September 9, 2018
Day 20 Farmington-Cuba Mo.
On my way to Rt 66 with some hills thrown in
Today was a lot cooler than it's been. I got a later start today, I was dreading the amount of Hills that might be on tap today. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm not on the Trans Am anymore so Matt and Camilla and I said our goodbyes, hugs all around.They'll stay on the Trans-Am until Pueblo,Co. then take the western Express route to San Francisco. Great couple to travel with we had a blast. Since I'm off the Trans Am, I was bushwhacking with Google Maps. I stopped at McDonald's for a senior coffee and sausage burritos. Then it was time to clock in and go to work, Google had me go on left and right and up and down. I finally really looked at the road I was so going to be on. State Route 8 which is what I was on coming out of Farmington. State Route 8 in Farmington was a two-lane road with a 10-foot shoulder, my personal bike lane. Google had me on Old State Route 8, it wasn't a bad road, but the road went up one Hill and down the other. Finally I said when I get close to the new State Route 8 I'm going to take a look at it. I turned towards State Route 8 was only about a hundred yards from old State Route 8. The new State Route 8 had a good size shoulder, and most importantly the hills were much more gradual. So way I went on the new State Route 8. I figured if the shoulder disappeared I can always go back to the old State Route 8. The shoulder didn't disappear. I got my second flat of the trip in Potosi, MO. Actually if you're going to have a flat, the place was perfect. A gas station with an out-of-the-way Corner which no one drove in, so I didn't have to be in anyone's way. Patched the Old Tube since I had room to work, and packed that one away. Put the new tube in, put the bike back together and then I was off again. After Potosi the shoulder was less generous, but doable. I took my mid-afternoon break at a roadside table rest area, something you don't see too much on secondary roads anymore. Rock walls around it we're quite unique. About 10 miles before a Cuba, The town of Steelville had a cool twist for their downtown decorations, they had half canoes painted by local artists.At Steelville Google tried to get me again by sending me on this side street with a mountain of a hill, it could have been used as a runaway truck Hill, it was that Steep and abrupt. I outsmarted Google and stayed on US Route 19 it had a shoulder with a rumble strip right in the middle, not ideal, but less steep hills.I made it to Cuba, the Mural City. Can't wait to check that out tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 1,105 miles (1,778 km)
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