CHESTER IL TO VALMEYER, IL

May 14, Thursday
45 miles

Last night while snuggled in our nice dry motel room we missed the Tornado sirens going off. It's amazing what two exhausted cross country bicyclists can sleep through.
As we were leaving town this morning maneuvering to avoid Highway 3 a local bicyclist named Vinyard dressed in spandex and bright colors stopped and helped us map a safer and more scenic route out of town. He said there was no way to avoid the hills but we could avoid the trucks. He escorted us out a few blocks to get us headed right and then took off on his ride. He "lapped" us and escorted us again on a new shortcut he had thought of while he was riding. We were so grateful for his help. The new route took us on single lane, no middle stripe, no shoulder, no traffic country roads through fields of wheat and new corn sprouting. We went up & up and over some hills and then headed down to the River Bottom Rd. (I have to say that after our personal escort had left Rusty and I did have a "discussion" about whether or not to take his suggestion or follow the map which would have taken us on Hwy 3 again for about five miles. He let me choose!. What a Guy! :-) and we took the longer but more scenic route to the River Bottom Rd.)
But now there came a moment of regret! I had told Rusty not to say "I told you so" if the route turned out to be a disaster and it was looking like that is what had happened. After all that hill climbing and soaring down, down, down to the River we were greeted by a "ROAD CLOSED" blockade. Oh my goodness! We hadn't thought about the river rising from the recent storm and cutting off our route! We proceeded cautiously not wanting to ascend that great descent if we really didn't have to. About two miles on down a local bicyclist out for his daily ride reassured us that all was well and that the road block is pretty much left there all spring because the river rises and crosses the road on a regular basis. We had a more relaxed ride from that point on and enjoyed the view of the Mississippi River, the lush vegetation and sweet peacefulness of the area enjoying the birds who were certainly happy to be also.
Of course the time came for us to climb back up and, I'll tell you, we are not too proud to walk those kinds of hills. After reaching the top, being hungry and lunchtime, we realized that we had forgotten to restock our bread supply and were w/o anything to hold together our PB & J. We spotted a farm house that looked like someone was home (two pick up trucks) and I went to the door to ask if there was a store close by where we could buy bread for lunch. :-) Theresa and her dad, Marvin, had just finished all the lunch but she gladly gave us the four slices of bread we needed and invited us to dine under the shade of the big tree in their front yard. Marvin and Rusty had a map meeting and he confirmed Vinyard's route.
The route continued through gorgeous lush farm land and along Bluff Road for about thirty miles. Perfect name for the road with a steep bluff on one side of the road and farm land on the other. We stopped at a historic site informing about archaeological findings and ancient Americans who lived in the sandstone bluff. Part of the road went past an aggregate mine with mine shafts in the side of the bluff blasting out a cold wind. Amazing!
Riding into Valmeyer we were expecting to find a motel...or so our resource book told us. But No! A local man mowing his huge lawn (on a riding mower) told us no motel but when we asked if there was a place we could throw down our tent he suggested the city park. Okay then! We did it. And in the process had a great chat with a bicyclist who loves to tour and we shared adventures and war stories until our dinner of red beans & rice was ready. He chatted and chatted and seemed lonely. We would have invited him to join us but he didn't live far and was loading his bike into his pickup truck. Bob had a lot of great tips to share.
We had a great night in the park. Fell off to sleep sticky and dirty but happy.

Side note: The town of Valmeyer, Il was destroyed in a flood in 1992 and was relocated up on the bluff. Just a few residents and businesses remain down below. The city park was established in 1994.