Today's Ride
The Stats
77 miles (including a short detour for lunch)
2,493 ft. climbing
Milestones:
- 2,000 mile mark!
- Crossed the Mississippi River (which I've never done except in the air)!
- Entered 8th state of 15!
Challenges: Heat and humidity continue (though slightly less so than yesterday), but hills were actually rolling today, and headwinds didn't kick in until last 15 miles or so.
Miles Completed: 2,042
Miles to Go: 1,354
States Visited: 8 of 15
Total Climbed: 71,556 ft.
 |
| Thanks to Jill for her daring photography from mid-roadway! |
 |
| The sign was not strategically placed for photos! |
The Ride
Overall this was a day I was mostly happy to be on the bike. The scenery was a bit "groundhoggish" but it was green, smelled good, the birds were chirping, and the horses and cows continued to respond when neighed or mooed at! We went through several towns of fewer than 1,000 people each, though every one had a sign welcoming visitors and announcing the multiple churches from which to choose.
And then there was the fertile smell of freshly tilled fields, wreaking of the promise of the crops to come. And the ever-familiar crickets, strikingly similar to the whir of bike gears coasting as someone is rapidly approaching from behind!
Interesting signs today. Several said "We the People Are Pissed Off." Others urged that to protect your second amendment rights, you should vote Republican. After seeing those, I guess when I heard what sounded like gun shots I shouldn't have been surprised that they were in fact gun shots, as there were several gun clubs along the route. But I thought the sign urging people to "Store Guns Safely. Save Lives." had a promising, rather sensible, and less politicized message about guns:
 |
| Seems like a sensible message. |
Many counties we entered in the last couple days touted their designation as a "Purple Heart County," such as Adair, DeKalb, Daviees, and Linn Counties. The designation means that the county government and the federal Veterans Services Division recognizes the community members who gave their lives or were wounded in combat defending our country.
I also saw signs for many towns and villages deluding me into thinking we might be closer to home than I was, such as Philadelphia and Newark. Seems like naming towns in Missouri after other places is a thing, as there's an entire map dedicated to Missouri Places Named After Other Places.
I similarly remain perplexed why there are so many "bad animals" out there, given that we left the desert ages ago. For better or worse, whatever I saw today was not moving.
A highlight of the day was seeing an actual horse and buggy traveling down a gravel road, likely driven by the Mennonites, some of who don't drive cars and reject other modern technology. Thanks to Jill and Lisa for being far enough ahead of me to snap proper photos before they turned off the main road! All I got was the sign asking cars to share the road with them!
Given that it was a Sunday, the ornately architectured downtown more resembled a Hollywood lot between films than an actual town. Not sure it would've been much different on any other day.
Either way, the Knoxville County SAG marked the 2,000 mark (mas o menos!)
Some other notable signs.
 |
| Unlikely related to the winery, but hey, you never know! |
 |
| Another life-risking photo complements of Jill! |
 |
| Mississippi River crossing |
 |
| Another view of the Mississippi |
It's a long, century-plus day tomorrow, so will have to do with a photo dump of some other sights along the way today. Each in itself is not necessarily remarkable, but rather intended to be generally emblematic of land we traversed.
No comments:
Post a Comment