Chicago to St Louis

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The starting point on Adam's street, Chicago

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Day 1 -  Chicago to Bloomington

Well we arrived in Chicago and found ourselves at the wonderful Econo Lodge - outside of the city, away from the airport, in fact, miles away from anywhere.  Not such a bad thing since without a bar in sight and the hotel  restaurant not serving alcohol we had no choice but to have an early night, in hindsight a good thing given the day that lay ahead of us...

Having signed numerous waivers of liability and acknowledging various risk statements such as "riding a motorcycle can cause injury and possibly death", we were considered responsible (or foolish) enough to be let loose on our Harleys.

We picked up the start of Route 66 in the middle of Chicago on Adam's Street,  then wound our way past the spectacular Sears Tower into the Chicago suburbs.  They say that you see the best and worst of America along Route 66 and when we saw gangs of youths fighting with baseball bats being chased by police across an intersection, we were sure that the US had a lot more to offer. Making very slow progress whilst being careful not to stop for too long for fear of the bikes being stolen from underneath us, we finally stopped for lunch at 4pm at the end of the  Metroplolis in Joliet - 46 miles covered in four hours.

"Tall Paul" the muffler man

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A little behind schedule but now on the open road, we tried to pick up lost time. As you are driving along the two lane Route 66, to the left is the original 1920's road (which is 8 foot wide and totally overgrown).  Hundreds of sparrows sit on the wires between the old telegraph poles, tilted by decades of strong winds.  Further to the left is the mammoth  8-lane I-55 with huge electricity pylons.   Parellel roads revealing the history of automotive transportation in the US.       

Tired, and now driving in the dark we arrive at our first destination Bloomington.   Shoulders, groins and thumbs aching its hard to think of what exercise we could have done to prepare for the physical assult of being on a bike for 8 hours. Average speed of 20 miles per hour - much room for improvement.

The Soulsby Shell station

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Other areas of improvement needed:

Chris - to ensure that Kim and Bert are following when he speeds ahead and turns off the intestate.

Kim - to not stall at traffic lights when big red trucks are sitting on your tail honking.

Bert - no improvement needed.

Day 2 - Bloomington to St Louis

A far better and relaxing day today.  Saw some wonderful contryside and stopped for two hours of sightseeing In Springfield.  The State capital of Illinois and also the only place where Abe Lincoln had a home.  Some dodgy wallpaper, but otherwise a very pretty C19 house that has been beautifully preserved.

Pushing onto St Louis in the afternoon, we are about 10 miles away when we catch sight of the Arch.  What a welcome sight.  170 miles in 5.5 hours today - much improved.

Wow, that's huge - the Gateway to the West

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Spent the evening in BB's, an excellent blues bar with a cool harmonica player.  Fed and watered (very well) we return to the hotel for a well earned rest.