back, even if it did take us almost 6 hours... it took
around 7 hours to get there! Of course, on the way over, we were
fighting a pretty strong North-North-Easterly wind, plus more stops. On
the way back, we knew we had to keep moving to get home before dark!
The ride back to Mattoon went fairly quick. Debby saw a deer off the
side of the trail that jumped into some trees... I missed it.
We stopped at County Market in Mattoon for more water and something more
to eat... Lost $2 in a vending machine... I think they are set up to rip
people off every so often! Between Mattoon and Windsor, we were chased by
dogs twice... The first time was two dogs inside a fence... the second
time, was two dogs and NO fence... however, the owner was on a rider
mowing the grass out front... They stayed in the yard...
The old man and his dog standing on the corner had moved on... To where,
who knows? We sped up going past a couple of houses that we thought might
be his... fearing a race with a German Shepherd... No show.
We stopped in Windsor long enough to make another restroom stop, and
sponged off with some wet paper towels... I had bought the towels in
Mattoon knowing that I had room for them in the panniers! The panniers
are really going to come in handy! I just have to push a bit harder during
dog chases and on hills...
After Windsor, I noticed the sky to the North was beginning to look like
rain... It never came! I was glad, but that is ALWAYS one of my big
conerns. We actually DID get caught in a storm one year during the
Bagelfest Ride... Not only did we get SOAKED, but we were riding through
the trees on the West side of Lake Paradise with lightning crashing down
all around... All we could do was pray and keep pushing the pedals!
We made a quick stop on the Lithia Springs Road (Saw two deer in a
bean field...) almost on Rt 16 for a snack. Debby wanted some more fuel
for the ride on the highway... Again, we were off and on the edge of the
highway... Debby's seat came loose on her and we stopped to tighten it
down... I had the nose too far down, so we made another stop to adjust it
again... This time, we were at the sale barn just outside Shelbyville... I
adjusted then had her ride around the lot a bit until we had it right...
After we got back on the 4 lane stretch, we hauled on to the dam road...
There was a semi coming after us! Of course, he got over, but he was right
on us when we turned off Rt 16... Back across the dam and through town...
Somewhere on the South side of Shelbyville, Debby's phone rang... It was
Chuck telling her that he didn't get scheduled for Saturday... No
Ben-for-the-day...
We headed South the same way we came in to town... just without the dog!
Soon, we were across Robinson Creek again and heading UP the hill. This
is a KILLER hill! It starts almost immediately after the bridge with a
small uphill grade... You are already pushing before you get TO the hill!
Then, the hill starts. It curves to the right and just when you think you
are almost there, it keeps going! I could HEAR my heart pounding!
Back across RT. 32 and on to MORE HILLS! Down the two-step hill and
across the bridge again... Up, Up, Up! We stopped at the top briefly
before riding down and up again... By itself, this would not be a
bad climb... Not easy, but not killer... We were over 100 miles by this
point, and had just climbed two other hills!
We were BOTH hurting... Debby's Odometer read 106.? at this point...
shortly after, she noticed it read only .2 miles! For whatever reason, it
had reset! This is why I say approximately 112 miles total...
Next, it was time to ride past Stinky again... we built up speed, but
he saw us, barked and the chase was on! Around the curves across the
bridge and almost to the "T"... I sprayed some ammonia towards him...
didn't seem to bother him. Of course, I didn't spray him in the face with
it... I couldn't bring myself to be that cruel... He wasn't going to bite
us, he was just being annoying!
Saw three deer jump the road and thought he might go after them... NOT!
We continued towards the "T" road climbing a small hill just before it...
Stinky cut in front of Deb and she had to stop to keep from hitting him!
I stopped because I was just out of gas! We weren't quite to the top of
the hill, but I decided I didn't care! I walked the last few feet!
No sense in killing myself...
We decided to change course and go North past Eversole's... We didn't
want to go past the dog-in-the-bean-field... Instead, we went a mile
North and then headed West past a chow and what Debby things was a
rotweiller! They started to chase, but didn't go far... This was the last
we saw of Stinky... He probably stopped to tell them all about his day's
adventures!
By now, it was dark... We only had a couple of miles to go but I fished
out my little flashlight that we bought for the Tunnel... A few minutes
later, we rolled into the front yard... Home at last, safe and somewhat
sound... a lot tired and a bit crisp, but we made it!
Tylenol Gel Caps for everyone!
We talked Rachel into going to Subway for us (Thanks again!) and both hit
the shower... One at a time! Every year since we have had the bikes,
we've said we were going to do this... Now, we're wondering why we ever
wanted too! It has gotten us thinking or rather re-thinking our plans to
do the Katy Trail in Missouri.
It's a learning experience... as we push ourselves on longer and longer
rides, we are finding out what we are capable of and what it costs! We may
have ridden our last trip to Shelbyville... UNLESS we find a better route!
We certainly won't be riding past Stinky's again! 100 miles a day (or
more...) CAN be done, but is it worth it? We should maybe work on just
doing 50 to 75 miles in a day... easily! One thing about it... The Pana
trail will seem like NOTHING, now! Are we done already!?
All in all, the trip WAS fun! There is some satisfaction in reaching a
goal that has stood for a while...
