Day 33 Kirksville to Quincy.

Today's trip was always going to be awkward for various reasons and most of us had realised this for a while. Weeks ago, when we were still way out west, we saw on the weather channel and national news the floods that had occured as a result of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers flooding following weeks of torrential rain. The original plan was for us to reach the Mississippi at Canton and take the ferry across, something I had been particularly looking forward to, but the floods meant that the ferry was closed and would be for months. Also some bridges were out of commission so the pressure on the bridge into Quincy was greater and not safe to ride over. We had to ride to within a few miles of the river, get shuttled across in the van, then get dropped on the far side.
A new route was formalised and we only got it at route rap which was held at breakfast/load at 6.30am. To make matters worse it was torrential rain outside so we were due for our first soaking. So much for cleaning the bike last night and drying out the cycling shoes.
We were in no real hurry to leave to get soaked, so we lingered over breakfast as the forecast was favourable for later in the day. We finally assembled under the entrance canopy just before 7.30am and I actually took a photo of the heavy rainfall!!! Well it was the first we were to ride in. Al let out a yell and rode into the waterfall coming off the canopy with Alan, Bill, Steve and I right behind. We weren't the last to leave, but just about.
Going out of Kirksville in the rain and heavy traffic was not easy, but we soon got on the open road and started to catch up other groups. As we did the roller-coaster hills started again and some were as steep as 13%, but at least we did get some flatter sections for a couple of miles at a stretch. Not only was it raining hard, but there was also a stiff wind blowing mostly against us, so not the best day so far. The first SAG at Baring after 25 miles was welcome relief. The rain eased while we were there, but started again soon after we took off. By the time of the second SAG at Williamstown the rain had stopped, the temperature had risen considerably and the roads had dried out so the jacket came off.(I've tried 'whose coat is this jacket?' but it fell on stony ground).
The rollers returned with a vengence in the third section and I was looking forward to dropping into the Mississippi Valley. When we finally did that I saw evidence of the recent floods and got some photos of the levee defences as the road levelled off. When we reached the lorry park that was the 'Shuttle Depart' we had our bikes loaded on and 7 of us got into the van as the first group to cross. I got to sit in the front passenger seat of the van so was in pole position for the photos of the river etc, however it was at this point that the camera batteries decided to run out, I had spares on me and was frantically trying to reload them and reset the camera time and date (it won't take photos unless you do) as we crossed the Mississippi. I did manage to get some shots, particularly the Illinois sign.
When we were dropped off we went back to the river to take more photos and it really is a 'mighty' river and still well above its normal level. Riding the last few miles through town to the hotel we saw that lots of houses were decorated ready for tomorrow. There were also large tents set up in petrol stations and supermarket car parks that were selling fireworks ready for the celebrations. At the hotel it was a case of cleaning the bikes again and the air-con units were again usefully multi-tasking. Rang home, but couldn't get a reply (!) Sarge spent a good deal of the evening decorating his bike ready for tomorrow.
Today's distance was 87.6 miles.