Popeye’s Hometown, Ice Cream, Flooded Roads, and Coal Trucks

I woke at 4 AM, and for some odd reason decided to remain awake. There were a few tasks I wished to complete, so now was a good time with a couple hours to kill. By 6 AM, I could hear the house waking up, and soon enough coffee was brewing. Jack offered his cereal choices to us, and I felt like I was waking up for a school day again back in middle school. Nothing beats a good bowl of cereal. We shared more stories over coffee, and were saying goodbye to Jack around 7:30 AM. We only had a 46 mile day planned to Chester, Illinois, home of the Popeye show creator. There were two routes outlined on our maps. One took us along the Mighty Mississippi River, so the decision was easy. We rolled for about an hour and the riding was perfect.

Another overcast day with cool temperatures, my favorite type of weather for biking. We eventually hit ‘the flats’ for a long stretch. We were cruising close to averaging 14 mph. Alongside of the road were flooded fields. Apparently the region had severe rain within the past couple weeks, and completely flooded the area. A levee exists to prevent the Mississippi from flooding the area, but the rains were enough to cause the internal flooding problems. After 10-15 miles, we reached an intersection and were told the roads were closed due to flooding, and that a four wheel drive wouldn’t risk the 10-inch deep pools, so we shouldn’t either. Our only option was head back the miles we came, or only a mile back and ride the levee gravel road past the flooded section. So that’s what we did. The rolling was slow and bumpy, but the slight hill road we now rode on offered excellent views of the valley below. I was quite worried though with all the rattling and clacking of bike parts for the amount of miles we had to ride on the gravel. I would constantly check bolts and spokes, but it seemed the 1987 wheels held up.

Alas, we found an opening to the Mighty Mississippi. We didn’t come this far without taking in the view and snapping pictures. The current seemed surprising fast and strong, we see why the mighty applies here. High fives were given out at this point. We hopped back on the gravel, and passed a large coal field where barges delivered coal to the land, or vice versa. The gravel road came to an end, and returning to the paved road was like being let out of timeout. Jim and I took off! He drafted me for 3-4 miles at 19 mph. We felt like wind up toys from moving slow all day. My favorite roads are a slight incline, and that’s exactly what we got. Jim is a strong rider, he held his own during some nice little hills with me. We were having a blast.
With about 6-7 miles to town, we came across what seemed like a drive-thru for coal trucks. With absolutely zero shoulder and a two lane road, we had very little cushion for these monster trucks moving pretty damn fast past us. I booked it to town, and realized how dangerous this section was for bikers. For those cyclists behind us reading this, avoid highway 3, and take the normal route. We all reconvened off route, but noticed another biker coming up the road. Turns out to be a friend of Jim and Keith’s, and boy he was beat up. A trucker pushed him off the road, and he ended up falling off his bike and suffered a severe road rash and gash in ankle. We were all lucky to be unharmed, but we made sure to inform bikers coming behind us to avoid it at all costs. It’s just not worth the risk.

Eventually, with our adrenaline high, we made it to our destination, the Eagles Bicycle Shack. This little shed contains bunk beds to fit 9 people, but it’s only probably 12 by 18 ft. I actually adored it, and the four of us will stay here tonight. Ghost stories and truth or dare will be happening. The dudes grabbed some lunch from the bar attached to our shed. I opted to shed some weight and make rice, beans and tuna. A delicious lunch I’m coming to crave for it’s filling effects. After unpacking, showering, and chatting, we made our way into the town of Popeye. Memorabilia is everywhere in all shapes and sizes including statues, murals, and face portraits. We opted to stop in Sweet Peas ice cream parlor, and had the priveldge of meeting the owner. He was a true ice cream man, and provided a larger than usual sample of his four top flavors. I questioned about the Turtle Split, he said you won’t ever look back. That was enough convincing for me. Out came this massive ice cream sundae with whipped cream, house made fudge brownies, vanilla soft serve, and a bunch of other sugary things. I literally felt like a kid who just scored the game winning soccer goal. We were all extremely pleased with our decisions, but by the end of my sundae I could feel the sugar rush coming like a Jimi Hendrix solo. I had to start moving again. In a light rain, we walked to the town center, and goofed around with some face hole portraits. We were cracking up, probably from all of our sugar rushes. This moment won’t ever be forgotten.

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