Ho hum, another day another state. The southern tip of Illinois is very narrow and it took less than 3 days for me to navigate across the state. Actually Kentucky is flatter than Southern Illinois. North of Carbondale, it is a totally different story. It is Kansas flat. After a big blow the previous day the weather changed for the better. Today it was much cooler and the humidity is way down. Making it a lot more comfortable to ride.
Adventure Cycling, the organization that mapped the route that I am taking must want me to take every mode of transportation of possible. Today it was a ferry across the Ohio River into Kentucky.
After getting into Kentucky it was only 12 more miles to Marion. Tonight I am staying at another hostel served by a United Methodist Church. This church in Marion has been hosting TransAm cyclists since the first “official” ride occurred in 1976. The church has on display the registers, or guest books, dating back to then and everyone since then. It was fun to see the names and pictures of people that I have met who were going west or those that I am chasing going east. The pastor insists on taking on picture of everyone that stays at the church.
For the most part I have been riding solo. There was a brief time in Oregon and Idaho that I rode with someone else but for various reasons, such as taking a different route or pace, we separated fairly quickly. There are two groups in front of me that I have been chasing for states. First there is a couple from San Francisco riding a tandem. They are consistently 2 days ahead of me. The second group is 3 women that were at one time 7 days ahead of me, then 5 and now it is 2. I am not sure if I will catch either group because there is less than 1/4 of the route to do to Yorktown, Virginia.
Today’s stats: total mileage 73.3; average speed 12.1 mph; max speed 43.1 mph; total elevation gain 4447 feet; total descent. 4595 feet.