Blog from July 22, 2008

Continuation from July 19, 2008

 

The five other guests who arrived at Immanual Lutheran Church were heading west and were from England.   Two guys and a gal are college students, Ben, Owen and Liz.  They are the cyclists while two of their fathers are driving the sag vehicle.  They are riding to raise money for cancer research in the United Kingdom.  Their web site is www.usa-ride.com if you want to check it out.  It was an interesting evening visiting with them and trading the information about the best and worst places to stay along the way. 

 

July 20, 2008   

 

The ride this day took me 99.25 miles to Ash Grove.... I know, I should have ridden around the block to make it an even 100.  About halfway into the ride I started to hit the beginning of the Ozark Mountains with some interesting climbs.   Much of the reminder of the state will be like this I am told.   Golden City is home to Cookies Cafe which is famous among cyclist for its pies,  22 or more diffent kinds.  The day before, I met Connor riding west who told me about the pies, and in fact he had eaten 5 pieces while he was in Golden.  At Cookies I met a couple from Calif. heading east also.  They were fully loaded and were also pulling a two wheel cart housing their dog, Jack, a Jack Russel Terrier.  When I looked in on Jack waiting outside in his cart it did not look like he was having the best time of his life. 

 

Five miles before reaching Ash Grove I rode through Everton, a little spot of a town with a saloon that was open on this Sunday afternoon.  The gang of 8 or so in there was really wound up and had all kinds of questions and advice for me.  What a crew it was sitting in a dark very smoky bar on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon.  Ash Grove is a Mayberry, USA kind of place.  The pool is free, cyclists can camp in the city park next to the pool and the police leave the restroom with a shower open all night. 

 

July 21, 2008   Rode 75 miles to Hartville, MO

 

MORE hills.   Who knew the Ozarks are FILLED with hills?   The scenery is great, especially from the top of the hills overlooking the rolling landscape.  It is also refreshing to see lots of trees where some shade can be found for a break in contrast to much of the earlier landscape I passed through.    In the morning a met a father with his son, about 14 yrs old, from the Netherlands, Jon and Jon.   They are heading to Florence, OR from Yorktown.  In the afternoon there were two more guys, college students from Mass. heading west to San Francisco.  More sharing of stories and advice of where to stay and where to find good food.  You might sense a certain theme here. 

 

In Hartville cyclists are allowed to camp on the courthouse lawn.  When I arrived in town and saw the courthouse I asked the lady watering the flowers where cyclist could camp.  She pointed to a shade tree right in front of the courthouse and said, "Well, over there in the shade would be a good spot."   Somehow I can't imagine that happening in front of the courthouse in Fremont, Ohio or Hanover Courthouse, Virginia.  The Subway across the street had a great Philly Cheesesteak and A/C for cooling off.  In the morning we headed to Mom's Family Cafe for breakfast.   By 6:05 the morning crew had already arrived.  Every little town has this group of folks who assemble to solve the world's problems.   I call them the "Brain Trust".   We are really making inroads on this trip though.  This morning the Brain Trust in Harville invited us to join them at their table.  Among them was a UPS driver, retired farmer, a fellow who has 75 hives of bees (his honey was served at Mom's) a lady who is the rural mail carrier and other members who floated in and out.  It was a great start to the day.