Day 7: Greenville to Effingham

June 2, 2025

Backroads Galore

I laid in my cot at Rodney’s for quite a while this morning. I was still tired from yesterday, and didn’t want to get up and go today. But, eventually I got around to hitting the road. It was nearly 9:30 once I got on the bike, but I didn’t have nearly as long of a day planned ahead of me. And luckily, it was mostly a straight forward good day. The first twenty miles didn’t have anything to write home about, but nothing to complain about either. One county road eventually put me in Vandalia and I got lunch at The Copper Penny.

A loaded “shoe”, I guess it’s an Illinois thing? A lot of food and pretty good.

After Vandalia, in order to avoid the highway, google maps took me on a gravel road. This would normally be fine, but this particular gravel road had a ton of loose rock. I had to ride in nearly my lowest gear for over 5 miles. After this though, I was able to hit the ground running. The rest of the day was paved. It was still back roads, so it wasn’t incredible, but was certainly an upgrade. Plus, they were relatively flat. I didn’t see much of anything besides lots and lots of fields.

The classic lone tree in the middle of a field

Towards the end of the day I swung by a Casey’s to get some water, and then it was off to my campground. I rolled in at 5:30 and got ready to pay, and after talking to Zach, he let me stay for free because he liked my story! Plus, I am the only tent here since it’s a Monday.

After setting up camp, I ate at Pinky’s. They had an incredible atmosphere. The food was pretty good too.

Then it was time to shower and an early bedtime! I might end up having a big day tomorrow… stay tuned.

Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 343 miles (552 km)

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