MADISON COUNTY TRANSIT SYSTEM
Wanda Trailhead to Troy Super 8 - 12.4 Miles
It took us about a half hour to get squared away at the Wanda trailhead, doing final adjustments that could have been done at home. But we are on the road finally. Notice the single, small panier.
One abandoned rail line had not been turned into a trail. Soon the road on the left went somewhere else and we appeared to be in deep woods.
One of several good sized bridges along the Watershed Trail
An even longer bridge
We spotted two deer along the right side of the trail. We had to get a picture and stopped so as to no scare them away.
They'd crossed over to the left hand side. We needn't have stopped; they seemed almost tame.
I'm bashful
When we came to the junction of the Watershed and Goshen trails, the Watershed veered off to the left and we continued straight onto the Goshen. Soon we were in Edwardsville; but all I could see were a few McMansions through the trees.
After passing the junction of the Goshen, Nickel Plate, and Nature trails south of Edwardsville, we came to an exit into a small shopping center. We took advantage of some deserted tables to have a picnic lunch that Jeanine had brought. The shopping center was in the right place at the right time. We would not see a single park, picnic table, or bench until almost noon the next day.
We had to wait a few minutes while workmen cleaned up muck and debris from the underpass under Old Troy Road. Apparently, a rider has crashed on the slippery surface and required a trip to the hospital.
The junction with the Glen Carbon Heritage Trail aka Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. Note the two paniers and large pack on top of the rear rack of Jeanine's bike. To be fair, she did carry fixings for a picnic lunch both days and emergency rations in case we weren't able to get carry out supper near near the motel.
We passed Il 162 with fast moving traffic that would lead directly to our motel. Instead we pulled off the trail 0.4 miles south at the junction with the Schoolhouse Trail into a residential area, adding less than a mile to the ride.
The Super 8 was very nice. We carry a squirt bottle containing what supposedly kills 99.99% of bacteria and viruses. I gave everything a good scrub and found not a single particle of dust. So I knew the place was clean. Another nice feature was the 5 restaurants facing our parking lot. We opted for Mexican. There must have been some mix up because we had to wait almost 15 minutes after we were scheduled to pick it up. So the microwave in the room came in handy.
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