Day 18 of our tour
October 21, 2016
63.7 miles today
4225 feet of climbing
(808.8 miles, cumulative)
(31,016 feet of climbing, cumulative)
We had a great day today, getting here faster than expected. We had cool sunny conditions, and were surprised at how well the day went given some problems.
We went to the breakfast room in the dark at 6:00 and after eating, packing and loading the bike, were on the road by 7:30 just as the sun was rising.
A very large cemetery at the edge of town was beautiful in the rising sun:
The road out of town was being paved, and we were the first to use the right lane. Cones separated us from the traffic which was diverted to the left lane:
But, we had to steer clear of the shoulder as it was covered with fresh oil awaiting pavement:
Our joy was relatively short-lived, as the cones disappeared, both lanes were open to cars and trucks, and the only shoulder was the old one, which at times was not much better than a gravel road. It was the only safe place to ride, however:
As it started to warm up we stopped to take off a few layers. This photo looks back on the long steady climb that we had done to begin the day:
As we cruised down the back side of that hill at a fair speed the front tire punctured. Replacing the tube was straightforward:
Later in the day, we saw several of these signs, but we never saw a buggy. Yesterday we had stopped at a Walmart store to buy a few items, and we watched several Amish families walk in to shop. One young mother was carrying a baby, while dad and five youngsters all trooped alongside. They are very distinctive in their black and blue clothes, and all the males were wearing straw hats. We did not take a photo. Later we read that quite a few Amish have relocated to southern Missouri in recent years. We noted (and you can, too, on the pavement) that the buggy power plants are not yet zero emission:
Just as we reached a small town and were ready for another break, I looked down and saw this bulge on the side of the front tire. Maybe the few extra yards we rolled after the earlier puncture caused a cut in the tire, and the tube bulged out at 100 psi:
Replacing the tire was also straightforward (we have four extra tires) but three of the tubes I used had slow leaks, so the whole process took an hour and a half. Fortunately, it was all in the warm sun in this nice little garden next to a store. (Several people stopped to talk, and one lady offered us a steamed artichoke as a snack, which we gratefully accepted.)
Once back on the road we passed huge fields with the hay recently baled:
And yet another attractive church up on a small hill to our left:
As we entered the outskirts of Springfield, Missouri we went through some neighbourhoods that had very large houses. Most were on large lots and several had not just ponds, but small lakes on their properties. Here is one example:
We stayed in a motel right on Route 66 that was first built many years ago and has gone through numerous transformations since. A couple of vintage cars were parked outside:
The motel had a double bed rather than a queen or a king, and the furnishings were out of the past, such as the ceiling fixture in our room:
I cycled off to a bike shop to get three fresh tubes, and the bike tech suggested I take a Park Tools tire repair patch kit as well, as my tire can likely be salvaged by applying the self-adhesive rigid rubber on the inside where the split occurred. I also went to a laundromat to wash the day's clothes, and Walmart for a roti chicken and another salad.
All in all, it was a very good day:
We've almost crossed southern Missouri on our way to Oklahoma. Here is a basic map of where we've cycled thus far:
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