June 18, 2002
14 min. read
This post is part of the Trans-Am series.
I climbed in my sleeping bag just after finishing the send for the evening. I listened to an episode of the Andy Griffith show on channel 7, whatever that is in Sebree. It got colder last night than I expected and I had to fully enclose my head in the mummy bag before I was really comfortable. I didn’t pull it tight, so I still had a few degrees of comfort left. I probably would have been fine with my skull cap on.
I was initially woken up by the sunrise, but adjusted to it and tried to get one more hour of sleep. I was going on 7 and would have liked 8. This would have been all and good, except for an annoying little bird. I had climbed out of my sleeping bag, with the rising temperatures, but this annoying bird came in every 10 minutes with a maddening cry. Either he had a nest nearby and wasn’t happy with me or he just felt like being a jerk. I was not really sure which applied. It was almost a comical version of a snoozed alarm. He would come in and I would scare him away. 10 minutes later, he would come back and I would do the same thing.
I got up at 7:15, after 45 minutes of bird alarm snoozing. The bathrooms were all locked and I decided that I could make it to Dixon before I needed a toilet. In her book, Donna had described today as relatively flat for the first half, then climbing during the second. That isn’t correct. I climbed almost 700 feet in the 12 or so miles into Dixon. Some were steep enough to require leg presses in my lowest gear. This isn’t my definition of relatively flat. I do agree with the climbing in the second half though.
I pulled in Dixon looking for a place for Breakfast and the use of a Restroom. I was surprised to see a grill going at 9:30 in the morning and read the sign. They were selling pork chop sandwiches as a fund raiser for Hope. They smelled good and I was assured that they were. I asked for 2 and an RC Cola. I was told to take a chair and sat in the shade eating and talking to the guys. They were the best pork chops I have had so far in my short life. The sauce they used was great and they were done enough, without totally drying out.
Eventually someone wondered over to my bike and the questions started. I asked for a bathroom and was pointed to the fire house. The shower looked really good in there, but I resisted. I filled up my water bottles and under seat water carrier, before setting back on my way.
Oh, I verified what the Tyson trucks were hauling yesterday and today. It is indeed chicken feed (And not chicken poop). From the smells, I think that was just dumped on site.
I didn’t see anything really interesting in Clay and still had half a pack of fig newtons if I needed a snack, so I rode through. I stopped in a little town not on my map, Deansville, I think. There was a historic sign and I stopped to read it and take a picture of the old building it was talking about. This was initially a Post Office in the early 1800s and was now a closed down General Store.
I waved towards a lady who was sitting on her back porch. Here two dogs were barking at me, but were not threatening. I took my underseat water carrier as I walked in her direction and asked if she had an outside tap where I could top off my water bottle. She offered to go inside and fill it up, as I tried to make friends with her dogs. The smaller and more feisty dog almost got close enough to sniff my hand, but never closer. He was barking all the while. I thanked here for the filled water container and headed on my way. I thought I had enough water with my two full bottles, but I was unsure of the number and slope of the many hills in the next 8-10 miles into Marion. Better safe than sorry. Nothing like trying to climb hills in the 95 degree heat while you try to make enough salvia to get your tongue to unstuck from the roof of your mouth. Been there once when my drinking bladder sprung a leak and I don’t want to be there again.
The climbs were there all the way into Marion. I had to work on quite a few of them. It was getting on to 1 PM when I pulled into town and the temperature had reached 95 degrees on some of the climbs. I stated looking for a restaurant to get some lunch, but more so to get out of the heat for a while. I saw a McDonalds and kept looking. Then I spotted a Subway and pulled in. I had been carrying two full cards for over 1100 miles and it was time to use them. I kept it simple and ordered a foot-long tuna on wheat with cheese and my normal toppings. I eliminated banana peppers, because I was unsure of the effect they would have on my stomach in this heat. I had to get a drink with the cards, but it wasn’t a bad lunch for under $2. I had the Hawaiian Punch with a touch of Sprite, but didn’t notice it was “Light” until starting to fill the glass the third time. I don’t usually fare well with artificial sweeteners, even ignoring that fact that I want the sugar for energy. I read my book while eating slowly and cooled down. I got moving just before 3 and my stomach wasn’t quite right. I’m guessing it was the artificial sweetener, as I got like this last time I had a diet cola of some type. It finally went away about 4 miles out of town.
The hills towards the river were substantial. I had about 11 miles to the ferry and I had to work for all but about 1⁄2 mile. I kept expecting to crest the hill and see the river below. Each hill I climbed and descended was surely my last. Finally I was on a section of flat road.
I had still not seen the river when I started seeing signs: “Ferry 2000 ft”. It was kind of a letdown when I finally did see the river, as I was passing the place where the cars stopped and waited for the ferry. It was no more than a glorified boat ramp, but it was kind of strange to not be able to see the river until then. I just crested the hill as the ferry was pulling out. It gave me time to watch the operation once and I was impressed.
The tug boat was attached to the downriver side of the boat. He would back the ferry off of the ramp, and flip around. Then drive up to the next ramp on the other side. There was an area about twice as wide as the ramp where he could hit. Both times he drove it right up on the center lane. Another guy would get out front and hook chains around a cleat on each side. He had his technique down and could wrap four turns of the cleat by flicking the chain with his arm. The ferry would hit the ramp, and keep pressure on as he latched the first cleat, then the tug would force the ferry tight into the other side to allow him to secure that cleat. Then the pilot would back up slightly to pull the ramp back as much as they pushed it in while securing. This operation takes about 20-30 seconds after first contact and was impressive.
It was wild seeing the bus pull off the ferry and watching it go down and back up more than I expected. The chain man (not sure what else to call him) told me that it was nothing compared to an 18-wheeler.
On the short ride across, I had someone take my picture and talked with a few people. I would up giving out two cards to the web site, when they started asking questions about my trip. We were on the next side quickly and I exited after all the cars. I heard the tug pilot mention that it was ice cream time. That sounded good. I headed to the same little booth that he went to and ordered a strawberry slushy. This sounded better than ice cream to me. Something about milk and heat just down’ work right in my anatomy. I sat under the shade and watched the ferry wait for a barge heading upriver. The girl running the booth came out to chat, and we talked while I rested. She was probably just out of high school and was a good looking girl until she fired up her cancer stick. I was just thinking about the irony that is Kentucky. Farmers making a living growing the stuff that kills so many of their own inhabitants. I’m curious if the smoking will be as rampant in Illinois as it is in Kentucky. Most of the places I have been in the state think a non-smoking section is a joke you made up.
I only had one brain freeze before finishing up. I wonder how much it actually dropped my core temperature, but I’m sure not as much as it felt like. I climbed up the road, turned right and headed into Cave in Rock State Park. As I have come to expect in State Parks, the campground must legally be placed up the steepest hills in the park. Just entering the campground, I though something jumped on my leg. It was something. This is the second time on the trip that a bird took a dump on me.
I passed a couple walking out of the camping area and we chatted for a while. I would up giving them a card to the web site and told them to enjoy their walk. I asked if they knew what the Lodge was like, but they hadn’t been there yet. I didn’t notice any place to stop and pay for the site, just a sign describing the prices. I initially headed for the tent camping spaces and found a decent site close to the pit toilets. I pulled out the tent and started to setup. Then I thought about showers. I didn’t want to walk a half mile to take a shower, as I had some clothes I had to wash too. So, I loaded everything but the tent back on the bike and headed over to the normal sites. These were $4 more, but had electric and nice grass to pitch a tent on instead of stick covered dirt. I found a spot a reasonable distance away from the showers and got off the bike. I then walked back to get my unpacked tent. It would have been a seriously annoying walk for a shower, plus I get electricity to run things. I setup the tent, opened up the Thermarest to inflate and headed for a shower and laundry.
The showers were there push button affairs that I had seen in Buckhorn Dam Park. The problem is that some steam producing super heat shower man adjusts the temperature. I want a cool shower after a long, hot day riding. I would rather the cold tap last night to this 105+ degrees of fire liquid. After getting done with my cleanup, it had only gotten hotter. I wound up using the handle sprayer (I was in the handicap stall) to wash the clothes. It was hot enough that I couldn’t hold my hands under it to wet the clothes for more than a few seconds. After washing 3 shirts, 3 pairs of socks, and two shorts, I headed back to camp. I was greeted by the couple that I passed coming into camp. They said that the Lodge was night and they had a fairly reasonable menu. I hung everything on the clothesline and packed up camp. It was getting near 6:30 and I wanted to see the Cave in Rock before the sun dropped too far.
I started out of the campground with my lightened fanny pack and headed for the cave. At one of the overlooks enroute, I was greeted with a nice view of the river. The ferry was operating below. I climbed around the overlooks and headed down to the cave. There is a history of bandits hiding out in this cave to attack traffic coming down the river. Many didn’t live to tell that tale back then.
The cave was deeper than I expected and the low level of the river helped the exploring. The entrance was probably 10 feet above the current river stage. As I reached the rear of the cave, I heard some strange noises. I thought it was the two guys I had passed coming in, entering a back way and making eerie sounds. Turns out that some pigeons decided to make the cave home and they have some strange sounds. There was a crack overhead towards the back that allows light in from the top. I couldn’t see what the rear looked like with my small LED flashlight, so I took a few flash photos and was able to see the cave via my pictures.
I climbed up away from the cave and started towards the lodge. All along the way were picnic tables right on the river. There is a 100 feet cliff right at the edge of the river (even higher as you get towards the lodge), so each picnic spot had an amazing view. I finally reached the lodge after a decent walk up the road. They closed at 8, and it was 7:40. The earlier couple had mentioned that they closed at 10, but I think they were influenced by the “Park Closes at 10 PM” signs. I had a chicken stirfry and a salad. The stir-fry came with a roll and strawberry butter. I had never though of a butter with strawberry flavor, but it was great. It even beat the honey butters that some places have. The stir-fry was good and I ate outside watching the river. When traffic slowed, I read my book.
Some Ohio river facts I didn’t know: It is 981 miles long, starting in Pittsburgh and emptying into the Mississippi. It is the second most used shipping river in the US (I assume the Mississippi is #1). Half of the barge tonnage shipped is coal. I saw two large coal barges while eating dinner.
After dinner, I took a shortcut back to camp. I was hoping it was at least. It turned out that I was correct and ended up in the tent camping section, a much shorter walk than the roads. I’ve spent over an hour typing and my eyelids are getting heavy. I’ll send this off tomorrow.
Oh, one other thing. I came into my tent to type this, because the bugs were really annoying. This is the first time during the trip that they have been bad. One tip though, after quickly climbing into the tent, the white screen from your laptop attracts them. There to can wipe them out. The downside is the small streaks of bug’s guts on your screen. I guess it’s acceptable collateral damage.
Today’s Stats: 3,050 feet climbing in 55.7 miles. Total riding time was exactly 6 hours.
Cave in Rock, IL
Tent Site: 37 deg 28.377 min N, 88 deg 09.504 min W, elev. 508 ft.
Trip Miles: 1132.6 miles
Part 35 of 48 in the Trans-Am series.
Series Start | Day 29 - Rough River Dam State Park to Sebree | Day 31 - Cave in Rock to Tunnel Hill