Wednesday 1 June 2011

Day 28 Carbondale to Chester

Today we had the opportunity of an alternate route riding along the levees of the mississippi flood plain. Only problem being that said river having had its worst floods in nearly 100 years meant that we might get so far and have to turn back. With our riding group increased to 6 and an early start of 7am we decided to take the risk. As it happened we managed to get through with the help of the local vicar who drove ahead to check that the route he suggested was possible on bikes. Amazing.
And we were rewarded with a wonderful flat ride on top of the levees with panoramic views of the mississippi and its flood plain. Places to stop today were few and far brtween but the lady at a post office we passed phoned up her friends a few miles down the road and got them to open their restaurant 'Bottoms Up' early so we could have lunch. Once we reached the main part of the river we had a rather unpleasant ten mile ride along busy roads with far too many coal trucks.

Miles Today 54
Total           1310







Day 27 Rest day in Carbondale

And how we have looked forward to this one. We are in a motel in some dodvy part of town and apart from the hookers marching up and down, pimps lurking in the shadows and drug dealers driving by doing deals it's awesome - the showers are hot and the cockroaches keep to their side of the bathroom. So tasks for today include: LAUNDRY, VISIT TO BIKE SHOP, TOILETRIES, PURCHASE OF NO SLEEVE FULL ZIP TRI POCKET TECHNICAL FABRIC HI VIZ QUICK DRYING EASY WASH PERFORMANCE CYCLING BASE WICKING LAYER, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST TOPPI.NG UP THE DORKULATOR FOR ANOTHER MONTHS BLOGGING.
Also we have been having problems with Ellen who is having difficulty adapting to the drinking of tea or indeed any other beverage out of  her new cup rather than the cereal bowl that she is more accustomed to. In fact so strong are Ellen's feelings on this clearly 'to be discouraged' method of drinking that she felt the need to defend her subversive behavior by bringing  the Queen into the argument suggesting that our monarch was also partial to slurping tea out of the saucer. Or so her Mum says. The poor child must have been brought up in a family where they put the milk in last! What are we to do with these Colonial people?