Aug 3 Dallas City to Quincy, IL

Distance 70 miles, rode my bike only 29 of those miles, 11.6 mph average, 2:29 ride time, total time on the road 4 hours 15 minutes, expenses $18.52 

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The day began great with a tummy filling breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy.  Jess and Doris helped me load Spirit into the bed of their pick-up.  They were so careful not to scratch Spirit and even covered her up with a tarp for the ride.  Spirit not used to such kind treatment.  We then drove the 15 miles to Nauvoo, passing some of the cattle and farm land Dorisa nd Jess own.  I learned they have 20 head of breeding cows for the spring calving and an additional 20 head of fall breeders, all 40 serviced by one bull.  Lucky Bull! 

Jess and Doris provided me with a guided tour and shared the interesting history of the Church of Latter Day Saints(Mormons) in Nauvoo.  I didn’t realize Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had homesteaded here after being run out of Missouri.  I always thought the Mormons left Liberty,Missouri and went direct toSalt Lake City,Utah.  Likewise, I learned the church split and a second Mormon group formed the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, this latter group doesn’t appear to be as financially well off.  The first Mormon Group owns much of the land around Nauvoo and built a beautiful but smaller version of the one in Salt Lake City.  They have also created a “Pioneer Park” where youngsters of all ages can see how folks lived back in the 1800s. 

Tour of Nauvoo completed Jess and Doris dropped me off at a city park, we did our farewell hugs and vowed to see each other again down the road of life.  Once again I feel like I’ve known Jess and Doris forever and was sorry to have to leave so soon.  My journey is as much or more about the folks I meet as it is about the roads I travel. 

The ride out of Nauvoo, through Hamilton and Warsaw is pretty much flat as it is bottom land of the Mississippi River protected by levees the land has become prime farmland and both sides of the road were fields of corn.  The corn is in good shape here not like in my home state of Missouri where the drought has burned it all up.  As for the towns, well that’s another story as they are in the same decaying state as I’ve seen many other small towns across America.  I stopped to take a picture of an abandoned school dated 1866 when the area was a thriving community.

In 1866 this had to be a really large school for its day

Couldn’t help but notice how quickly the temperature along this stretch of County Road 12 was climbing,  though it was not yet noon I’m sure it was over 100° already.  Plus there was no wind except what I was generating from riding.  In other words my body was heating up and the water in my hydration pack and insulated bottles were already near coffee temperature.  That’s when I remembered Doris telling me about a touring cyclist who passed this way a couple weeks ago had to be rescued by a Warm Showers as he was overcome with Heat Exhaustion.  Since there was only one Warm Showers Host listed forQuincy, it was a pretty good bet it was Brian Hill.  I had sent out requests to Warm Shower Hosts all the way to St Louis just in case Jim and Julissa were unable to SAG for me.  In Muscatine over dinner things were going so well with Jim and Julissa doing SAG support I promised them past Dallas City I would not hook up with anymore Warm Shower Hosts in order to have more time to visit with them.  I didn’t receive Brian’s phone message to stay with him until yesterday afternoon but was unable to respond due to a lack of service on my cell phone.  Thus, I planned to let Brian know soon as I reached Quincy today that I wouldn’t be staying with him tonight, which I did do.  Gees its hot out today! 

Barge going down the Mighty Mississippi

About 10 miles south of Warsawto my right just off CR 12 was one of my favorite picture opportunities an old barn, happened to be a little bridge just past the barn where I could lean Spirit up against the guard rail of the bridge so of course it was picture taking time

Barn I took picture of just before Bill stopped to give me a ride to Quincy

After snapping a couple pictures of the barn, I decided to have a Jelly Belly Sport Bean snack and drink some of coffee hot water.  While snacking, thinking of the heat and that I still had another 26 miles to ride in this extreme heat with no wind along came a pick-up.  Yep, you guessed it the driver pulled up along side me and asked if I needed help.  I told him I’d appreciate a ride to Quincy or however far he was going.  He said no problem and even helped me load spirit into the back of his pick-up.  Bill was making a delivery of a machined product to one of his customers in  Atlas, Illinois which would take him through Quincy.  When the day started I calculated I’d be riding another 70 mile day instead I only had to do 29 miles thanks to another Random Act of kindness by a stranger.  By the time we reached Quincy Bill was no longer a stranger but yet another friend I’ve made on my journey.  Bill shared with me that I wasn’t the first touring bicyclist he’s given a ride.  He told me this road in the bottomland surrounded on two sides by endless cornfields creates a dead air mass which is hard on folks especially bicyclists expending great amounts of energy.  Turns out that is exactly why he stopped to help me as he knew I’d have a hard time making it on a day with a heat index expected to be 110° or more.  Once again I found myself thinking of Paul’s words, “God will provide in your time of need”. 

Bill drove me directly to the comfort Inn in Quincy, the hotel Julissa and I had agreed we’d try to stay at this night.  Notice the Comfort Inn is another of the Choice Hotel chain and a friend to bicyclists like me.  Sure enough, now that I was in Quincy my cell phone was working.  Before going in to register I phoned Brian and thanked him for his offer to allow me to stay at his place tonight.  I was sorry, even more so as I was later to discover, I had to decline his offer as I’ve made good friends with every host.  I think Brian was a little disappointed, too.  After hanging up with Brian I phoned Julissa and learned they were almost to Quincyand they would be to the Comfort Inn soon.  With that I decided it was time to go ahead and see what I could do for a room here at the Comfort Inn.  Working the front desk was General manager Jeanne Sutton.  After introducing myself to Jeanne, I asked her what the best rate she could provide this Old Guy for tonight.  Jeanne immediately said, “I have a room the AC isn’t working in and will comp (Free) the room if you don’t mind not having AC but she would give me a fan to help circulate the air”.  I told her I could hardly refuse such a generous offer.  As I was taking Spirit up to my room Jim and family drove up.  Jim had to take a call from his son John so I visited with Julissa.  I told her the Comfort Inn had a nice pool the girls would be able to enjoy and I was glad to see them.

I took Spirit upstairs to my room and when I came back down to fetch my gear out of Jim’s car; he was off the phone with his son.  That’s when I received the words I most dreaded hearing.  Jim said they needed to head home and sorry they would be unable to continue hauling my gear down the road for me.  My heart sunk.  I knew it would be a challenge and expensive for Jim and family to go on a road trip for a whole week.  Please know Jim and Julissa I’m very grateful for your time and sacrifice to help this Old Guy realize another adventure.  You relieved me of a substantial burden of weight and were definitely a motivation to continue my ride when I wanted to quit after struggling through the hills between Prairie du Chien and Dickeyville.  You saved the day, thank you! 

After saying goodbye I went back to my room and spent the day doing journal entries.  Writing in my journal got me over my melancholy mood as I had so much to be thankful for over the past 16 days on the road meeting new friends, the many random acts of kindness and two special folks who touched my heart Paul in Freedem, MN and Eric in Minneapolis, two of God’s Guardian Angels sent to comfort and help me. 

To reduce weight I’d be carrying toSt Louis, I ate my emergency rations which actually tasted pretty good.  My lunch consisted of a couple pouches of Albacore Tuna, Ritz crackers and peanut butter and a couple breakfast bars.  I left in the room a few more breakfast bars, some sausage sticks, all total I probably reduced my load by 5 lbs.  Not wanting to Over Dose on emergency rations in one day I did pop for a pizza at dinner, had it delivered to my room. 

Without air-conditioning it was difficult to sleep and I found myself spending most of my time tossing and turning in bed.  Yet I was grateful for Jeanne Sutton’s kindness to provide shelter at not cost.  Not getting much sleep did allow me get an early start in the morning. The first few miles would be on a busy 4 lane street during rush hour traffic which would be a source of stress for me.

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