I left Mike & Pam's before they set out for church. It was a quiet Sunday morning ride through the south side of St. Louis. The Arch was within eyesight throughout the morning.
Since I was on the edges of St. Louis I didn't experience the city, only the outlying areas. I crossed over the MR into Illinois and then found it quite tricky getting on route. The first attempt Google Maps led me across the MR then onto a trail that went from paved to dirt. I turned around. The next attempt was leading me too far to the east so once again I turned around. This time I took extra time to study the map, not just rely on Google Maps.
I got pointed in the right direction, south, and made my way through small rural towns all the way to Chester. When I arrived in Chester I touched base with Mike and he figured that Chester would be my end point for the day.
Before entering Chester I was passed by another long distance cyclist but we didn't get to chat. Upon entering Chester I found out that it was the Home of Popeye, cool! There were statues of different Popeye characters throughout town and some Popeye themed murals. Nice surprise.
Celeste found me a decent hotel for the night so I checked in, cleaned up, found something to eat and chatted with a local about my next day's riding options. He said the east side of the MR was flat and the west side was hilly. That made it easy for me to decide which route to take.
Most of the day was spent away from the River, tomorrow I will reconnect.
