Anyway, I started the day off with granola and yogurt and orange juice and we started cycling at about 7:00. We started more towards the front of the group today instead of being dead last. As the fast pack came by we joined for a bit but I was just not finding it any fun. I told Fiona I wasn't feeling it today but she could go with them if she wanted. She opted to drop back with me and we eased up a bit. I just like the more relaxed pace and the option to look around and enjoy things instead of focusing on the speed and having to be constantly aware of the pace line and how close you are and where everyone else is. Some days it's fun but today I still felt like I'd rather be napping. :) It seems like most days it takes about 20 miles before I'm really ready to start cycling like I mean it. So we didn't dilly dally too much but we weren't out there killing ourselves either. We had to work through a few urban areas but eventually found ourselves out in the country again. Back to the corn and soybeans!
Overcast skies again and we did move through a few patches of mist and fog and then we did get rained on for a bit but again, warmer temps and it wasn't much of an issue.
Fiona likes the red barns which she says would just be black in England. It's funny how peaceful it is when we stop biking. There was really no one around. No farm work being done, no motor vehicles, no cyclists. Just the birds and a gentle breeze. You don't realize how much noise you make when you ride a bike - the wind whipping past, the noise of the bike and the contact with the road. Nothing like a car of course but a lot more than holding still!
Since we were wearing pink today, had to grab a selfie with this street sign coming into Fredricktown.
Another "the road goes on forever" shot. and it goes up again after it goes down! We were back into some rollers today. Not quite like Missouri but more than we've seen for a while. Did some short steep climbs in my granny gear! We also went over some truly awful roads - potholes that had been patched that had potholes that had been patched that had potholes. It was crazy and I hear we have a few more spots tomorrow that are even worse. We have two riders from Ohio - Dave and Barry - and they are taking a lot of abuse from the rest of us about their roads! Although I still think overall they are better than Missouri.
There was a chance to get some food in Fredricktown but we hit that about 10:30 - mile 52 - so decided to press on without stopping. The second sag stop was at mile 75 and then a small town with a cafe at mile 84. We planned to be in and out pretty quick at the sag stop and just go for lunch but Michelle had pie and Cokes so we hated to refuse those. I also had some Cheetos. Then we went on for lunch. We started out from sag not far behind Marv and Michael and a different Dave who was just riding with us for the day. We talked and rode with them for a little bit then started passing and pulling away. Michael said, "And they're off!" We get teased a bit about our reputation of riding for ice cream. Not sure where that comes from. ;) But then we stopped for a photo op and they caught back up with us.
We rode into Hayesville with Vern and Dave and stopped at the Olde 30 Inn which had burgers and sandwiches. The waitress was probably about 17 and she took Dave's order and Vern's and mine and then Fiona said, "Please could I have a hamburger and a coffee?" The waitress did a double take and said, "Is that your real voice?" I guess they don't often get visitors from Portsmouth, England. She was quite accomodating and friendly to us. Helps to have a Brit along sometimes. As we were leaving a few other young people came in. One girl noticed the Colorado jerseys and asked if we had ridden our bikes from Colorado. Even worse. We started in San Francisco. It was fun to talk to them for a little while. Probably seems completely lunatic to them but they seemed to think it was kind of cool at the same time. The bonus about eating lunch so late in the ride is that we only had about 20 miles left for the day! Still some pretty good climbs but low traffic roads and we rode along and chatted a fair amount. There are some places that have huge lawns here. I mean huge. They would cost a fortune to keep green in the west. We were riding with Dave from Ohio so I was asking about the lawns and the birds we could see and what interstates were near and whatever local questions I could come up with. Not much watering of lawns here.
It also seemed weird that it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere but we were less than 10 miles from our motel. We didn't really come into town until about two miles from our motel. Some days we have to ride quite a ways through town but not today.
I'm told the pink jerseys are great for visibility!
Because of our lunch stop, we were just about the last riders out. We came into town and saw a bunch of riders stopped at the DariLand. Seeing us pulling in, Gene improvised quickly. Some mechanics.
A first for me on the trip - a rootbeer float! Fiona looked like I had lost it and gone over to the dark side. She also was uncertain whether I'd be able to finish it off. Rest assured, there was nothing left in the cup when I was done. The rest of the day was pretty standard - motel, shower, took a short walk looking for postcards, had Gene check my back brakes, route rap, dinner at Broken Rocks Cafe which was step up from Golden Corral, and then back to the room. Check what happened in the Tour de France, Facebook, upload photos, do some blogging, stay up way too late! It's a good life. :)
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