Missouri

We made it to Missouri today. It feels good to check another state off on our list. We’ll get on the Katy trail tomorrow.

Our ride today was good. We had a noticeable tailwind by the end (which became unreasonably strong after we were done riding for the day).

At one point we were on the primary east/west road in the area. Mike suggested we leave it and take a parallel road. I was hesitant because so many of the secondary roads we’ve seen (and not ridden on) have been unpaved. I checked Google street view to see if the roads were paved and they weren’t on Google street view. Google put cameras on sheep to map the Faroe Islands but couldn’t be bothered with these roads. So, I didn’t love the plan, but we did it anyway.

The secondary roads were paved initially. We rode through a really nice residential neighborhood. But then as we approached the state line with Missouri the road became unpaved. When we got to the state line (and were supposed to turn into state line road), I was disappointed that we’d be entering a new state without being able to get a picture with the “Welcome to Missouri” sign. We were just a mile from the primary road, so I suggested we go back to it. We could get a picture and be off the unpaved road. Mike thought it was silly but agreed. Unfortunately to get back to the main road we had to go a mile down a gravel road, which was basically unridable for us. So it took quite a long time to walk it. But we got our photo!

When we got to town we walked to Walmart (of course) and then went to a local, family-owned Mexican restaurant for dinner. It was excellent.

Highlights

• made it to Missouri!
• really good dinner

Lowlights

• brief time on unpaved roads, gravel roads

Julie’s food

• Breakfast: Field Roast breakfast sammie
• First Snack: no cow bar
• Second Snack: Clif bar
• Lunch: peanut butter sandwich, apple
• Dinner: veggie burrito

Stats

• Total distance: 66.47 miles
• Elevation gain: 1,961 feet
• Weather: windy and dry, high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit