Day 28: St. Joe to Centerville, MO

June 7, 2006

Woke up early with a headache and didn't particularly want to get up, so I told the birds to tone it down and went back to bed to snooze for a while. When I did get up, I was moving slow--I think to procrastinate on the hills I'd heard were coming today. I made myself a good breakfast from my mom's care package (cinnamon cous cous with brown sugar, almonds, and raisins) and drank some tea, taking my time getting ready. But I finally relinquished my flip flops, slathered on some butt lotion, cinched up my bike shoes and headed back to the road sometime after 8 (seemed like a late start to me). I think I could have happily sat at St. Joe's all day doing nothing but watch the frisky squirrels play.

I thought I might be in trouble for the day when the first hill out of the campground sent me into my granny gear, but the miles through the rest of the state park were nice--tiny little uphills, a couple of turtles to rescue, and nice gentle downhills.

Hurry up little turtle! Today had multiple turtle rescues

DEFINITELY not a Pepsi machine--garlic blood balls and night crawlers in this machine. Yuk.

Then highway 32 was slow with plenty of traffic to keep me company, but slalomming through the pockmarked, potholed shoulder kept my mind off the wind and the fact that I was doing only 8 mph.

Then I spent way too much time in little Bismark getting snacks and cool drinks and sending home the Brooks saddle I'm giving up on (at least for now), but I also met Diana, a local cycling advocate who told me about her work and found someone to dump some vinegar into my camelbak to try to get it cleaned out (the saga continues--I was actually going to send it home with the Brooks and forgot to. But my uncle is coming to see me this weekend, so I can get a new one then anyway).

Repeated stops for ice cream, Pepsi, and other more healthy snacks along with a periodic tailwind (and motivation to keep moving after one service stop with a very loud and racist girl working there) brought me to the destruction I'd heard about at Johnson's shut ins.

After and Before pics of the destruction at Johnson's Shut Ins

The break in the trees shows the destructive path of the water

I guess that area used to be the campground

The hills were supposed to get worse after this, so I procrastinated here, too, talking to some girls working there and taking my time eating and drinking and generally cooling down.

Reluctantly got on the road again to face the hills, but the rollers weren't too bad--nothing I had to walk anyway. And I met Mike, a guy who'd been on the road since September and had done over 10,000 miles in search of someplace to live other than Jersey.

It was close to 5 when I got to Centerville and I couldn't decided whether to go on 15 miles to the next town or not. Camping in the next town was off the route, and here it's in a walled courtyard about 20 yards from the Sheriff station, so I stayed. Clean indoor bathrooms 24/7, a Pepsi machine, and police protection. What could be better?

Dinner at my campsite on the courthouse lawn in Centerville

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 1,358 miles (2,185 km)

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