Litchfield, Illinois to Granite City, Illinois

Another good day. A bit chilly when I started out, but warmed up pretty fast so that I removed my jacket and stowed it away by just after 10 AM. And even though I was pedaling into the wind all day, it was pretty light so didn’t bother me too much. Also a lot of my riding today was on asphalt bike paths so traffic was largely a non-issue.

The first town I rolled through after leaving Litchfield was Mount Olive. Mount Olive is home to the only labor-union established and union-owned cemetery in the United States. It’s the result of the “Battle of Virden”, fought in Virden, Illinois on October 12, 1898 when the Chicago-Virden Coal Company refused to honor the national wage negotiated by the United Mine Workers Union. An armed struggle broke out between miners and the company forces. Eight miners, four mine guards, and one company employee were killed. Four of the dead miners were from Mt. Olive, but the owner of the privately-owned town cemetery refused to bury them; he didn’t want the property to turn into a miners’ shrine. So the UMW purchased land in Mt. Olive in order to create a dedicated union cemetery for the dead miners and all miners in the future. In 1932 the cemetery was deeded to the Progressive Miners of America Union. Today a perpetual care committee tends the cemetery with the help of labor unions from around the country. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Mother Jones, the labor activist and champion for the United Mine Workers Union is interned in the cemetery. A monument was erected there in her honor.

After visiting the cemetery and the Mother Jones Monument, I was lost in thought mulling over the significance of those two sites and missed a turn on my route. It was a mile later when I noticed. Ugh.

Backtracking, I eventually found my way onto the bike path to Worden, where I stopped for a mid-morning lunch and short break in the community park. While there I met two other bikers riding the bike path in the opposite direction. We chatted a bit about the usual stuff – my trip, where I was from, etc. Anyway, long story short, the gentleman was from the neighborhood around St. Rita, and his wife (who is about my age) was from 64^th and Komensky!! Which, for those familiar with the area, is only about a ¼ mile from where I grew up!! Small world, right?! So we talked about the old neighborhood and traded stories for about 45 minutes before finally bidding each other farewell and good luck – they heading north to their home nearby, me going west to see what was out there.

But small world coincidences were quite finished for the day. Later, while stopped on a back country farm road and looking at my map for the next turn (I stopped because the shade of a huge roadside tree invited me to stop) when a passing car pulled next to me. The middle-aged driver and his elderly mom were out for an afternoon drive, saw me standing there reading a map, and thought I might need some help. Anyway, one chat led to another, and before long I discover the driver has family that lived in Woodstock, Illinois – my home and where I started this adventure! More small world stuff! Anyway, turned out he was very familiar with the extensive county bike path system I was riding, and told me of a closed section of a path on my route through Edwardsville. And of course when I finally reached that closed trail, the detour added a mile or more to my day’s ride. If not for that, the ride into and through Edwardsville would have been brilliant.

It was almost 3 PM when I finally reached my day’s destination– the KOA campground in Granite City (near the eastern entrance to the Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River. ) The weather forecast is for 30% chance of rain tonight, so gave only about 10 seconds of thought to camping before deciding to push on to the Econolodge just a short block further. Camping at the KOA would cost $40. A night’s stay at the Econolodge is $60. Spending $20 more to avoid the hassle of packing up in the rain seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Tomorrow, I cross into Missouri, ride the Riverfront bike path to the Gateway Arch, then turn west into and through St. Louis. I’ve got reservations at the Wildwood Hotel, 44 miles away. Beyond that lie the Ozarks.