Day 27: Topeka, KS to St. Joseph, MO

 https://give.michaeljfox.org/barbarasbigride

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/123134099

Today's Ride

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!"

 

The Stats

85 miles

2,608 ft. climbed

Amelia Earhart Bridge between
 Atchison, KS and Winthrop, MO

Thanks, Jill, for the great photo!

Challenges: Last night's beer/martini/white wine/red wine followed by today's heat and humidity.

Milestones: Crossed two rivers (Kansas and Missouri Rivers), and (finally!) left Kansas into 7th state (Missouri)!

Miles Completed: 1,802

Miles to Go: 1,594

States Visited: 7 of 15

Total Climbed: 59,570

The Ride

Definitely was feeling sluggish this morning! Not sure if it was the beverages with our "fake French" dinner at Chez Yasu (as Peter has dubbed it) were responsible, or if it was just lack of sleep, but it was tough to get going. It didn't help that the first part of the ride was on a busier highway with a choppy shoulder, followed by a section with a narrow shoulder with a rumble strip occupying most of it, all of which required greater than usual concentration. But eventually the traffic eased a bit, the rumble strip disappeared, and we were cruising through more rolling hills. Got into a decent rhythm. 

During the rumble strip section I was greeted by Pastor Brian from one of the many local churches on his bike asking if I, too, was from Scotland. Apparently he had also chatted with Jill and learned about our group’s journey. (One word out of my mouth and the answer would have been obvious.) He apologized for the rumble strips (this is his regular riding route), and promised it would be better down the road, but warned us about the roads in Missouri. He wished us safe travels and went along on his usual ride. 

I also was motivated listening to an audio book by Jenny Graham (Coffee First, Then the World), about her round-the-world, self-supported bike journey to break the female Guinness World Record. While she's an endurance athlete of another order, and brings new meaning to "bad ass," there are commonalities to our respective journeys and challenges (saddle sores not the least among them!). So thanks, Steph, for recommending it -- I'm enjoying sharing the whole journey with you and Jenny!

As for other notables today: 

• We cruised by the Topeka capitol and Kansas St. downtown area on the way out of town, as well as an "arts" area self-described as NOTO (north of Topeka) -- not sure if that's really a "thing" or it's like Gretchen Wiener on Mean Girls trying to make "fetch" a thing -- and failing.  
• We crossed two rivers: the Kansas and the Missouri. I also think we crossed the Delaware, but was surprised that there's "another" Delaware River so I don't really count it.
• We FINALLY exited Kansas and crossed into Missouri. It's reported that the roads there are worse than we've seen so far, but the section we were on today wasn't too bad.
• We rode on the first tree-lined street that I can recall in the whole trip (at least deciduous trees -- I don't count the palm trees in Palm Springs). We travelled through areas that seemed like oddly familiar "suburbs," and probably could've been Teaneck, NJ, but for the absence of synagogues.
• I saw my first Blue Jay (bird, not sports star), a distinctly eastern and apparently midwestern bird. Makes me feel like we're making progress and getting closer to home. 
• I had an amateur, knuckle-headed "fall" in the parking lot of the first SAG. Just lost my balance. A bit of blood, and mostly will be bruised tomorrow. If that's my sacrifice to the fall/accident gods, I'll take it. May there be no others!
• Second SAG was at a much needed, air-conditioned Dairy Queen, as it was heating up and getting very sticky. The strawberry shake was a treat!
• A few got rained on, but my slower pace allowed me to miss all but some wet roads for a while.
• The last few miles were hilly but through a nice "parkway" in a quiet residential neighborhood. 

I didn't take too many pics today. Part was attributed to riding with Peter for a while (I was actually pulling him!), but I did note an interesting ad asking "Is your wife hot?" (advertising a heating and cooling company), saw a few more anti-abortion ads, and stopped for a photo of the St. Joseph Woodworker Shrine, a steeple relocated to the site that is now a functioning church. 

Parting shots from Topeka as we passed through on this morning's ride

Alternate view of the state capitol

Our Drury Inn hotel treated us to "free" happy hour (up to 3 drinks) and enough "snacks" to qualify as dinner. It was at least as good as any Applebees!

Soundtrack of the Day

The Route Rap Rappers did a brief, modified rendition of Country Roads, as follows:

Country roads, take me home, 

to the shores, of Bos-ton,

Out of Kansas, to Missouri, 

Take me home, with Crossroads, 

Take me home, down country roads.

Not bad. Definitely feeling the pressure to come up with something new each day. Thanks to Linda for devising a plan for tomorrow!