132 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. Today was not a good day. It was hotter than blazes i.e. 98 degrees plus and towards the end of the day it felt like my tires were sticking to the pavement. Initially the riding was good, but as soon as we crossed into Missouri it got bad. The bridge crossing the Missouri river was one of the most decrepit structures I have ever been on. It was steel grating that was uneven, broken and just plain tough to ride on. Soon after we got off the bridge we started riding on country 2 lane roads. The roads were narrow, and the pavement was poor. Yesterday I described the route as being like a roller coaster. Today’s route was a roller coaster that resembled the most aggressive roller coaster at Cedar Pointe. They were brutal. It was a lot like riding on 70 miles of the road leading to Camp Daggett. To make it worse the route involved NUMEROUS turns and road changes every 3-6 miles so you had to stay alert looking for the next turn. Ten miles from the motel I was not concentrating, took a wrong turn and ended up doing 10 “bonus” miles. Believe me, today was not the day to do bonus miles. When I arrived at the motel the desk clerk was sitting out on the curb by the front door smoking a cigarette. She quickly concluded that I must be Jay. Of course I had to ask her how she knew and she reported that everyone had been asking and worrying about me. To add insult to injury when I fired up my laptop I quickly became infected with a virus. Luckily we have a computer security guru on the ride and he took care of me. I can’t wait to get out of Missouri. If the roads are flooded I will make like Huck Finn and make myself a raft to get out of this state.
At this point I was happy to be in Missouri. That quickly changed!!
This pic makes the roads look friendlier than they are!!!
I remember well driving the kids on Camp Daggett road. They were anxious to be the first to get to camp and you would turn the car off, coast down a hill and see how far you would get up the next one. (Did you try this trick on the Missouri hills?) It drove the kids crazy because when we lost our momentum we started coasting backwards down the hill. They would start yelling at you to hurry up. I understand Jared being anxious to get to Daggett, he had a good thing waiting for him, but the other two??? what was their hurry?
ReplyDeleteHope it is an easier day tomorrow.
Leisa
Ahhh, Hang in there, you are doing awesome.
ReplyDeletehi iron man;
ReplyDeleteyour descriptions are so vivid that it makes me grateful that you are the one earning all the credits.
our weather here has been amazing and i'm sure that leisa (like carolyn engels on little house in the prairie) is out in your farm land with the oxen and plow. she'll have the garden ready and growing for your homecoming. :-)
love hearing your adventures and we will all bow down to you when you return. have a better day.
Jay, I have been following along with you every day and enjoying it, I'm impressed and I didn't know Leisa was such a comedian!! You inspired me and I signed up for the 51 mile Zoo to Mac next week-end of coarse I had to train so Mothers Day I set out to do 25m and half way in my tire caught in the RRtracks and I broke my hand so much for the bucket list, I just wondered what condition I would be in if I were going 37m down a hill. Keep up the good work, the SO athletes say I and are rooting for you. Mary P.
ReplyDeleteDad after reading your post Missouri is now my second most hated state.......a distant 2nd to Ohio....... which every one knows only has two good things ......cedar point (which you mentioned) and the Trav family!!.......r you going through Ohio? if so i hope the foreigners/ west cost guys, know what there in for.
ReplyDelete