September 15, 2018
Day 24 Springfield-Carthage,Mo
Flatish and Warmish
Today I was ready to go. Thursday I was in a dark place, one set of hills after another with some heat thrown in. With the Broken Spoke, and the discovery of the other spoke issues. I just about bailed on the trip, I went so far as to reserve a car to load the bike and stuff and drive home. Sometime, and self-reflection, and a couple of beers thrown in for good measure. I came to the conclusion to take it day by day if I break more spokes, Well, I'll worry about it then.
On a lighter note, snow took us down town for Burgers & Beer last night. It was a one-of-a-kind experience. Snow teaches part-time at the college she's working on her master's when she finishes her thesis, she should be working full-time. In the meantime she does tutoring, and a side Hustle, a pedicab for those you don't know what it is, it's a bike with a cab in the back to carry two or three, or 4 if you enjoy being intimate with each other. Springfield has a very active downtown, with 11 colleges it's got a lot of restaurants and bars. Snow runs her own pedicab really a bike Taxi. She wanted to show us around in the bike Taxi, very interesting experience. We saw the sights and then went to dinner at Whiskey Bill's Burgers. I keep saying we because another bike tourist came in last night, Oliver from France. He's doing the Route 66 also, he started in Chicago and is going to California. Oliver and I had Snow as a tour guide.
Today the ride is much better than Thursday, for one thing the hills weren't continuous. Thursday you get to the top of the hill, then you can see three or four miles down the road, one hill after another. You knew what you'd be doing for the next half an hour, then topping the last Hill, there be three or four more miles of up and down and up. You'd get over that and guess what. It was that way all day. That, with me feeling this disheartened. It was a long day.
I got my psyche straightened out at least for the time being. The ACA Maps had me on country roads most of the day, very little traffic, it was a long day but much more enjoyable. Just listening to the birds, crickets and the sound of my tires rolling on the pavement was my music for much of the day.
I landed in a great little RV park just outside of Carthage Missouri The Host said you can put your tent up anywhere that there is grass, just not in the RV pull through sites. So I'm over next to a patio with chairs and tables, what more could a cyclist want.
Today's ride: 75 miles (121 km)
Total: 1,319 miles (2,123 km)
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