Day 15 – Sunday 6/12/22

Humboldt, Tennessee to Sikeston, Missouri – 100.4 Miles

It’s easy to be optimistic when you first wake up. My plan upon going to bed the night before was to ride 45 miles NW to Union City, Tennessee, spend the night, and then use that as a launch point into Kentucky and Missouri. I’d slept well and wasn’t feeling any soreness or fatigue from yesterday, so a ride to Union City was easily done.

As I looked at the projected route on my phone, I saw it was only an extra 14 miles to Hickman, Kentucky. This was important because there are limited choices available to me for crossing the Mississippi River. I’m banned from riding on Interstate highways, so I’ve got to use a bridge that permits bicycles. The only two available were south, towards Memphis, or north near Cairo, Illinois. Both were geographically undesirable. The beauty of Hickman was that they have a ferry boat that would get me across the river for $2 and were in the direction I was going.

So, now that I was mentally on the west bank of the Mississippi, what next? Southern Missouri is sparsely populated, which meant riding north for several hours to find a place to stay. Years ago, while traveling for business, I’d visited Sikeston, Missouri. What I remembered from that was they had a lot of hotels, being off the Interstate, and a restaurant called “Lambert’s”. Lambert’s specializes in Southern “comfort food”, which promised a nice reward at the end of the day if I got that far. Totaling up the mileage, it approached 100 if I went the full distance. I weighed that against the original plan of about half that mileage and the long daylight hours of summer being wasted, and decided it was Sikeston or Bust.

I started pedaling about 7:15 and was the only one stirring this Sunday morning. The road was mine.

Ten miles up the road from Humboldt was Trenton. Route 45 typically bypasses towns along the route, so I bypassed the bypass and went right up the middle. It is an attractive town with well-cared for homes and a nice downtown area.

It’s not all perfect in Trenton. If you don’t want to stay in jail, these folks can help.

The paucity of traffic continued, and with a favorable wind we were making good time. Ishmael has been cruising at 11 to 12 mph for most of the trip, but we were hitting up to 19 mph on the flats today. That’s unusual speed for a loaded touring bike, so I was careful to scan for issues on the road ahead and not try anything stupid.

Union City showed up 45 miles after starting out. At a convenience store I was introduced to a Peach\Mango concoction that was exactly what I needed. Normally, I would have finished it off in a couple of minutes but started getting “brain freeze” from excessive sipping, so I slowed down the slurping and successfully savored instead.

Union City follows the pattern I’ve seen in other small towns. The center is typically vacant or underutilized, while the perimeter has the restaurants and businesses. There are some people trying to make a living in the old downtown, but it’s not easy.

There is a beauty to some of the older buildings that suggest what it might have been like when downtown was thriving.

Suddenly, it was time to leave Tennessee and enter Kentucky. The change in the pavement, once again, gave the signal.

However, instead of the “Kentucky Welcomes You” sign I was anticipating, the State of Kentucky left it to Fulton County to welcome visitors. Granted, I was passing through the southwest tip and would only be in the state for a couple of hours at most. But I was a visitor. So, if Kentucky wouldn’t give me the full welcome, I wouldn’t fully appear in front of their sign.

The place some call Kentucky surprised me by growing wheat. I think of that as a crop for the Great Plains, but there it was.

The ferryboat trip was the highlight of the day. It’s still an unusual way to cross a body of water, and since the crossing was the Mississippi River, it was unique.

The boat that powers the barge the cars ride on can pivot at the bow, making changes in direction easy.

After a ten-minute loading process, we headed out on the Mississippi, following in the wake of steamboats, Civil War heroes and Mark Twain characters.

Here, the boat is pivoting to allow the cars to unload in the direction of travel. For a few seconds it looked like we were going to be cast adrift.

When we docked, I was 40 miles from Sikeston and about 25 miles from a supply stop. At least Missouri gave me a better welcome than Kentucky.

On a cross-country ride the “Middle of Nowhere” is a place where you’ll find yourself often. It was flat farmland all the way to Sikeston.

These wildflowers were at a bend in the road, next to a field.

The horizon is easily visible.

When I got to East Prairie, I was ready for several drinks. I knew it was hot but had no way of telling temperature. Then, I saw this:

At just over 100 miles, the finish line was at the Travel Inn.

After a shower, Lambert’s was a ten-minute walk from the hotel. Their tagline is “Home of the Throwed Roll”. What it means is they will toss a roll at you, rather than hand it to you when you ask for one. On such small distinctions, dining empires are built.

I’d call the inside a “Cracker Barrel” turned to “11”. Lambert’s has better food.

I ordered meatloaf, which came with two side dishes. I chose green beans and carrots. I also ordered a water and half\half iced tea. That all arrived quickly. As I ate, servers with large pots of other dishes stopped by the table and offered some. I got bonus fried okra, black-eyed peas and rolls for free.

I don’t typically post pictures of meals, but I got credit for burning 4,800 calories today. I ate everything on the plate and could have gone for more easily. So, here’s what a 100-mile bike ride looks like at dinner.

It was a great day. Tomorrow I’m thinking of heading to Cape Girardeau, which will position me for the start of the Great Rivers South route. In two Sundays, I’ve gone from the Atlantic coast, across the Mississippi and into southern Missouri. The plan is to cross Missouri, then head north towards Kansas City and the Dakotas. We’ll have to see how that goes.