After finally finding each other and ourselves and shutting off the lights at 1:00 am Tuesday morning, we managed to get to sleep and to wake up about 5 or 6 hours later, organize and pack our gear, and put our feet to the pedals.
Notice how fresh and clean Niece Laura and Bro Mark look poising in front of our motel. With humidity high and temps quickly rising into the the low 30'sC (high 80'sF) we won't be so cool and fresh looking for long. 
Just around the corner from our motel and on our way to breakfast, we ride on a preserved road segment of old town St Louis. I hope these bricked streets were smoother when new, because just the two minutes I rode on them severely rattled my teeth and significantly compressed my spinal cord. Rolling along in a horse drawn wagon with metal rimmed wheels wouldn't be a picnic either.
Near this spot (the original spot now underwater in the Mississippi River, the largest river in North America) in 1804 Lewis & Clark stepped into the mysterious "West," of which very little was known and even less of the land to the Pacific was explored. The St Louis Gateway Arch provides a stunning marker and monument to this American defining trip and historical legacy. In 1804 this spot was "the edge of civilization of we know it." Our trek does not take us west, but rather more northerly. We pedal the oldest (as in first) section of America's first nationwide paved highway (as of 1926) stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles. But before we pedal far, we eat. (Got to have priorities, right?)
After breakfast we weave our way through a few very busy downtown streets towards the Mississippi River. Mark once lived near St. Louis and Laura still does. So they navigate these streets successfully and me being a foreigner and all make sure I don't lose sight of them.
Just around the corner from our motel and on our way to breakfast, we ride on a preserved road segment of old town St Louis. I hope these bricked streets were smoother when new, because just the two minutes I rode on them severely rattled my teeth and significantly compressed my spinal cord. Rolling along in a horse drawn wagon with metal rimmed wheels wouldn't be a picnic either.
Near this spot (the original spot now underwater in the Mississippi River, the largest river in North America) in 1804 Lewis & Clark stepped into the mysterious "West," of which very little was known and even less of the land to the Pacific was explored. The St Louis Gateway Arch provides a stunning marker and monument to this American defining trip and historical legacy. In 1804 this spot was "the edge of civilization of we know it." Our trek does not take us west, but rather more northerly. We pedal the oldest (as in first) section of America's first nationwide paved highway (as of 1926) stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles. But before we pedal far, we eat. (Got to have priorities, right?)
After breakfast we weave our way through a few very busy downtown streets towards the Mississippi River. Mark once lived near St. Louis and Laura still does. So they navigate these streets successfully and me being a foreigner and all make sure I don't lose sight of them.
Here we stand at the beginning of what will be a delightful feature of this trip: Multiple Purpose/Bike Trails. About half our journey to Chicago will be on some form of designated trail separate from automotive traffic. Quite the contrast from almost all of Route 66 in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. In those jurisdictions we were usually sharing a narrow Route 66 road with little to no "shoulder" for traveling, or we were actually pedalling on the wide shoulder of the high speed multiple lanes of the USA Interstate Highway System. Very noisy. Fumes. Very warm/hot. Possibly dangerous. And usually experiencing multiple flat tires, sometimes hourly each day, due to the small invisible-to-the-eye steel "needles" (escapees from worn out steel radial tires) that frequently punctured our tires.
This St. Louis Riverfront Trail appears to be the route of an abandoned railroad line. 
What you don't "see" in this picture of Mark and Laura pedalling along the bike trail in the shade is the already intense heat and high humidity that would characterize the first 3 days of our six day ride. The moments of fleeting shadiness were most appreciated.
After pedalling most of the morning along the west side (Missouri side) of the Mississippi River, we arrived at one of the largest and most famous Route 66 features, the Chain of Rock Bridge. Built in the 1920's and named after the dangerous rapids beneath which once challenged shipping on the river, this bridge was Route 66 and a major link across the River between Missouri and Illinois.
Good example of the St Louis Area Riverfront Trail. I believe you see Route 66 in the left of the photo paralleling our bike path. Most of the entire length of Route 66 across the nation lingers in view of train tracks or abandoned lines. Trains were the first mechanical means of travel along the someday route of 66. Before the trains, horses and wagons cut ruts in the dirt and dust. Originally, the route was often part of an extensive network of trading trails traversed by commercially active Native Americans.
What you don't "see" in this picture of Mark and Laura pedalling along the bike trail in the shade is the already intense heat and high humidity that would characterize the first 3 days of our six day ride. The moments of fleeting shadiness were most appreciated.
After pedalling most of the morning along the west side (Missouri side) of the Mississippi River, we arrived at one of the largest and most famous Route 66 features, the Chain of Rock Bridge. Built in the 1920's and named after the dangerous rapids beneath which once challenged shipping on the river, this bridge was Route 66 and a major link across the River between Missouri and Illinois.
By the 1960's bigger bridges had been built to accommodate America's exponentially growing auto and truck traffic, and Chain of Rocks Bridge was rendered obsolete and useless because of changing times and need for expensive and deferred and unjustifiable repairs.
Too expensive to repair and too costly to demolish, the bridge rusted, rusted some more, used only occasionally for a few movie filmings. The Army Corp of Engineers planned on blowing it up "just for practice." Coming to the rescue, a citizen group (many cyclists and walker/hikers) formed, and arranged for bridge rehabilitation as a non-automotive walking/biking bridge. Smart move. This bridge now connects over 300 miles of trails in Missouri and Illinois. Sights and sounds of crossing are priceless, like stepping into a time machine.
From the bridge one views these amazing vacation homes (?) and wonders what in the world are they doing out in the middle of the Mississippi River. Both display beautiful Roman/Greek architecture.
I was puzzled. Later that evening I sought the knowledge of Google, and found it. Not "homes" at all. But fresh water intakes for municipal water use. I'm not sure if they are still used today.
Speaking of fresh water, not so sure I'd want to drink from the Mighty and Muddy Mississippi. So big! And you can almost hear Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn goofing off somewhere, and Mark Twain's riverboat echoing through time.
A display of our route on Route 66. We deviated a bit from this route so as to pedal the oldest segments of Route 66. (Since 1926, Route 66, like any highway, has been "realigned" several times in various places. Our course kept us on the oldest sections, mostly.)
Another nice feature of this particular ride, as contrasted with the southwest Route 66, is we didn't have to ride on the interstate highway once. Illinois gets high marks for preserving and signing and making an auto or bike trek of Route 66 a great experience. (President Eisenhower's initiation of the construction of the modern Interstate Highway system in the 1950's was the beginning of the end for Route 66. Much of Route 66 was actually buried by the Interstate System, or relegated as frontage road for the Interstates. Hundreds of small towns which once thrived on the commerical and tourist traffic of Route 66 were by-passed, and left to diminish, or struggle, and often die. This is a key part of the plot in the Pixar/Disney movie, "Cars." Radiator Springs, in the movie, is based on a small town in Arizona. Section by second Route 66 was "decommissioned" with the final segment removed from our maps in the summer of 1985. While I am not "that terribly old," I can remember travelling large sections of Route 66 to and from Texas as a child with my family to visit relatives.)
An old segment of Route 66 completely dedicated to cyclists and walkers. Way to go Illinois!! (Many times along the route I felt like singing Strawberry Fields Forever. Except we're talking seemingly endless miles of Cornfields.)
A great example and mental flashback to the train track (which is now our bike trail) and the actual Route 66 road (left side of photo).
Route 66 is nearby, but unseen from our junglized bike path.
Almost every town and village we passed through makes significant efforts to express their pride and historic connection with Route 66. Many businesses squeeze this value into their marketing. (Notice the "For Sale" sign on the property :-(
Not only can you get your kicks on Route 66, but you can also perk up your hair, fingernails, and toenails.
Niece Laura points out how even the various historical alignments are identified. Most of these alignments are very short deviations from our route. Brother Mark, because he wasn't as hot and tired as Laura and I, or maybe he was just tougher, often sped though the deviation and met up with us about 15 minutes later. Looking back, I wish I hadn't given in to the heat and fatigue of the moment, and had pedalled the slight detour, usually through a little village struggling to hang onto economic life, or now a bedroom community for St. Louis, Springfield, Lincoln, or Bloomington. And I don't want to give the impression that Laura was as tired as I am. This is Laura's first major multi-day cycling trip. She started seriously training on her bike early this Spring. But Laura is no stranger to exercise or fitness. She is an accomplished weight lifter. She works as a trainer/exercise coach at a local hospital in Lincoln providing various exercise/rehabilitation/conditioning classes for patients. She's not the most physically formidable presence, but if I were looking for a body guard, she'd be at the top of my list. She'd give the Avengers' Black Widow a run for her money. Don't mess with Laura. I felt much safer on this trip just knowing she was along. (I almost turned her loose on the unethical customer service reps at Amtrak who majorly messed up my train ride home. But that's a whole other story which I might share as an epilogue to this journey.)
We made it. End Day 1. After leaving our motel in St Louis, Missouri and journeying for 7 hours, of which four hours and sixteen minutes were pedalling, covering 78.8 km (48.9 mi), and averaging a speed of 18.7 kph (11.6 mph) in 30C (86F) temps, we arrive in Staunton, Illinois on historic Route 66.
What you don't see in the picture is very important. On the left and out of sight is a genuine Mexican food restaurant. You have no idea the joy this brings to a very hungry Canadian who was raised in Southern California and views Mexican food as an essential food group. And on the other side of the motel is the essential requirement of any true Midwest town, a Dairy Queen. First we peel off our sweaty spandex, and patiently wait our turn for a shower, and then we go out to dinner for a fabulous carb loading. After all, first and foremost, cyclists on multiple day trips must always keep up the glucose reserves in their blood and muscles. Calorie deficits not allowed :-)
Today's journey.
Today's journey.
That looks like a great trail. I am happy to see that Illinois has created the bike path.
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