About 1/2 of the ride today was the last stretch of the KATY and the last 1/2 were roads in Illinois. A highlight was meeting Harlee Sorkin, one of Lisa's cousins. He met us on the KATY and rode about 20 miles with us. He left after giving us a tour of St. Charles. After we continued north, we entered a portion of the KATY that a storm had recently damaged. We rode into a section with 4 inches of mud and had to stop to clean our bikes before we could continue. We rode into a section that we think was closed - the police tape had been moved to allow passage. This section had standing water in several spots but was hard pack the entire way. This section also crossed a wildlife area and was pretty and desolate. After getting back onto paved roads north of St. Louis, we ate and rinsed our bikes at a restaurant in West Alton. The we crossed the Mississippi and entered Illinois. Our first ride in Illinois followed a bike path that ran south along the Mississippi. Then we headed east through an industrial area. After following paved roads for a while, we picked up a bike path that took us into Edwardsville. We ducked into World Beer (??) for a brew just as a thunderstorm hit. After drinking Ruination on tap, we followed bike paths to our hotel..
We rode 71.06 miles at an average speed of 11.6 mph. My maximum speed was 25.8 mph.
Tom and his twin brother, two of the bikers we met @ Klondike.
Our camp
Garry
Harlee
St. Charles
Louis after we rode into a bed of mud
We had lost over 9.000 ft. since our high point in the Rockies
Looking south
The bridge
Flare at a refinery as we rode into IL
A birthday woman where we ate dinner. The wait staff pushed the cake into her face while they held her hands in the air after singing a birthday song.
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