The promised land

DAY 26
Marshfield, MO to Golden City, MO

Our first day off in over three weeks since beginning this bicycle adventure went by too fast. We slept in, did laundry, updated the blog, watched a movie, and drank beer. But most importantly, we avoided the never ending string of storms and bad weather. At least for one day.

Today we're back at the grind. However, we did allow ourselves to sleep-in until 6:30 instead of our usual 4:45 wake up call. Ultimately this two hour delayed start will come back to bite us in the end. After a cool overcast morning (perfect riding weather), we set out after lunch with 43 miles remaining. As we buckle our helmets and prepare for the second half of the day, an old man walks by and gives us his two cents, "You're gonna get wet". Becky glares at the back of the old mans head as he walks away. She then exclaims, "Why does everyone love being the bearer of bad news?"

Early in the day, we had a bit of fun with a turtle we saved...

A turtle we named Ebenezer

Along the side of the road, we clumsily hurry to pull on our rain jackets. We'd seen the wall of rain slowly approaching, accompanied by low hanging menacing dark storm clouds. The reason we had waited until the last minute to put on our rain gear is because as horrible as it is to get soaked by rain while riding, it's equally horrible to sweat to death in rain gear. With the heavens about to release their fury, we make the decision to ditch out of the rain in an open barn 100 yards up the way. The side road leading to the barn is a poorly maintained dirt road. A little voice in the back of my head whispers, "this is a bad idea". Safely in the dry barn, we anxiously wait out the passing weather while watching the doppler radar on our phone. After 45 minutes we attempt our escape through the now sloppy mud pit, sorry excuse for a road back to the highway. A thick pasty black mud encases our tires, embeds itself in our back brakes, and fondles our chains and gears. We do the best we can with what we have to attempt to un-gum our precious bicycles. But standing in the rain in the middle of BF Missouri, our best is pretty sorry. I empty our water bottles onto the gears and brakes clearing away a fair amount of mud. Continuing on our way, I give Becky instructions to not use her back brakes or to switch gears.

The rains a comin!

Waiting out the storm in a barn

Our friends a day ahead had told us when state road Z crosses highway 97 the hills melt away and it's flat until the Rockies. The knowledge of this consumed our every thought for the second half of the day. We couldn't reach this magical landmark soon enough. I envisioned us rounding a bend and all at once being able to see over the horizon for miles and miles. As expected, in reality the change in terrain wasn't as dramatic, but indeed the hills did begin to mellow and the horizon did venture further out of sight. Flatter roads and faster miles are ours in the promised land of Kansas!

This is how Keith feels about his chain falling off

And the wet roads are now beautiful!

The afternoon clouds and showers dissipate into beautiful sunny skies as we complete our 84 mile day. Our last night in Missouri is spent sleeping on the floor of the gymnasium at the First Christian Church in Golden City. Becky takes advantage of the church's full kitchen and prepares us a wonderful taco salad dinner, while I have a chance to properly detail and clean our filthy bikes. These days on the road can begin in one fashion, take a 180 degree turn and end in a completely different one. You never know what you're going to get, and that's why this adventure is so memorable!

Dinner time! Great way to the end the day :)

Stats:
Miles: 84.12
Average speed: 11.5 mph
Max speed: 37.3 mph
Odometer: 1622 miles