Harpole’s Heartland Lodge & Resort Blog

The plan was to leave the lodge at 8:00 Saturday morning. Doug sent an e-mail to the Quincy Multi Sports Club and Quincy Bike Club to see if any wanted to join us. The Quincy Multi Sports Club e-mail did not get posted until late Friday night so we figured it would only be the two of us. But that’s ok, we would have a good time.Doug arrived a little early since it was his first time to the lodge. I was getting my last few things ready just in case he showed up ahead of time. We were outside of my house getting caught up along with getting our gear ready. Then a car drove by with a very nice bike on the back. The lodge and my house are both located in a rural area, so you don’t see a lot of traffic at 7:30 in the morning let alone someone with a nice ride on the back. We both asked if we knew who it was but neither of recognized the vehicle. But I told Doug that he has to be looking for us.

Then a few minutes later the vehicle came back and Doug flagged him down. Sure enough he was looking for the riders. He said he was up late last night and the e-mail came across and he figure he would enjoy the ride. It was Jared Busen from the Decatur IL. He was going to visit family this weekend in Quincy and decided to join us for the ride on his way black. We were glad that he did.

We took off a little after 8:00am. The first 10 miles was typical Pike and Calhoun Counties back roads and rolling hills. Doug told me that they normally stop at the half way spot and grab something to eat. So I took my mom out the night before to Mel’s River Dock in Hardin IL to see what the distance to there would be. 26 miles, perfect. So we rode 10 miles then turned south onto route 100. We traveled through Kampsville then Michael, and eventual stopped in Hardin (16 miles on route 100).

We ate more than we should have, but we were inspired by Michael Phelps and his high calorie diet. So we figured, why not. We had a very relaxing breakfast and enjoyable conversation.

After breakfast, it was back on the road heading back the way we came. The first 25miles was very enjoyable but I knew the second 25 would not be as easy. The head wind we were facing didn’t help any. We made excellent time traveling the 15 miles back north on route 100. We took turns taking the lead and the other two drafted behind the leader. By the time we turned off onto the country road that takes us the last 10 miles back to the lodge, I was spent! So I had to take it a little easier most of the last 10 miles.

But during the last few miles I caught my second wind, until we reach the final hill. There is a hill that leads up to the lodge that will challenge even the most experience riders. We all made it to the top and then coasted back to our starting point.

When we returned we enjoyed a Gatorade and talked about the ride. Then I gave Doug and Jared a tour of both lodges, then they were off to Quincy. The wanted to stop at the bike shop before it closed.

It ended up being a perfect day with temps in the 70’s and the ride was very enjoyable with two great guys!