DAY 22 . Wrong way, wrong way, wrong way + 1

STRANGE DAY

Saturday morning in Morphysboro was an early one and I was well on my way before sun-up. Construction on a bridge heading out of town sent me on some detours that would add miles to my start, throw some confusion into my day, and begin a series of costly errors. I would find out later that a-guy-on-his-bike could have walked over the bridge, as did a few the night before. The weather was perfect for a long day of bike riding. The hills stopped being so steep and the roads were quiet with weekend traffic.

WRONG WAY

How many times can one get lost in one morning? More than three that's for sure. Over the next few hours, every 45 minutes or so, I would find myself not turning where I should. Not sure where my head or capacity to concentrate was, but I would probably add 8-10 miles that day going down the wrong path. Four times at least I would have to pull a U-Turn back to the red track. My pal, Mark Croker had the same problem, on the same day, and in the same place, as I did. I believe that he was just a short hour or so ahead of me. He had used a motel on the outskirt of town. I was also closely following Chris Owen who had crossed the bridge under construction the evening before.

My Goal today was to comfortably get to Cave-in-Rock, where the Ferry that gets you across the Ohio River is located. The Ohio River seemed much more impressive than the Mississippi River. It just so happens that the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River. The ferry runs at least every hour from 0700-2150 hours apparently. Something in me still didn't trust that it would be that simple.

Arrived in Cave-in-Rock with plenty of time to spare and when I saw the long car line I dove into the town diner and bought two slices of pie. The pie was excellent and I was literally that last person to get onto the ferry. The ferry is free, as it is part of the highway system. Free ferry and free mile as I ate my pie moving in the right direction.

I caught up to Chris Owen, which made me very happy. He was up ahead chatting with some bikers with engines. Chris had a very strong capacity to talk.

Ferry ride was shorter than I would have liked, however, it got us to Kentucky with plenty of daylight left. I rode with Chris for a while, but his strong legs slowly pulled away from me.

I would catch up to Chris again in Marion for late lunch. But first I needed to find a water hose. I found a strong pressure hose behind a building and gave myself a good shower. Soaked and dripping, I went to find some food.

Dot watcher extraordinaire Michele Lanham found me at the McDonalds with her posters for me to sign. I had left a pool of water at the order counter and still dripping under my patio chair, Chris biked over from Subway and we all conversed for a while. All my stuff was on the table and Chris pulled out his pockets and gave me some Transformer stickers for my bike --it was his thing. As quick as he arrived, he left and I thanked Michele and packed my things to start on my way.

OH NO...

About a mile out of town my hand whips to my back jersey pocket to feel for my ziplock baggie that had my ID, credit card and money. Several times in the last three weeks, I would have a moment of panic and reach for that pocket. Crap, this time it's not there. Optimus Prime has lost his goody bag. I turn around and head back to McD, pull the garbage box out of the bigger box and start digging in. I could see my garbage from 12 minutes ago, but no baggie. Not good, not good. It was afternoon Saturday in small town America. How would my wife wire me money with no ID? Locke had been able to get money sent via paypal from Australia, but that was through Newton Bike Shop. They were happy to do it and trusted the process. I had no such connection here. Man my head was racing and trying to figure how far I could get on $20 and three candy bars. I slowly biked back to where I had noticed that missing bag looking everywhere. Time to call my wife and see what she can come up with. Alarmed as I was, she said that she could see that Michele was presently on Facebook. Bang, sent her a message about the situation and about 10 minutes later she is pulling up alongside of me. We are now chasing down Chris, as a last ditch effort, to see if he took the bag. Michele drives like a demon eastward, as I follow much slower on my bike. About 30 minutes later I see her coming back and I see her smile. She has the baggie!!!!. Yahoooo!!!! And 10 miles up ahead was a very sheepish Chris Owen. I might have given Michele a full body hug and wettish kisses.

RACE IS STILL ON

I would reached Seebree around 1900 hrs and saw Mark Croker walking with a bag of food looking at me go by. I felt kind of bad for not stopping with barely a nod of acknowlegdement. I needed to make miles happen and I was worried that if I stopped, we would be sharing stories and beers in no time. I stayed away from temptation. My ride would go for another 10 miles and the small town post office in Beech Grove. The smallest post office, to this point, with no visitors or loud cars. This was a small and quiet town. Brushed my teeth and watched Netflix to feel normal again, even if it was just for a few minutes.

I had survived the MacBurgler and had met an amazing Trail Angel. Today was a testing day with all its trials and tribulations. My ground covered today was 161.3 miles -- not bad considering.