July 10, 2016
DAY 42: Immanuel Lutheran Church to Ash Grove (Missouri): "The self-propelled roller coaster begins"
DAILY STATS
Mileage: 94.35
Average Speed: 11.6 mph
Maximum Speed: 35.1 mph
The folks at the church left behind some eggs and peppers from their garden, so I whipped up a good little omelette for the morning, complete with some biscuits and coffee. I was contemplating the coming days, wondering if I should take it easy or keep pressing forward at a pace similar to what I have been doing. After all, I averaged roughly 101.05 miles per day across Kansas, in the hopes of making the coming days in the Ozarks and Appalachians a little shorter. Luckily I have many more cities to stop in, so I can have "checkpoints" where I decided to either stay or push on.
I left the church by 8:30, winding my way through and (eventually) over the Missouri border.
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The expansive crop fields continued for the first 30 miles or so of Missouri, as did the unbelievable humidity. It's just a fact of life at this point. I must embrace my soggy body! I finished listening to "American Gods" and downloaded "The Martain" at the next town. I'm really enjoying these audiobooks. It's such a great way to catch up on the books I didn't have time for while in school!
I stopped on into what slowly became more rolling, varied terrain. The Adventure Cycling Association describes the Ozarks as "one long, self-propelled roller coaster ride." It is a spot-on description. The climbs became increasingly steep and short, followed by similarity-graded and winding descents. It's both thrilling and exhausting. Apparently it is only slated to get worse, but it's a fun change of pace.
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I got into Ash Grove by about 8pm, and was getting ready to set up in the park when a fellow cyclist, Patrick (who I met back in Montana) told me of a community house open only to cyclists. I cheerfully took my bike up into the house, where I was greeted by two other fellow cyclists I had ridden with. I got a shower, and set up a cot in the open, air-conditioned spaces. After dark, I walked outside to chat with my family, and was pleasantly awed to see fireflies twinkling across the yard. Magical.
Tomorrow will be a short day. In fact, I could average 50 miles/day and still finish by August 10. It looks like my hard work is starting to pay off.
Today's ride: 94 miles (151 km)
Total: 2,919 miles (4,698 km)
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