Kirksville, Missouri to Quincy, Illinois

76 miles, 5:19 riding time, 2,106 feet of climbing, 3,431 Calories

With light rain falling, we left Kirksville and headed east on SR 6E. The first part of the ride was over some more Missouri Rollers, through cattle ranches. Someone said, they should be called "misery rollers." The first SAG stop was at mile 32 in Knox City. Shortly after the SAG, the rain stopped, but a strong headwind more than made up for the lack of rain. It was a long slog for the remaining forty miles. It's disheartening when you have fifteen miles to go, you're making fifteen mile an hour, so you figure it's going to take you an hour. With eleven miles to go, you are only making eleven miles an hour and it's going to take you an hour! What's wrong with that picture?

On the bright side, we have now covered over two-thousand miles of our journey to Boston.

But the big highlight of the day for me, was crossing the Mississippi River! Yes, the Mighty Mississippi, the Big Muddy, the Queen of American Rivers. My excitement was tempered by the narrow two lane bridge, traffic, strong crosswinds and a fear of heights; mix equal parts adrenaline and terror.

Quincy is called the "gem" city - not for diamonds or emeralds, but for its beauty. The city was built on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi where it was immune to flooding. An important port on the river, Quincy was also an important part of the Underground Railway for runaway slaves from Missouri where slavery was legal prior to the Civil War. There are many huge mansions lining the streets, leftovers from when Quincy was an important economic center. As we move east, we are also moving back in time, reversing the westward movement of people and commerce.