Author: mwmiller2@outlook.com

A really nice day!  We were expecting a tough day because of the mileage (67 miles) and the wind. Turns out we actually had a tail wind part of the way and were cranking along part of the time at 20 mph – not bad on a loaded touring bike.

The temperature was quite pleasant – in the low 70’s – and it turned out to be a nice day. Very little relief in this part of Oklahoma so hardly any hills – a dramatic change from a few days ago when we were grunting up and down the hills in Missouri.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures today as there wasn’t a lot of points of interest. We did stop for lunch about 30 miles into the ride at some little town when we saw a diner that had a big “EAT” sign in front of it and about 10 pickups parked around it.

Fun place, good food, nice people.  Everyone continues to ask us about our journey and most are amazed when they here where we are going – but it’s a good conversation starter. Tonight we get a treat. Some relatives of the tour leader and his wife live relatively near our camp site and are bringing in some serious local BBQ for dinner tonight- yeah!  Tomorrow we will be roughing it a bit more. There are no showers at our camp site and I ‘m on the cooking rotation as well!! Poor riders. And just for the record – last night in the motel room by myself was heavenly. Best night of sleep I’ve had in days.

Today we started in Carthage, Mo, rode through Joplin, Mo, into Kansas for 12 interesting miles and ended up in Miami, OK. Three states in one day!

A couple of local “road angels” (local bicyclists) met us in the morning and rode with us through Joplin which was really nice. They suggested a better routing that had less traffic – plus we didn’t need to focus on our maps and GPS since we could just follow them. I needed to find a bike shop as did one of the other riders and they told us of one they recommended and gave us directions. The bike shop owner was equally helpful and showed us a better route to get back with the main group.  Although we were in Kansas for only twelve miles we stopped at a classic old general store –

it was like right out of an old movie. And then we crossed the Rainbow Bridge which is the last remaining bridge of its kind.

Not many hills today as we transition into Oklahoma – but more wind!  I suspect that will be the challenge during the next week as we cross Oklahoma.  The group opted to combine three shorter days into two days in order to be able to have a layover day to take the train to the Grand Canyon. The result is we have three long days ahead of us. The temperature should be OK and so far it looks like good weather. Tonight I am in heaven – we are staying in a motel and since there are an odd number of guys, there was a drawing and I got the room by myself!!!  It’s an EconoLodge motel but compared to my tent it’s like the Ritz Carleton!! I will sleep very well tonight!!

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Today started off a bit soggy. It rained a good portion of last night but our tents kept us nice and dry.

However, we had to pack up some soggy equipment. Fortunately, the forecast was for clear weather at our destination so we figured we’d dry everything out at the end of the ride. Today was our longest day so far and perhaps for the whole trip.

We clocked in at about 72 miles. The good news is that because of the rain last night it was much cooler today and there weren’t as many hills. That said, some of the hills were very steep – we climbed a couple that were a 14% grade!!  Fortunately they weren’t real long but steep is still steep!!  Thank goodness for “grandma gears”!  We rode through really pretty country almost all day. We even stopped at a store in Miller, Missouri

to refuel on Gatorade and carbs. This is our last night in Missouri. Tomorrow we exit Missouri, ride through a corner of Kansas and then end up in Miami, Oklahoma where we get to stay in a motel!!! Yeah!!

Today is a day off and it was quite nice to not have to get up at 6, have breakfast, pack lunch, pack up all the gear and hit the road for another long day.  Some opted to stay in camp – a few opted to ride the 4 or 5 miles to the nearest Starbucks. I stayed here and just did laundry, checked my bike, and tried to get caught up on email and bill paying. It’s a nice camp site with good facilities with the exception that it is situated right next to the railroad tracks

and there is a street crossing right outside of camp. The trains blast their horns as they go through the intersection and the collective opinion was that there were 7 trains that went by the camp throughout the night.  Sleep was in short supply this morning and probably will be again tonight.  It made for a lively and humorous discussion at breakfast this morning!!  Even with the lack of sleep, it’s nice to have the day off before we hit the road again tomorrow.  We are almost through Missouri as we inch our way across. We will be staying in Carthage, Mo tomorrow night ( a 70 mile day) and then we will hit a corner of Kansas and be in Oklahoma!  I’m sure Oklahoma will bring its own challenges but it will be flatter than Missouri. The weather is predicted to be cooler which will be a nice change. We are expecting rain tonight but hoping the showers may bypass us.  We are two weeks in to this trip – 25% – so have a little less than 6 weeks to go.  Hopefully more from the road tomorrow night.  Zippy and I are doing fine so far!

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Today was really all about getting to Springfield because it was another hot and hilly day, there weren’t many “Rte 66” sights along the way, and tomorrow is a rest day and everyone is tired. The last 5 days of hot, humid, hilly, 60+ mile days have taken their toll.

We did pass a nice Starbucks about 4 or 5 miles from camp but many of us are reluctant to ride anywhere tomorrow. We’ll see what the world looks like in the morning. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so we may opt to just stay here. It’s a nice KOA campground with a lounge area and a store so it will likely be a day for laundry, internet, and R&R.

My sleeping pad has developed a slow leak so I wake up on the ground – but REI is shipping another one to intercept me in Tulsa,OK next Wednesday. I can tough it out until then – I hope!!  All of that said, it is a great trip – a great adventure. It’s a good group of people and so far we have all managed to maintain our senses of humor. Whenever we stop at grocery stores or cafes, people always ask what we are doing – most are amazed but all wish us well. We’ve met lots of very nice people – and a few angry dogs!!!

The tour leader, who has been leading these types of yours for 20 years, once told us, “It’s never an easy day until it’s over.”  Today was a perfect example of that.

We were all thrilled that we only had to ride 40 miles today – thinking this should be an easy day!  So off I rode with my little group.  Since had all this extra time today we stopped for breakfast.  The waitress told us the bridge was out on Rte 66 about 3 miles down the road – but it was possible to lift your bike over the barriers and continue on. We had heard a similar thing from the leader the night before. So, after our leisurely breakfast we headed down the road. Sure enough the bridge was closed so we started to offload the bikes so we could lift them over the railing. We crossed the bridge and did it all again on the other side.  It took a fair bit of time.  It was hot and humid!!  And there were many more hills between us and camp.

I have come to the conclusion that no matter how many miles we have to ride we leave camp between 8 and 8:30 every morning and we will arrive at camp around 4 pm.  Something always seems to happen.

Hence, no day is an easy day until it’s over.

Today was a tough day but a rewarding and fun tough day. I was supposed to be on the cooking crew today

but yesterday the tour leader said he knew we were going to have a tough ride today so he took everyone to dinner and bumped the cooking schedule

one day. I’m on for tomorrow. Today we road past a lot of iconic Rte 66 stuff.   I will just post the pictures for now because I am tired.

It was a 66 mile day with 2,700 feet of climbing – and it was hot and humid. Like I said – a tough day but a fun day.  Especially near the end when we needed to get some more water and the only option on this little back road was a serious biker bar!! We got a few looks when we walked in but everyone was very nice!!

Today was much better than yesterday!! It was still hot and humid and still a lot of ups and downs- but a lot less traffic! And I did a lot better job of keeping myself hydrated!  Yesterday I think I let myself get dehydrated in the heat.

There were not a lot of photo ops or much Rte 66 stuff but that should change tomorrow. This biggest excitement today was when we all met at the Walmart in Sullivan to do grocery shopping.

There were no stores near camp so we all met at the Walmart in Sullivan and when the designated cooks were done shopping, we all divvied up the load and road the next 17 miles to camp. We got lots of comments and people were quite nice but truly amazed at the journey we are on. It was a lot of fun  Tomorrow is a 63 mile day and it’s still hot!! And Missouri is not flat!

Today was brutal!!  The ride from Granite City to the Gateway Arch in St Louis was great. We went over the Mississippi on the Chain-of-Rocks bridge

which is open to only bicycle and pedestrian traffic. It is very unique in that it has a 30 degree bend in it.  Once we were on the Missouri side, we followed a nice

bike trail all the way down to the arch. We took the obligatory photos

and then he’ll started. Riding through St Louis and then on to our campsite in Eureka was a combination of heavy traffic, narrow shoulders, temperatures around 90 degrees, high humidity, and some very steep hills!!!  It was a 56 mile day and it really kicked everyone’s butt. Everyone stopped multiple times to drink quarts of Gatorade and water.  Tomorrow we have hills and it will be hot but hopefully we’ll have a lot less traffic.  I absolutely hate this humidity!!

It was nice to have a layover day!!   Everyone still gathered for coffee around 7 but it was much more leisurely.

Usually people are focused on eating breakfast and getting all their gear packed up ready to leave. No such pressure this morning. The group I normally

ride with finally gathered around 10:30 and we headed off ( on bikes of course) to the Lewis and Clark State Park which was only 5 miles away.  The museum was quite interesting. It is to commemorate the start of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

We hung around there for a while, rode back to camp

and then on another 3 miles to the Itty Bitty restaurant to have lunch. Great, classic diner with excellent homemade pie. After that it was back to camp to shower, do laundry and just kick

back to get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow we ride over the Missouri River on the Chain of Rocks bridge into St Louis. Goodbye Illinois – here we come, Missouri. This will be the beginning of five days of hills and lots of climbing. And it will be in the high 80’s!!  Should be an interesting first day in Missouri – 53 miles with 2,300 feet of climbing ( on a loaded bike!).