Day 1-Pontoon Beach, IL to Red Bud, IL-50.44 miles
38.12 N X 89.60 W
We left the Best Western around 7:15 a.m. after having a pretty skimpy continental breakfast. I guess that was one reason why this hotel received only a half a star out of five in the ratings. Anyhow we ate what we could and headed out. We really didn't have a bicycle route. We are about 70 miles north of where we can intercept the Adventure Cycling map of the transcontinental bicycle route. We ask the limo driver what he thought and he gave us the best route he knew. We started with that. We had only gone about 5 miles when we realized that there was a bicycle path just to the right of us. We jumped on it at the first opportunity. It was a great paved path and it carried us for about 10 miles of traffic-free biking bliss. Of course, reality set in when we arrived at Route 159...a historic highway, but very busy. (Speaking of historic highways, the Best Western was located on historic route 66. However, we only rode that route for about 1 block). Our original plan was to bike near the city of Chester, IL and stay at a nearby campground. We will be able to pick up the transcontinental trail from there. That was a 70 mile shot and turned out to be a little too robust for me to handle. After 50 miles, I was ready to throw in the towel for the day. We inquired. The nearest campground was still 26 miles south. There was the Red Bud Country Inn...the only motel in Red Bud. The weather was deteriorating and I was shot, so we took a room there for the night. The temperature was 93 degrees and very humid with approaching storms.
Clarkwheel
Question of the day: While biking on historic route 159 today, we passed a man-made object that turned out to be the world's largest of its kind. What object did we pass and what city was it found in?
We left the Best Western around 7:15 a.m. after having a pretty skimpy continental breakfast. I guess that was one reason why this hotel received only a half a star out of five in the ratings. Anyhow we ate what we could and headed out. We really didn't have a bicycle route. We are about 70 miles north of where we can intercept the Adventure Cycling map of the transcontinental bicycle route. We ask the limo driver what he thought and he gave us the best route he knew. We started with that. We had only gone about 5 miles when we realized that there was a bicycle path just to the right of us. We jumped on it at the first opportunity. It was a great paved path and it carried us for about 10 miles of traffic-free biking bliss. Of course, reality set in when we arrived at Route 159...a historic highway, but very busy. (Speaking of historic highways, the Best Western was located on historic route 66. However, we only rode that route for about 1 block). Our original plan was to bike near the city of Chester, IL and stay at a nearby campground. We will be able to pick up the transcontinental trail from there. That was a 70 mile shot and turned out to be a little too robust for me to handle. After 50 miles, I was ready to throw in the towel for the day. We inquired. The nearest campground was still 26 miles south. There was the Red Bud Country Inn...the only motel in Red Bud. The weather was deteriorating and I was shot, so we took a room there for the night. The temperature was 93 degrees and very humid with approaching storms.
Clarkwheel
Question of the day: While biking on historic route 159 today, we passed a man-made object that turned out to be the world's largest of its kind. What object did we pass and what city was it found in?
posted by SpokeWrench at
2:09 PM
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