July 26th - Day 13 - Cave In Rock, IL to Giant City State Park near Carbondale, IL - 80 miles
In the morning we crossed the Ohio River into Illinois via ferry. We spent some time in Cave In Rock State Park which is right on the river and saw the unusual cave carved in the stone by the Ohio River.
The ride today may not have been in the mountains, but the continually rolling hills of southern Illinois are difficult in their own way because they never give you a break or a long downhill to rest. This combined with the higher heat and a strong headwind made today pretty exhausting. To top it off I was chased by six dogs, (actually a total of 10, but some were in groups) and they always seem to know just when I'm going up a climb or already fatiguing so as to make it worse.
With the heat today and long distance I went through six bottles of water and 2 Gatorades, and that was just while riding. I can't help but appreciate the convenience of water and the assurance that no matter how far I go, the nearest town (or home should it be necessary) will have clean, cool water waiting for me. Along the way I constantly find reminders such as this that keep me mindful of our cause and the condition of those that WELL DONE helps.
We camped tonight in Giant City State Park along with a couple of motorcyclists from PA who had been up to Fairbanks, Alaska and were on the back home. They told us that they met a cyclist in Alaska who was riding from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Argentina. Kinda makes our ride look puny. As we were bunking down for the night the bikers yelled over to us that we should stay in our tent because there was a skunk hanging around our camp. We saw that it was 10 feet from our tent, so we did.
Quality Water Means Quality Life
1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water. Help others avoid the choice between thirst or disease.
As we passed through the Ozark Mountains, among Missouri scenic rivers, we came to a gorgeous little spot called "Two Rivers." At this convergence of the Jacks Fork and Current rivers, the silt heavy rapids of the Current meet the clear calm of the Jacks Fork river and one can actually see the divide between the two. I couldn't help but think of the divide between our access to clean water and the lack thereof in the villages of rural Ghana.
Troy and I consume on average, about 12 to 20 (20 oz) bottles of water daily. That's 12 to 20 times per day that, unlike the people in rural Ghana, Troy and I avoid illness without even realizing it. Regardless of how many miles we ride, we have no doubt that stopping anywhere along the road for water will be easy and risk-free.
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