Second Tri-State ride on our journey...Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee

Today we rode on the Missouri side of the river until we took the ferry into Hickman Kentucky.  We spent about 10 miles in Kentucky before crossing into Tennessee byway of very rural, scenic roads.  Since our departure was on the Missouri side of the river, the first part of our route was beautiful, hilly countryside until we dropped off the hills into the river delta at about 22 miles.  After that, it was pretty much flat all the way to the ferry at 72 miles...so flat in fact, I think everyone was wanting a hill to come along to use some different muscles.  After we got out of the hills our route stair-stepped from southward to eastward and with a NE wind we picked up a headwind component of about 8-10 MPH when the road turned eastward.  All in all the day was a bit warm in the afternoon as the temperatures got into the mid 80s and the humidity was a bit on the sticky side.  The humidity was so high in the morning that we departed into a pretty dense fog before getting to the first SAG.  By the time everyone got through the first SAG, it mostly had burnt off and visibility was restored.

I spent the entire day in the back of green trying to recover from some bug I caught last night while the staff team filled in my absence.  I don't remember a whole lot from the morning as I was too sick to even lift my head to look outside.  I don't remember the last time I've felt so sick, but by the evening and finally getting some food to stay down, I finally got to feeling a bit better.  Hopefully, I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

We got our first look at harvest today.  When we got into the fertile delta in Missouri, the farmers were picking corn and trucking it to the grain elevators at the river to be transported downriver by barge.  The delta landscape was dominated by corn, soybeans, and we got our first look at sorghum.  The riders were wishing the sorghum and soybeans were a bit taller as the headwinds were beating them down a bit.  You can also see why this area floods so much...do you see any hills? 

The only traffic, besides us, on the roads today were grain semis and people using the ferry...traffic was sparse to say the least.  The roads were in good condition for the most part and the trucks gave us a wide berth when they passed...some of them even gave us a friendly wave as they are used to seeing cyclists out here.  Most of our route was on the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) bike route clearly marked with signage that usually took the shortest, most scenic route down river.

Probably the highlight of the day was the trip across the river on the ferry (right).  I think everyone enjoyed the break from riding and it seemed to be the coolest part of the afternoon.  The riders were greeted with a steep climb into Hickman KY after departing the ferry, but after that, the terrain was gently rolling all the way to Union City.

Our second leg is coming to an end...just two more days and we'll be in Elvis country.  Tomorrow we have a shorter day into Dyersburg!  We'll load about 9:30 after we do a flat tire clinic to pass the time before departure.  Tune in and see if we have any adventures to talk about.  See you then.