day 16: st. louis to louisiana, missouri 107 miles

it was a long day, made longer by a morning rain and by a record number of flat tires among most of the riders (at least three riders having multiple flats today).  all told, the various stoppages caused most of the riders to arrive a good two hours later than on any other day.  a tiring day.

bill (in blue) helping rollie with his flat tire.  

but it was also an auspicious day.  we passed the 1000-mile mark sometime in the early morning hours of our ride today.  that's the longest i've ever ridden!

although we left the hotel in a morning drizzle, it was actually a nice day.  the temperatures were much lower, only getting into the mid-80's.  the morning was spent riding on the bike paths along the confluence of the missouri and mississippi rivers.

there is some great history in this area.  centuries ago, lewis and clark and their corps of discovery were headquartered around this area, awaiting word from president jefferson as to whether or not the louisiana purchase had been confirmed before they would be permitted to depart on their historic journey in search of a northwest passage to the pacific.  also, the famed highway of yesteryear, route 66, came through this area.  below is the "old chain of rocks" bridge that was used by cars on the road from los angeles to chicago.  now, it's used only as a bicycle bridge to connect missouri with illinois.

the old chain of rocks route 66 bridge

crossing into illinois on the bridge

after crossing into illinois, we spent most of the day riding along the mississippi and then through the farmlands of the southern part of the state.  we battled short but steep hills and fierce headwinds most of the last 25 miles.  how fierce?  everyone's (even the fossils) average speeds were down at least five miles per hour as we fought our way through the winds.

we actually crossed three rivers today:  the missouri, the mississippi and the illinois. bridges across the missouri and mississippi (twice) and a ferry (below) across the illinois.

getting ferried across the illinois river on the way back to the mississippi

as the day's route neared the end, we had one last climb, another bridge across the mississippi.  the shots below are from our motel; one of the final bridge crossing, the other as the sun was setting on the river.

a treacherous climb across a very busy highway bridge

evening on the mississippi