Missouri
3000 miles. 30 rides. 2000 to go.
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Greetings from Arkansas.
We are safely in Arkansas. After 3000 miles, and lots and lots of hard work. I have successfully covered a good distance that would have taken me across the country. After talking to several other riders today, I mapped out how long and how far it would be to ride from New York City to Los Angeles. It would be 2,953 miles of non-highway “bikable” roads. I covered that same distance so far in 30 days. Today was another milestone. We need to take time to enjoy our successes and learn from our defeats.
Thanks Scot, who has helped make so much of this possible. We have also received a room donation from the Marriott Downtown Courtyard in Little Rock, which Scot set up on our way down here. This is an awesome hotel and an awesome city for a much needed rest after two fast rides. Thank you Jeff, Jenn, Sherry for all your hospitality and welcoming us to your awesome city. Your hotel has some great views!
The ride today was a grueling one. It was a pretty hilly ride with lots of ups and downs. We started the day with ups and downs as well. We were at the wrong location to meet the group. It worked out very well though. We came up with a solution very quickly. I rode out 50 and back 50. The first 50 were pretty quick as we were trying to catch the groups coming into town where we started. There were a couple close calls on some sharp turns with lots of sand at 20 miles per hour. These turns later proved to be a challenge for the guys who I rode back with. A couple of them crashed pretty good in one of the turns just before we caught them. I asked if they wanted any first aid supplies from the van, but they said they were all set. So then it was on to crank out the last 30 miles. We pedaled hard, we pedaled fast, we hardly pedaled fast as we went up the hills. It was a total of 7,000 feet of climbing and 7,000 feet of descending. It was a beautiful ride though and a good change from Iowa’s flat roads. The good thing was that there were fewer dogs on this ride than on others.
Another good thing was the end. I even got a quick 15 minute massage donated by Charlyn Bauer, the best Massage therapist around. I tried to convince her to take 20 days off and travel with us. No luck… She did have an awesome quote worth sharing.
“Every where is walking distance, if you have the time.” Thanks… We are taking the time to make a difference one pedal stroke at a time.
Some highlights were driving through the town of Peculiar, Missouri, seeing Historic Route 66 and staying at the Wishing Well Motel on Historic Route 66. Thank you! Riding with a good group of locals was also fun and finally seeing some hills. And last but not least our major highlight: meeting a 10 year old boy, Conner, who rode the entire MS 150 (which was 165 miles) on his own in two days. What an inspiring young man. It is so great to see children and families cycling together and children taking responsibility for their own health by being active in sports like cycling. Keep it up Conner- you inspired me to ride again tomorrow!!
After all the riding and networking in Missouri. We were hungry. We were fortunate enough to have a meal donated from Western Sizzlin and it definitely helped to feed my 8000 calorie a day diet. I had 7 plates of food and 3 plates of dessert. Kids do not try this at home.
With a full stomach, I am off to bed.
Gary G