A day of rest on the train from Pontiac to St. Louis gave my body time to recover. Yet, hauling my bike on and off the train with no platform was a bit strenuous but worth it given the four days of riding it would save me. 210 miles already covered in 2015 was a welcome reprieve. Before Craig Rebholz drove me down to the Pontiac train station this morning I contacted warmershowers host searching for a place to stay. Three out of four responded, I chose Chris Salinas because of his close proximity to the station. Six tenths of a mile through empty streets due to the Cardinals and the Phillies first playoff game in Busch Stadium. In fact, Chris and his wife Lydia were at the game. I arrived at a gorgeous 1885 mansard roofed, three story brick house. A pad and a half. Chris gave me instructions as to where to store my bike, how to get into the house and where the beer was. Fourteen foot ceiling and two twenty-one step set of stairs even had me breathing. Great lay out, a very cool pad. Chris and Lydia arrived home where upon I offered my condolences over the Cardinals losing the first game. That aside, the cheese and beer came out. Lydia headed out to be with the girls while Chris and I went around the corner for dinner. During our walk to and from I saw that the entire neighborhood is full of these fabulous houses and yet fifteen years earlier the area was seriously blighted. I can’t imagine their heating A/C bills are but they did a beautiful job restoring the place. Like me and my house many hours of toil were expended coming up with the finished product. As for tomorrow’s ride I will try to limited myself to around forty miles to allow my body more time to adjust to the trip. Being rather cool I will wait until 9:00 before pedaling off. It looks like I will be camping tomorrow night.
No comments:
Post a Comment