From Goreville to the Bates Motel – Day 39

Date: Thursday 16th September    

Route: Murphysboro, Illinois – Elizabethtown, Illinois 

Distance: 87.5 miles 

Total climb: 5607 ft

Net climb: – 98 ft

The Apple Tree Inn, although not exactly palatial, had afforded us an excellent night’s sleep; so good in fact that we set off rather later than normal.  Unfortunately it did not provide breakfast.  Our hastily concocted plan, therefore, was to head towards Carbondale and stop at the first place that served breakfast.  We rolled the 11 miles into Carbondale fairly quickly, following Greta’s directions to the letter.  By a fortunate happenstance, I had programmed Greta to take us into the centre of Carbondale as we had planned to finish the previous day there.  I had forgotten this and so although we ended up veering about a mile off route, it also meant that we wound up in centre of town, having cycled right through the middle of the university campus.   In an even bigger helping of good luck, Greta took us to a spot which was not only right next to Mary-Lou’s Diner (famous for its breakfasts for miles around) but also on the same street as the first bike shops that we had seen for hundreds of miles.

We checked Rosie and Diana into the Cycle Surgeon to have then looked over and then settled down to an excellent breakfast at Mary-Lous.  A Carbondale institution, the place is covered in pictures of the great and the good that have eaten there over the years.  Our now habitual breakfast of oatmeal followed by some form of eggs/bacon combo was served by probably the friendliest waitress we have had (sorry Pam in Riggins!) and the whole place had a warm and inviting atmosphere.  While we were eating, Team Stockham also arrived at the diner with news that their Garmin GPS (Grace) had broken down.  They were to spend the rest of the morning trying to get it fixed.  Breakfast finished, we headed off, giving Team Stockham strict instructions to visit every bike shop in town and source as much chamois cream as they could buy as we were running low on supplies – a situation that could not be allowed to continue.

As we rode out of Carbondale, past the incredible university sports grounds (the football field looked to have a capacity of at least 20,000 – testament to how seriously they take college sport over here) we had to ride on some fairly busy roads.  All went smoothly save for one amusing driver who instructed us to “get a car” – our second piece of mildly amusing banter in the space of 12 hours.  After deciding to continue on our bikes, in spite of the suggestion, we rode on past a series of magnificent lakes – albeit with peculiar names.  There seemed no obvious reason for calling them “Little Grassy Lake” and “Devil’s Kitchen Lake” but they provided a spectacular background to our late morning.

Save for a couple of “foot-down” breaks, our first proper stop after Carbondale was in the inappositely named Goreville.  Although it sounded like the setting for a budget horror movie, it was in fact a lovely small town and home to the excellent Delaney’s Restaurant.  Inside we had an excellent lunch topped off by two enormous milkshakes and chatted to the locals, one of whom gave us a hugely entertaining lecture on the history, geography, flora and fauna of Southern Illinois.  As with so many places that we have stopped it was a shame to leave, but all too soon the road was calling us again. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent through the gently rolling and lush green fields of Southern Illinois.  Our late start meant that we had to keep riding into the gathering dark along some fairly busy roads.   This required some negotiation with Team Stockham as to where was best to stop, however we finally climbed off the bikes in Elizabethtown.  Only to head straight into the nearest bar to try and find an evening meal.

We struck lucky again and within half an hour I was sat eating pizza at the bar.  Although Parkes had decided that he wasn’t hungry he wound up in the middle of a discussion with a local named Chris as to the comparative prices of every known commodity in the UK and the US.  Chris’ unceasing wonder at how expensive cigarettes, alcohol, food and the rest are back at home provided a ready source of amusement for all.  He also very kindly insisted on buying beers for us both as his guest and recommended that we should sample some of the local restaurants once we had crossed into Kentucky, including that state-wide institution KFC.

The bar had been the perfect tonic for a stressful end of the day, although we were warned by Team Stockham that the Cave-in Rock Motel might wipe the smiles off our faces.  Even the locals hinted that it might not be the ideal place to spend the night.  The cardboard sign at the front of the motel did not bode well, and Parkes decided to play it safe and sleep in his sleeping bag.  Nonetheless although it was basic and a touch unloved it was great to finally climb into bed, and at a remarkably early time for us.  We needed rest, we were riding into Kentucky the next day and we had been warned that we would need to be on our guard.

In other news….

–          Although basic, the Cave-in-Rock motel was the first place we stayed with two televisions in each room – one for playing videos to compensate for the fact that the television reception was so poor.  It also had arguably the best shower we had on the trip – albeit with a purple bin bag as the shower curtain….

– With broad smiles on their faces the locals informed us that there were two four-star hotels in Elizabethtown – unfortunately they were not listed on our maps.

JBS