Living were I do, I can ride across 1 bridge & be in Illinois in 20 miles.
One of my favorite rides is through Alton, IL going along the Mississippi river's Great River Road up to Grafton, IL & to a couple of great lunch spots, 1 being a very friendly biker bar called the Hawg Pit, but I opted for fresh buffalo fish at Beasleys.
If you ride past Grafton about 5 miles, there's a ferry that will take you across the Mississippi for FREE & you have about a 50 mile ride to get back were you started. There is also a great state park, Pere Marquette, were you can ride up through the bluffs to a great lookout area were you can see where the Missouri & Mississippi rivers meet.
Great ride, great fresh fish lunch, but my goodness, it was hot!