Aug 16-19 on the TransAm

The alarm went off at 5:15, which gave us plenty of time to pack up, do our devotions, and get to the Vintage Market in town by 6:00 for breakfast. We loaded our bikes, signed the hostel cycling log, locked the door, and headed to the restaurant. We weren’t the first ones there. A handful of men on their way to work sat around a table by the front door. As soon as we walked in, all donned up in our cycling clothes, one of them said, “Here comes the brush guards for big trucks.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It’s true that we ride between semis and the “brush” on the side of the road but we have no intention of being their brush guards. But I didn’t think he meant any ill by it; so I just said, “Yes, it gets pretty tight out there sometimes,” and took a seat at a nearby table. He then kindly proceeded to ask us several questions about our trip, who we were, which way we were going, &c. It was a nice conversation really. They seemed genuinely interested and, when the man who spoke to us got up to leave, he walked towards the back door and then turned back and said, “You boys be safe out there!” “We will. Thank you.” 

We loaded up with a nice breakfast. Rocky ordered pancakes, Forrest got a bistuits and gravy stack of some sort, and I can’t remember what I ordered but it was plenty. I also ordered a white chocolate mocha since it was a coffee shop as well. Buit when I went up to the counter to pay the lady said, “Your meal is on the house.” “Really? Are you serious? Wow. Thank you so much.” I left a nice tip in the tip jar and wondered if the man who conversed with us covered our meal. He was definitely a regular and a local. Only God knows; but if he did I pray the Lord blesses him for the kindness. 

There was a serious climb out of Ellington that gave us a real good clue of what our day was going to be like. We were aiming for Farmington–a 61 mile ride. There’s a really nice bike hostel there in a jail that went out of service in 1996. They call it Al’s Place after a famous local cyclist. 

The first town we came to when we left Ellington was Centerville. We took a selfie with the sign and missed home. It’s only one syllable different (Centerville, MO instead of Centerville, MA) but over 1000 miles apart. Guess we’ll have to keep on pedaling. After Centerville we came upon the well-known Johnsons’s Shut-Ins State Park. There are some really nice spots to wade/swim in the East Fork of the Black River so we stopped there and visited the Visitor’s Center. We looked around a bit and watched a video of the restoration of the park after a huge flood in 2005 destroyed everything. When we learned the swimming area was nearly  a mile and a half up the river and the water looked to be really low, we opted not to go to it. It was a hard decision to make but we figured we’d better just keep going. We had a lot of climbing ahead of us. None of us wanted to deal with wet swimming clothes afterwards. And we just really wanted to get the day’s biking behind us. So we pedaled on. 

We stopped in Graniteville for a hotdog and an ice cream sandwich for lunch and of course to fill up our bottles with cold ice water. Our next stop for water was in Doe Run, 10 miles shy of our destination. I went in first and filled up my bottles and came back out to wait for the boys by the bikes. After a little while a lady comes out and approaches me. She says, “You must be Forrest’s dad.” “Yes, I am.” “He wanted me to come out and let you know that I’m going to be praying for your safety.” “Wow, that’s wonderful! Thank you so much.” “I was talking to him inside about your trip and told him that I’d be praying for ya’ll and he said, “You should go tell my dad that.” So I wanted to come out nad let you know.” “That’s grea. Why don’t you follow us on our blog so that you can see where we are and you’ll know when we get safely home.” I never got her name but God knows her and I’m thankful for her prayers. 

We got to Al’s Place by 2:30 and were very impressed with it. It’s a small 2-story jail that was built in 1870 and retired from service in 1996. The first floor is used as a place to lock up our bikes during the night and the second floor has been remodeled into a 3 bdrm apartment (sleeps 14 on 7 bunk beds) with a living room, laundry room, kitchen, and 2 full bathrooms. It was super nice. We each had our own room for a change. And we can all say we spent a night in jail 😀 We heated up some soup for dinner and kicked back to watch “Castaway” together. I’d seen it years ago but the boys hadn’t so we had a nice relaxing evening together. It was another crazy day of climbing. Similar to Monday’s ride, over the 61 miles we had an accumulated ascent of 3300 ft with an accumulated descent of 2900. Now that’s some HILLS!!! 

Aug 17

We were up early for a long day. After breakfast and devotions we were able to get on the road by 6:45. The goal for today was to at least reach Murphysboro, IL. Not only would that put us into our 8th state(!) but it would also be the end of our 9th map! It would be an 86 mile ride with plenty of hills but we had two things to motivate us. We’d be passing through Chester, IL, the home of Popeye (whom Forrest really likes) and we’d be taking the “Missippil Levee Alternate” route from Chester to Murphysboro, a more level and biker friendly road than the narrow highway with tons of semis hauling coal. So off we went. 

The 48 mile ride to Chester wenbt surprisingly well. We made really good time, crossing the Mississippi River into Chester, IL by 11:15. I hadn’t told Forrest about Popeye so he was really surprised when we immediately pulled into the Visitor Center and I pointed out the Popeye statue. We took a few pictures and then rode into town for lunch and a visit to the Popeye Museum. The lady at the museum was really nice, telling us all about the creator of Popeye (who lived there in Chester), the upcoming eclipse, and all the cyclists who come through her museum every summer. I thanked her for everything and then went outside to check on our lodging for the night. 

I’d already emailed Jack Wides, a warmshower in Carbondale, 10 miles past Murphysboro, so I wanted to check my email to see if he’d replied. He had replied and said he’d be glad to have us. A warmshower is always nice but it was a hot day and I wasn’t too excited about the extra 10 miles. So I started calling churches in Murphysboro. I spoke with a lady at the Evangelical Church who said she’d call me if she could find someone to open the church for us–she never called back–and I left a message for Pastor Larry of the United Methodist Church. The rest was in the Lord’s hands. 

The Mississippi Levee Alternate is a flatter route that runs, mostly, down along the Mississippi River. But more than being mostly flat it also has far less traffic and no semis. The road into and out of Chester was full of semis headed for the coal terminal south of Chester. They came one after the other–on a road with no shoulder–and seemed to never stop. We still had to ride 10 miles to Cora with the semis, but after Cora we were able to turn on Levee Rd and snake our way to Murphysboro on back roads with very little traffic. For a long stretch we had the road so to ourselves that it was like we were on a bike path. 

On the way to Cora we rode through Rockwood, a little town of 32 people. It’s a dot on the map. We were humored by the town name because it was the loose combination of Rocky’s and Forrest’s names. I think Rocky stopped to take a picture of the town sign. But for as small as Rockwood is and for as quickly as we’d be through it, there was an old Trading Post building that caught our eye as we cycled by. Forrest said, “Whoa! That was cool!!!” I thought it was pretty cool too so I said, “I’ll pull over and wait here if you want to go back and see it.” I pulled over and he and Rocky turned around to go back. Soon they waved me back. I turned around and parked my bike on the “go side” of the road. I could hear a man talking to them. Forrest yelled across the road to me, “Come on over Daddy, there’s cold water for you.” I headed over and was greeted by a kind man named Fred Gilbert who shook my hand and handed me a cold bottle of water. We talked for as long as decency required and then I was itching to take our leave. We still had 38 miles to go to Murphysboro and another 10 if we were to end up in Carbondale. 

As soon as we got back to our bikes Rocky came up to me and said, “Daddy, I lost my iPod.” “How did you do that!?” “I think it fell out of my pocket when Forrest and I were horsing around in the grass in Chester.” “Well I really don’t want to ride back to Chester…” “Let’s call the lady at Subway and see if she’ll be willing to go out and look for it.” He called, and she did go out and look–in vain–but he but he was still convinced that it was there. “Maybe we can ask Fred if he can give us a ride back to Chester to look for it.” “Ok. Go ask him then. If he says yes I’ll stay here with the bikes and you and Forrest can go look for it.” Fred dropped everything and loaded the boys up in his truck to drive the 8 miles back to Chester. I sat by the bikes to wait. As I sat there I got a call from Larry, the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Murphysboro. After he laughed in unbelief that I was cycling across the country with my two sons, he said, “I’m sure we can give you a place to stay here at the church just call me when you get into town.” Nice! Praise the Lord. We had a place in Murphysboro and didn’t need to go to Carbondale. I had no idea how long the boys would be and how much this would delay us so I emailed my regrets to Jack Wides in Carbondale and explained that we’d be staying in Murphysboro instead. 

The boys actually returned around 3:45 with the happy news that they’d found the iPod in the grass. I thanked Fred for his kindness as we got ready to leave. As it turns out, he’s the mayor of Rockwood. How cool is that, eh!? Thank you Fred! 

We very much enjoyed the 38 mile ride to Murphysboro. It was mostly flat with a good climb up into town and we arrived just after 6:00. We went straight to the church and Larry came out to meet us with a big smile. He’d never heard of anyone riding their bikes across the country and was both surprised and impressed by it all. He let us shower in the old parsonage (which is office space now) while he taught an evening class and then met up with us afterwards (8:00) to show us where in the church we could sleep and to give us a key to the church. Once we got the key to the place we we headed over to the nationally famous 17th St. BBQ for a late dinner. Before setting down for the night I saw in my email that Jack Wides was really disappointed that we didn’t come to his place. He said he was really looking forward to meeting us and wanted to know what an Orthodox Presbyterian was. Well I couldn’t pass that up… So I emailed him and asked if he’d like to meet for breakfast. He said he’d be glad to and picked a restaurant 6 blocks from the church 🙂 

Aug 18

We met Jack Wides for breakfast at Cindy B’s at 7:30. He came with a guy named Gary, a pedaling astronomer who’d stayed the night with him. Gary was in the area to write an article on the NASA coverage of the eclipse in Carbondale, the area of the US which gets the longest duration of total darkness–2:41. We all enjoyed good conversation over a nice breakfast and Gary was nice enough to pay. And on top of it all Gary gave us glasses through which to see the eclipse. Thank you Gary! The conversation turned at one point to what an Orthodox Presbyterian was (Jack is a nominal Jew), which gave me ano opportunity to speak of the Lord. Our talk never got very deep but seeds were planted and for that I can be thankful. 

We didn’t get on the bikes until almost 9:15. The goal for the day was the smal town of Eddyville, IL, a 65 mile ride. I didn’t know where we’d stay the night yet so before leaving town I texted Pastor Larry and asked if he knew any churches in Eddyville and if he could put us in touch with a pastor there. With that done we pulled out of town. A little later Larry texted me with the name and number of the United Methodist minister in Eddyville. When we stopped for lunch in Goreville I called Pastor Michael and he said, “The doors are open; go in and make yourself at home. You can eat whatever food you find in the kitchen.” Thank you Lord. We were all set for the night. We pulled into town around 5:30. Two older couples sitting on the front porch of a house in the shade waved kindly at us as we passed by them on Main St. The church was just a block away. We entered the sanctuary and the thermostat read 86 degrees. Pastor Michael said we could set it to whatever we wanted as long as we reset it before we left. We lowered the temp to 70 and waited patiently. There were no showers or laundry so we took a sponge bath and rinsed the salt and sweat out of our clothes. When I was waiting on the boys to get cleaned up I walked over to the house on Main St. to ask them where we could get some dinner. They gave me directions me to the town’s restaurant and then asked a ton of questions about us and our trip. 

After dinner I sat in the basement of the church and worked a bit on this blog post before heading to bed around 11:00. The boys were already asleep on the floor of the sanctuary. I didn’t want to get out my air mattress unless I had to so I decided to try sleeping on a pew. They’re very narrow but since I sleep mostly on my side I figured it should work well enough for a night.

Aug 19

I woke the boys up by 5:30 since we had an 87 mile ride ahead of us. Eighty-seven miles was ambitous–or crazy–in this hilly region but we’d heard from Samuel that there was a great hostel at the First Baptist Church in Sebree, KY. To reach it would put us in a comfy place for the night but more than that it would give us a great church in which to hear the Word and a perfect place in which to see the eclipse. So one way or another, by hook or by crook, we had to make it to Sebree. 

We didn’t have much of a breakfast before heading out of Eddyville so I told the boys we’d stop in Elizabethtown for a bite to eat. It was a 21 mile ride with plenty of tough hills and a lot of humidity so by the time we got there we were ready for a break. We grabbed two sandwiches each, one to eat now and one to save for lunch. In the Lord’s kind providence a heavy downpour passed through town while we were chillin on a bench outside the store with our sandwich. We left town heading for Cave-In-Rock where we were to catch a ferry and cross the Ohio River over into Kentucky. I was glad when we rolled down the hill directly onto the ferry. Talk about perfect timing 🙂 The ferry ride was probably about 5 mins and dropped us onto the shores of Kentucky.

Given the many miles over many hills today I was on the lookout for a pickup that could give us a lift part of the way. There were no pickups on the ferry with us so I gave up on the idea and was ready to head out. But the boys wanted to wait out one more ferry rotation to see if we could find a ride. When that effort proved vain it was time to go. We got to Marion, after many though hills, by lunch so we found a pavilion in town and ate our sandwiches. 

It would’ve been just like any other day except for the fact that were way behind our normal schedule. It was lunchtime and not only had we only gone 30 miles, but we still had 57 more to go. It’s very unusual for us to have so many miles ahead of us after lunch and so few behind us by lunch. Besides the 20-30 min break in Elizabethtown we’d done as we usually do and pedal on. But given the hills and humidity we’d faced here we were… And we still had a lot of hills and humidity ahead of us. There was a bike hostel at the United Methodist church in Marion and Rocky was nearly begging me to stop there. But I knew the Sebree hostel was much nicer and I really wanted to worship and spend the Lord’s Day at the Baptist church rather than the Methodist church. So I pushed him and we pedaled on. The miles slowly ticked by as we passed through Clay and Dixon and finally reached Sebree by 6:30. ––It’s hard to believe but in the 87 miles we covered from Eddyville, IL to Sebree, KY we had an accumulated elevation gain of nearly 4700 ft while dropping almost 300 ft. 4700 ft! That’s more than we climbed in one day even in the Rockies! Now that’s a lot of little hills! 

We rode up to the front door of the church and stopped our bikes. As we were getting off our bikes a man came out of the parsonage next door to greet us. He had a warm, welcome smile and was happy to take us around the back of the church to the downstairs entrance of their bike hostel. Pastor Tony has only been here a year but his predecessor, Pastor Bob (who still lives across the street with his wife Violet), started hosting TransAm cyclists 20 years ago. They used to invite them into thier home and seize the opportunity to show them the love of Christ. When the church expanded many years ago they took the bull by the horns and built this bike hostel into the basement of their annex. It’s the nicest hostel we’ve seen so far. Not only is it large and relaxing but they’ve thought of everything a cyclist might need or want in a hostel. It’s a top-shelf hostel and Pastor Tony and his wife are very good at serving the cyclists and standing ready for every opportunity to tell the world on their doorsteps about Jesus Christ. I pray many come to Christ through the seeds planted and watered here in Sebree, KY. 

After we got cleaned up we headed into town for dinner at the BBQ Junction. I was surprised to discover that it was a hole-in-the-wall “carry out only” place. I was expecting sit-down service. In any case, the owners were kind and the food was excellent. I told the lady we were cyclists staying at the church and her face beamed, “Well, we’re glad to have you! Thanks for coming in. How do you like the hostel?” “Oh it’s super nice. We’re so happy to be there…. And we’re staying to worship there tomorrow as well hanging out for the eclipse on Monday.” “That’s nice. I think you’ll really enjoy the service tomorrow. That’s my home church. I grew up in that church.” We sat at a picnic table outside and ate our meal. I’d commented while inside that the brownies looked good. While we sat eating our dinner one of cooks came out and gave us each a brownie and said, “Here, this is for you. Enjoy.” Everywhere we turn, in both the great and small matters of every day, it’s so very clear that the Lord is looking out for us. 

When I told Pastor Tony we were hoping to stay over both for the Lord’s Day and for the eclipse he was delighted and said we’re more than welcome to. And when I told him I was an OPC pastor, the good stuff began as we started talking about preaching, church polity, and the Reformed Faith. We’re really looking forward to our time here. We’re scheduled to have lunch with Pastor Tony and his family and then supper with Pastor Bob and his wife. 

Thanks for following and thanks for praying. 

Until next time… 🙂