Lessons Learned

1. Always put new tires on the bicycle before the trip, no matter how good you think your present tires are.
2. Carry lots of ibuprofen with you.
3. Stay in places with hot tubs.

4. A positive mental attitude makes a huge difference.
5. Don't talk to Clay about gears while going uphill.
6. You can still gain weight while bicycling 300 miles.
7. Enjoy the honks of encouragement and ignore honks of the other kind.
8. Smile while bicycling so others will want to bicycle also.

Planes, Trains and Bicycles

Day 6
Odessa, Missouri to Kansas City, Missouri
32 miles

We stayed last night at Sunset Acres Bed and Breakfast in Odessa, Missouri.  After supper we spent an hour going over maps to find the least hilly route into Kansas City.  There were few options and all hilly.  So I had to mentally prepare myself for another hilly day.  I am really hoping Kansas will be flat! 

Clay got up early this morning to go fishing in the pond at the bed and breakfast.  He caught a catfish, two bluegill, and two bass.  What a great way to start his day.  Our hostess, Brenda, served us a delicious breakfast full of carbs for those hills we will climb today. 

Clay, Tom, and I got a later start than normal but that was OK since it was a short bicycling day.  We ended this part of the journey at the Amtrak station in Independence, Missouri.  We had an address where our 1911 relatives spent the winter, but unfortunately the street is no longer there.  The Amtrak station isn't far from where that street used to be, and since they spent a lot of their journey following the railroad, we thought that a railroad station would be a good place to finish.

Today was bittersweet.  Sweet that we accomplished our goal to bicycle from St Louis to Kansas City, and bitter that this part of the journey is ending.  It has been so much fun sharing this experience with Tom and Susan. 

After loading our bikes on the truck, we drove Tom to the Kansas City International Airport so he could fly home.  He had some pressing business that needed his attention back at work.  We are so glad he was able to finish the bicycling with us. 

We are already looking forward to the second part of this journey that will take place sometime in 2012, going from Kansas City to the panhandle of Oklahoma.  If you are one of my Craig or Goldsby relatives and would like to join us next year, we would love to have you participate in any way you would like. 

Alphabet Soup

Day 5
Marshall, Missouri to Odessa, Missouri
50 miles

I spoke too soon.  Today was the hardest day regarding "hills".  Enough said! We spent the majority of the day on state highways.  Highway YY, Highway CC, Highway U and Highway OO.  These highways had little traffic on them which was very nice, but they were hilly! Oops, enough said. We did have a problem about 12 miles into our ride. See picture below.

The bridge was completely gone! So we loaded the bikes up on the truck and had Susan transport us around the construction.  Three cheers for Susan.  We had lunch at Topsy's Cafe in Concordia, Missouri.  They had main street closed for their fall festival.  We got to see the high school band practice marching for the parade. 

This afternoon while descending down one of those hills, we came upon something quite startling. An unfortunate cyclist must have lost control and this is how we found him.

We are so excited to arrive at Kansas City tomorrow and have our shortest ride of the trip but we are so sore from the hills today we are afraid we might not make it. There is a long, gradual climb into our final destination. Hoping for a good night's sleep and if I dream of hills I am going to scream!!

The Hills are Alive With the Sounds of Grunting

Day 4
Moberly, Missouri to Marshall, Missouri
65 miles

Oh my goodness, the mornings have been so cold!  But I am not complaining because once it starts to warm up the days have been beautiful for riding.   Before leaving Moberly this morning, we wanted to make a stop at the old train depot.  When my relatives came through Moberly in 1911, they picked up my great, great grandfather here after he was delayed in St Louis for business. 

Our route today was going to be very hilly and over 60 miles long.  For me, this was going to be one of the most difficult days.  I knew that the hills were going to be challenging.  Then on top of that to have a long riding day, I knew that it would take all that I had to complete this day.  One thing that helped today, was that we had the wind at our backs for part of the day.  We met Susan in Glasgow, Misssouri for lunch.  We had ridden 35 miles at this point and were ready to eat.  Glasgow sits on the Missouri river and it is quite scenic.  There is a small park right on the river where we rested for awhile.  We found the old ferry crossing where our relatives would have crossed the river.



The second part of our day began with crossing the Missouri river and then climbing out of the river valley.  As much as I was anticipating the hills, I think Clay and I handled them very well.  Clay kept saying "Why is every road in Missouri uphill?"  We were really glad though to reach our destination of Marshall, Missouri.  I think this is going to be another hot tub night.  Marshall, Missouri has a very pretty town square and a gorgeous courthouse, picture included.

One interesting thing that happened this evening. On the way home from supper I found a wallet in the middle of an intersection. Clay took it to the police station to turn it in and they took his license and ran a check on him and they wanted to know where he lived and what he was doing in this area.  After Clay passed all the inspections and answered all their questions, they did thank him for turning it in.  That just goes to show you, that no good deed goes unpunished! 

If you hear the wake-up strips, hit the ditch

Day 3

Mexico, Missouri to Moberly, Missouri

53 miles

We had a very nice stay at the bed and breakfast.  The hot tub really helped our aching knees.  Our host and hostess made us feel right at home.  We started out this morning with a delicious breakfast and lots of nice conversation.  We began our ride later than normal but that was ok because it was 45 degrees when we got up.  For those of you that know me really well, you know that I don’t like riding when it is below 60 degrees. 

When we left Mexico, we were on a highway with a nice shoulder but after about 5 miles, the shoulder turned to gravel.  We decided to alter our route again to avoid the no shoulder problem.  So instead of a 40 mile day it ended up being a 50 mile day.  I am amazed at how many roads we are encountering that have no shoulder or are gravel.  Susan has done a great job of driving ahead of us and reporting back the road conditions.  If we didn’t have her along we would be doing a lot of back tracking.   

We ate lunch in Sturgeon, Missouri today at the Buzz Café.  Sturgeon was the first town outside of the St Louis area that was mentioned in the manuscript.  Small town with little going on but our lunch was fantastic.  After lunch Tom decided that he would continue to ride even though we had already ridden 30 miles.  Susan decided to go antiquing.  We decided we didn’t need her to scout ahead because we were on highway 63 going straight into Moberly.  We had a nice shoulder to ride on but there was lots of traffic.  Our mantra of the day was “If you hear the wake-up strips, hit the ditch”.  Luckily we never had to go into the ditch. 

This evening we decided that we needed to buy two new tires for the tandem.  Our front tire was showing signs of sidewall failure.  The nearest bike store was in Columbia, Missouri.  While in Columbia we ate supper at Hu Hot Mongolian Bar-B-Q, did laundry at a Laundromat, and had Starbucks coffee.  We are really roughing it.  

Oklahoma is not the only place where the wind comes sweeping down the plain

Day 2
Foristell, Missouri to Mexico, Missouri
69 miles

A few days ago it was in the 100's and today when we woke up it was in the 50's.  I am so glad that we brought our cold weather biking clothes.  On top of the cooler weather it was also a very windy day which made it feel even colder.  When we left Foristell,  we knew that the first 10 miles we were going to have quite a few "hills"  to climb.  I think we psyched Tom out pretty good, because after those 10 miles he said they weren't as bad as he thought they would be.  Tom rode with us for 25 miles today.  Then Susan took a turn and rode until lunch.  

It was so windy, it blew Susan's helmet off.  After lunch, we rode on a horrendous section of highway.  There was no shoulder, there was a lot of traffic going 60+ miles an hour, and the wind was blowing very hard, head-on.  A few miles down the road we heard sirens and pulled over.  Several emergency vehicles passed by us going back the opposite direction.  We called Tom and Susan to have them look at the map to see if there was another road to take.  They had just passed a very bad accident on the road we had just come down.  They were actually worried about us.  We quickly found an alternate route, which added a few extra miles, but we felt it was worth it. 

By the time we arrived in Mexico, we had ridden 69 miles today.  We were pretty excited that we rode that far, especially with the hills and wind.  Even though we rode that many miles today, it is our second longest ride ever.  We have actually ridden 70 miles in one day last summer on the Katy Trail.  If we had realized we were so close to breaking our record, we would have ridden around the block a few times before stopping for the night. 

We are staying at the A.P. Green House Bed and Breakfast.  We all have aching knees and as soon as I finish this blog, we are going to get in the hot tub. Tomorrow we will head to Moberly and it will be a short 40 mile ride.  We are praying that the wind will be calm or at our backs! 

Thank Goodness For Broken Glass

Day 1
Calvary Cemetery, St Louis, Missouri to Foristell, Missouri.
49 Miles 

The morning started off overcast and sprinkling.  We even had to use the windshield wipers driving to Calvary Cemetery.  I was afraid I was going to be tested and have to ride in the rain.  But fortunately by the time we started our ride it was just overcast and we never got into rain.  We placed some flowers on Caroline Cousins grave, took some pictures, unloaded the bikes, and then we were able to actually start our ride. 

Today we spent most of our time riding in the city traffic.  All went well and most of the drivers were courteous.  Susan was a very good support vehicle driver.  She would drive our route and text us if there were any hazards we needed to be aware of.  She also was our photographer for the day.  We stopped in St. Charles, Missouri for lunch at Subway.  We had ridden 23 miles by that time and needed a break.  Tom decided he "KNEEDED" to keep Susan company for the "REST" of the afternoon. 



 After lunch, Clay and I hit a patch of shoulder that had lots of broken glass.  We decided that we better stop and wipe down our tires in case there were any pieces of glass stuck to them.  As Clay was wiping down the back tire he noticed a bulge in the tire.  Upon closer inspection, it was determined that this tire could blow at anytime. We didn't think that would bode well in the St Louis traffic, so we called for backup.  Tom and Susan brought us one of our extra tires.  I am really thankful that we ran over the broken glass and that we found the bulge when we did.  I am also thankful for our support vehicle.   

We are staying in a hotel tonight and looking forward to another good ride tomorrow.