15 June 2012 Chester IL to Farmington MO 47 miles (TransAm 1,266) I’m still Googling fun facts about Illinois and posting more Popeye photos when I realize Gina has already crossed into the fourth state on this TransAm trip: Missouri. The Show Me State. Show me what? I wonder. Gina might be thinking “Show me …
14 June 2012 Carbondale to Chester IL 54 miles (TransAm 1,219) Before she left on this TransAm ride, I would have said Gina had a stature more similar to Olive Oyl than Popeye: But after 1,200 miles of pedaling, things have changed: Welcome to Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye the Sailor Man! According to Wikipedia, …
13 June 2012 Carbondale IL 0 miles (TransAm 1,165) Another layover day. I write that as if there had been hundreds of layover days, but this is actually only the third day in 25 on the road where the bicycle odometer reads “0.” Gina is insistent that a layover day does not mean a rest …
12 June 2012 Dixon Springs State Park to Carbondale IL 55 miles (TransAm 1,165) Gina does not have very many photos from today’s ride, the result of her personal challenge this morning to keep up with The Boys. Keeping up with The Boys means not stopping every 10 miles for pastries or pictures. This challenge …
11 June 2012 Marion KY to Dixon Springs State Park IL 48 miles (TransAm 1,110) Illinois. The Prairie State. Home of the first franchised McDonald’s. Now this is Gina’s kind of state. Across the border our TransAmmers rode today. On a ferry, that is, crossing over via the Ohio River. They won’t be spending much …
10 June 2012 Utica to Marion KY 70 miles (TransAm 1,062) Gina and Wendy are on a cheeseburger diet. No, that’s not an oxymoron. Unlike yesterday, today they split the one they ordered for lunch so technically, that puts them on a diet. How so? Because any time you cut something in half, it’s a …
09 June 2012 White Mills to Utica KY 81 miles (TransAm 992) Gina and Wendy are readying themselves to depart the Fordsville, Kentucky diner where they just savored a smoke-tainted lunch. According to the lone review of The Diner on Yelp, “it’s a pretty decent place to eat.” I guess that reviewer is a smoker, …
08 June 2012 Bardstown to White Mills KY 59 miles (TransAm 911) The dog’s name is Pancake. He’s a friendly fellow, which you might have guessed with a name like Pancake. Not likely to hear his owner yell “Pancake, attack!” or “Sic ’em Pancake!” His owner – who we shall call Lisa because according to …
07 June 2012 Harrodsburg to Bardstown KY 46 Miles (TransAm 852) My phone buzzes on the windowsill and I stop what I’m doing (which is only work so it’s definitely worth stopping) to check my text message. It’s from Gina , 4:30 pm her time, and it says “With Wendy and Huey in town having …
06 June 2012 Berea to Harrodsburg KY 52 miles (TransAm 806) Gina is plotting how she can sneak back to the Harrodsburg Library after hours with her sleeping bag to curl up on the new, cozy carpet between the stacks. For some inexplicable reason she thinks that will make for a better night’s rest than …