10/30/2022 0 Comments Flashbacks: Missouri & IllinoisMissouri: Setting the scene: Eryn and her bike fully loaded, Louisa strapped next to the bear canister. Riding on a two lane divided highway heading west on Highway 36 between Pershing State Park and Cameron, Missouri. Large rolling hills and zoom zoom traffic (Read Part 2: Missouri post for more details). I approach an intersection and hear yelling along the lines of “hey!!!!!” and I see two bicycle tourists frantically waving their arms to get my attention. They were probably like me. On the road for a long time. Lonely. Wanting another person-biking-long-distance encounter. However, they were on the other side of the zoom zoom divided highway and I was zoom zooming down hill. The most they got from me was a wave, but it would have been nice to chat. An hour or so later, another encounter. As we all know, I had more than my fair share of men thinking they’re nice yet coming across creepy to this young solo female cyclist. Up the road, I see a subaru parked on the side of the road and a guy taking pictures of a farm field. There was nothing inherently interesting about this particular farm field. When I get closer, he steps into the pavement in front of me and says that he’s a photographer and asks to take my picture. So many thoughts. A total rando - a man - with a fancy camera - asking to take my photo - I give permission, but I don’t take off my helmet nor sunglasses nor stop my music (a totally cursed playlist from Bronte and the song playing was about geometry). I don’t even smile. I was sort of going for the ‘people in National Geographic’ vibe. Looking back, was I in any inherent danger? No. But, I wasn’t going to even get close to that line. He gives me his email so after my ride I can request the photos he took of me: and here they are. I am astounded. They turned out so much better than I was ever thinking they would. Photos I would seriously frame and keep in my house. Photos courtesy of Douglas Adesko Photography, LLC Illinois:
In my time this past weekend reminiscing on my bike tour, I remembered a video Laurie and Dave took of me before stopping for a break to chat and eat chocolate pie (Read Land of Lincoln post for more details). This video brings me joy - because Laurie and Dave are also bicycle tourists and know what it feels like to be on the road - and they know the type of media (photos/videos) bicycle tourists want. Additionally - I cannot view myself in third person, so it is cool to see what I look on my bike from the perspective of other people. I do not have the paid version of weebly - hence the weebly.com part in the URL - and thus cannot add video to posts like I do with photos. Here is a link to the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LnB1AizYMT7uv7bmqoEVmqsgtpHEezIA/view?usp=sharing
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6/30/2022 0 Comments Fast moving ColoradoThe day of my gravel road crash, I spent a lot of time on the phone with various friends and family trying to decide my next move and route west. After much mental anguish and deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I will pack up my bike and drive to Denver, Colorado, where my aunt and uncle live. This was not an easy decision to make, but it was the necessary one. 95-115F temps in Nebraska. Soaring temperatures in the west – the state of Colorado was telling people not even to go outside to mow their lawns. Residual wildfire smoke from Arizona. That’s definitely too hot for me to safely bike. I made a second decision to make the decision on the rest of my trip west when I was in Denver. People who bike around the world skip whole countries out of safety, and others who have attempted a similar route to mine have been stopped before due to high heat / wildfires. Kayla so kindly drove me to the Lincoln Airport, where I picked up a rental car. The stars aligned with pride month and the rental agency gave me a sweet Subaru Outback. I wasn’t worried about the price of the rental, because it was equivalent to the amount of money I would have spent on camping/motel/food/etc in 2 weeks biking across Nebraska – instead spending it in two days. 2 cups of coffee and 7 ½ hours later, driving across the whole state of Nebraska and half of Colorado, I was in Denver. It was an easy drive; I like driving and vibing to music. Absolutely screamed along to every one of Xana’s songs on her new album “Tantrums.” Very therapeutic. I didn’t admit it to myself when I was driving, but I subconsciously made my decision on the rest of my ride to Oregon. And even now, typing this in Wisconsin, it hurts to say: I stopped my ride. At this time, I’m not riding to Oregon. It’s too hot out west. Biking 1700 miles alone takes a mental toll. I’m lonely. I’m ready to go home. I am at ease with my decision since it is more from extraneous forces rather than my legs giving out. The friends and family I break the news to are relieved and supportive of my decision. My aunt and uncle are elated that I’m spending a week with them in Denver. While in Denver, we get ice cream, go hiking, take a visit to urgent care, go hiking again, visit urgent care once again, walk around the Denver Zoo, and root for the Avs in the Stanley Cup final vs Tampa Bay. It turns out that the badbraska (thanks, Bronte for coining that term and now I’m stealing it) dirt has extra special bacteria and my road rash required three (3) types of antibiotics because it wasn’t healing. To conclude my week in Denver, I buy an Amtrak train ticket to Chicago to get back to the Midwest. My Mom would drive to a connecting train station just south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border to pick me up. On paper, my ride on the California Zephyr going east was 19 hours. The train was 3 hours late arriving in Denver, and 2.5 hours late arriving in Chicago – resulting in Eryn booking it through the Chicago Union Station to get a ticket for the Metra and narrowly missing the train to my pick-up location. As my journey across the United States comes to an end, I want to say thank you for everyone who has followed along, given me words of encouragement, and helped me while on the road. I couldn’t have done it without you. Don’t worry – I’m not finished posting about my trip yet. There’ll be gear reviews, best state parks list, and ranking of states, to name a few 😊 6/12/2022 0 Comments Land of LincolnIllinois was physically painless but mentally painful.
The topography of the southern tip of Illinois was hilly, and then it quickly became flat. The morning I left Cave-In-Rock, it was pouring. In a lull in the rain, I moved all my items to a pavilion to wait out the storm, eat breakfast out of the rain, and attempt to dry my tent a little bit before packing it into my pannier. Although I had slept through the thunderstorm, I was exhausted. Exhausted Eryn cries at minor inconveniences. So that's what I did. The sky was crying and so was I. The sky stopped the tears and so did I, she packed up the cloudy weather and I packed up my bike. I was on my way to Harrisburg, 36 miles away. There isn't much in southern Illinois, no camping and not much between towns either, so I opted for a motel for the night. Mr. Griffis offered to pay for it, and I didn't decline. Roughly halfway through my ride, I see a familiar motorhome pass me - it was Dave and Laurie - we happened to be going the same direction! A couple miles up the road I was greeted with waves, smiles, and an invitation for chocolate pie. We talked about bike touring, gear, food, and everything else related. It was so so nice to talk about bikes with other people who were also bike tourists. They gave me route recommendations, and reassured me that the Katy Trail from St.Louis to Kansas City was hard Missouri clay and hard packed pea gravel - and that my bike would be able to handle it. (take that, mean Troutdale AT hiker who said the Katy Trail was too rough for my bike) (side side note: take this into precaution when u speak to other ppl bc this man's unkind words from VIRGINIA are STILL WITH ME although I don't give them any weight) The chocolate pie was from a super small corner restaurant, and it was great. In Harrisburg I picked up some more food from Kroger. Real pre-made vanilla pudding as a do-over from my fail the night before. More protein bars. Popcorn deli chicken and a veggie platter for dinner. The next morning I headed out towards Du Quoin, 56 miles away. First 100% truly flat day. Okay, okay, Strava said I only had 594ft of elevation gain, for the whole day. That's really nothing. I usually don't double track my routes. However, today I was going to hit 1,000 miles and I wanted to as accurately as possible see where that would be. Garmin Tracking vs Strava: Garmin sends my location as a point on a map every 20 minutes. So if I go through 5 curves before it can send a dot, there'll just be a straight line from point A to point B. If I'm super slow going around a giant curve, the map will then show that. Meaning that the mileage is always a little off. Strava continuously tracks points, so on the map you're able to see what side of the road I'm on or if I make a circle in a gas station parking lot. Mileage is usually spot on. They both have their pluses and negatives for using as a route tracking service. Around noon, I biked into Energy, Illinois, my 1,000 mile mark for this trip. Energy gave me energy. As a mini reward, I stopped at a Casey's for chicken tenders and bbq sauce & then I was on my way. Again, there was no easy camping available around Du Quoin and I opted for another motel rather than stealth camping. The next day I was on a 60 mile ride (longest yet) to an American Legion Campground outside of Freeburg, IL. I had called a campground on Google maps that turned out to be closed, however the lady who answered gave me two other campgrounds to chose from in the area. I chose the American Legion Campground. That lady had obviously not been to it, because I would not have recommended it to me. To put it bluntly, it was the sketchiest place I've been thus far. As soon as I biked onto premises, I was like … something doesn't feel right. The vibes were off. I can do rural and no one around. But I can't do straight out creepy. Overgrown, underkept, rundown buildings, a camper that looked like it hasn't moved in 5 years in the absolute middle of cornfields as a young, solo, female traveler. Immediately in the campground I pull out my phone to see if I have service. Thankfully I do. Unfortunately however, my phone wasn't working to call nor answer calls. I remain calm. The last thing I want to do is make other people in the campground aware that I'm having a breakdown. I get me and my bike out of there, and park myself the farthest away from the campground part as possible (probably ¼ mi away) while still being on the property (it bordered on a private drive & private property). 20ft from the property line, I restarted my phone and pulled out my hotspot in an attempt to call someone and tell them my situation. The hotspot worked. Worst case scenario, I was 35 miles from St. Louis and Brontë could pick me up. I definitely felt safer 20ft from the property line, and I did not go back into the campground to get more water or use the outhouse. I rationed my water (roughly 90 oz) and peed in the woods. I was tired enough that I slept through the night, but before bed I took extra precautions in case something did happen. At daybreak I have renewed energy to get the heck outta dodge and zoom zoom towards St. Louis and did not look back. I even multitasked and ate breakfast while taking down my tent. Never had I been so happy to see a Circle K to fill up my water bottles. Near the Circle K, I got on a paved bike path - SCCTD MetroBikeLink Trail - that took me to the outskirts of East St. Louis. Some people the previous day told me about East St. Louis, but the American Legion campground was way more sketchy than the subdivisions I biked through in East St. Louis. I biked across the Mississippi River on the Eads Bridge & took the first exit for the Arch. My first time seeing the St. Louis Arch, and it was awesome. It's huge! Shiny! A landmark! Icon of the gateway to the west! Crazy to believe that I've biked all the way to St. Louis from the Atlantic Ocean! I do amaze myself sometimes. What a feat I'm undertaking. In St. Louis, I planned to stay with a friend, Brontë, the one who's so kindly posting these blogs for me :) A 45 minute bike ride later and with a confused google maps, I was excitedly on Brontë's doorstep, ready for a rest day and to hang out with a friend. All is well in the world. 5/30/2022 2 Comments The end of KentuckyDay 26: Green River Lake State Park to Rock Cabin Campground, 55 miles
Day 27: Rock Cabin Campground to Houchin Ferry Campground, 21 miles
Day 28: Houchin Ferry Campground to Ohio County Park/Campground, 50 miles
Day 29: Rest day (still biked 10 miles)
Day 30: Ohio County Park/Campground to Sebree Cyclist Hostel, 48 miles
Day 31: Sebree Cyclist Hostel to Cave-In-Rock, IL; 55 miles
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Author: Eryn corinthCyclist. Feminist. Outdoor enthusiast. Tree hugger. Archives
October 2022
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