Day 24: West Plains, MO to Poplar Bluff, MO

110 miles, 9900 feet climbing.


Today was another sunny, beautiful day of rolling hills in the countryside. All ups or downs, with nothing in between. We've noticed a whole lot more unleashed dogs here in Missouri than elsewhere-- dogs that will bark at us, run after us, and sometimes look like they want to bite us. At those times, Ed's my knight in shining baby blue spandex, barking at dogs in an alpha-canine voice to scare them off. *Sigh* My hero. We saw some really great sheep-guarding dogs that looked exactly like the sheep they were guarding until they ran up to the fence and barked at us. Still, they were great looking dogs, and did their jobs very well.

I've gotten a few flat tires on this trip-- 6 in all, I think. I used to be pretty quick at changing flats when I was guiding, but since I met Ed, he changes all my flats for me, and my skills have gone downhill. In the month or so before this trip started, I've insisted on doing it all myself, since who can tell if it'll happen when he's not around? I needed to be self-sufficient again. I've changed all of my flats on this trip, and most times Ed will be there, just keeping me company while I do it. Some of our fellow travellers, mostly older men, have remarked on the fact that he's letting his woman do the dirty work. We're pretty amused by that, since at this point I can probably change a tire faster than most of them =)

We've started counting down the days till this whole adventure is over. Our bodies have started complaining in various ways. For example, today Ed's knee started acting up, and he needed some attention from one of our massage therapists, Dana, who did some interesting work on him at a rest stop-- which I, of course, captured for you all to see. Here's another woman making my husband feel better (she's very good at what she does):

Tomorrow we hit the flat plains of Missouri, and we hope the winds will be on our side.

Day 23: Branson, MO to West Plains, MO

102 Miles, 10,000 feet of climbing.

Today was HILLY. Constant up and down. The elevation profile looks like a sawblade. But the weather was great. Nice and sunny with minimal wind.

You may have noticed our roadkill list on the right. What has really surprised me about Missouri is the abundance of armadillos. There are a lot of them! Haven't seen a live one yet. According to Wikipedia, they have poor eyesight, and tend to jump to fender height when startled. Not a terribly useful trait in today's automotive society.

Day 22: Neosho, MO to Branson, MO

86 miles, 7000 feet of rolling hills.

Missouri was really pretty in the morning. Rolling hills, happy cows, some friendly dogs, some unfriendly.


Unfortunately, after about 35 miles, the rain started again. Yesterday we cut the ride short because of rain, so today we were determined to finish the ride, and we soldiered on. We stopped briefly for lunch at 50 miles. We were already soaked, though, so we got back on the road and kept pedaling through the rain. The odd thing was, it was nice weather for riding--not too hot, not too cold, not too dry. It was just really wet and we couldn't see a thing.

In the last few miles of the ride, there was lots of crap on the road, and almost everyone got a flat tire. Nancy got three in a row! I got a slow leak that held out just long enough to get to the hotel.

One of our riders crashed pretty badly today though. A large truck passed him very closely, nearly hitting him with the rear wheels. He veered off the road to avoid it, skidded out, and went down. We were worried he might have gotten a concussion or cracked some ribs, but he got a clean bill of health from the hospital. Just some scrapes and bruises.

We finished up in Branson, which reminds me a lot of Wisconsin Dells--lots of cheesy tourist storefronts along a main drag. One is a Titanic museum that's actually shaped like the Titanic. But there's a Krispy Kreme right next to our hotel, so I'm happy.

Day 21: Woodward OK to Neosho MO

Today was a bit of a write-off. We set out just after sunrise with huge humidity and the promise of rain. After about 15 miles, it started coming down. And down it came! We got soaked, our shoes got soggy, our glasses got fogged, and the traffic kept coming. It was fine for a while, but the rain just got heavier and heavier, and we got less and less happy. After about 40 miles, we gave up, along with half of the group, and clambered into the warmth of the van until we got just past the state lines into Missouri. On a good note, it gave us a recovery ride after yesterday and we'll have fresher legs tomorrow... except that it's supposed to rain again...

We also had our second dangerous redneck experience today. Some losers yelled and tossed trash, including a beer can, out of their car at some of our riders on the road. The van was able to follow them and get their licence plate, and we pulled up to them at a liquor store (they were up for a refill, I guess). Our guide, Dave, said, "You guys throwing stuff at cyclists?" and the losers soon drove off, giving us the finger and going back over the state lines into Oklahoma. Our guide called the cops, and hopefully someone gave them a hard time. No one was hurt, just annoyed at obnoxious dumbasses.

Happily, we're out of Oklahoma, and hope the winds will stay behind us.

Day 20: Enid, OK to Bartlesville, OK

132 miles, 7005 feet of climbing

Big day! Nancy and I had fresh legs this morning, thanks to our self-imposed rest day yesterday. As we prepared our bikes, we were the most chipper couple around. Yep, everyone is beginning to hate us :-)

The last few days have been very windy, but today was fairly nice. The wind was sort of gentle, and the cloudy sky kept things cool. We started out on a great country road (cue the John Denver song, again). About 10 miles into the ride, we saw this little guy trying to cross the road:


He (or she?) wasn't that little, either; a bit bigger than a softball. When we zoomed by he quickly pulled his head into his shell. I was worried that he may soon become much flatter, so we turned around, took his picture, and then carried him into the grass. I hope I put him on the side of the road he was aiming for.


A few miles later, we passed through a small town, and a few of the riders in our group met a new friend:

This very energetic doggie ran with them for about three miles! He wouldn't give up! He didn't have a collar on, but he looked way too healthy to be a stray. I hope he finds his way back home. Maybe everyone in town knows him. "Hey, there's the crazy dog that chases everything."

A number of other dogs chased us briefly, and none of them were as nice as the first guy. I growled at each of them and chased them away from my woman.

At the end of our first lunch stop, Nancy was ready to go before I was (like always) so she took off and let me try to chase her down. When I finally hit the road, I was chasing for something like three hours before I saw her again! She was a rocket today! She rode in a paceline with a few guys for a little while, but they were slowing her down, so she dropped the hammer and left them in the dust! Now everyone thinks Nancy is a hardcore racer who's just been holding back.

One last photo. Apparently they're been having problems with people, umm, abusing, the railroad cars:

Day 18: Guymon OK to Woodward OK

125 miles, 5400 feet of climbing.

Today we got our asses kicked by Oklahoma.

We set out at 8:00 am (the change to Central time made it so sunrise was an hour later than we'd gotten used to), and right away, the crosswinds hit us. And they were relentless, all day long over the flat plains. We heard the wind was at 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots, but it felt more like 30. I (Nancy) couldn't reach for my water bottle at times because the wind was so strong, I needed both hands to hang on to my handlebars. The roads were really crappy-- the worst so far, and over the whole 125 miles, so that it felt like we were actually getting our butts (and other regions) kicked with every pedal stroke. It took us 6 hours to do the same distance we did yesterday in 3 hours before lunch (70 miles)-- and we still had another 55 to go!

Ed at sunrise

The worst for me was that because the roads and shoulders were so bad, Ed and I couldn't safely draft off each other (or rather, me off of him). I don't say this often, but today I wished I was big and fat. Even another 40 or 50 lbs would do, just enough to give me more mass to battle the wind with. Because I couldn't hide behind Ed, and because I'm lighter, I got tossed around by the wind like a rag doll all day. I feel like I'm about 75 tonight. We skipped dinner and ordered pizza instead, just to avoid having to walk anywhere.



We're sick of Oklahoma. Are we there yet?



We forgot to mention that we unfortunately lost 2 guests earlier this week. A doctor from Madison hurt her knee in the first week, and she and her husband decided that it was best to go back home and get it checked out rather than try to force it. Our group is now down to 21 guests.

Day 17: Clayton, NM to Guymon, OK

108 miles, 2400 feet of climbing.



Welcome to Oklahoma! We cut a corner of Texas today, then sailed into Oklahoma with a sweet tailwind. We covered the 72 miles to lunch in 3 1/2 hours! After that the road surface was really rough and the tailwind turned into a crosswind, so the rest of the ride was a bit slower. In the crosswinds Nancy tucked into my draft, but once we got a little too close and I actually bumped her handlebars with my knee! We managed to stay upright, but just barely.

Let me tell you about chamois cream. The chamois is the padding part of bicycle shorts. On most rides, that padding is enough to keep your bum happy. On longer rides, you need a little help, and that's when chamois cream becomes your best friend. It's a goop that you spread either on the chamois of your shorts, or directly on your bum, under the sit-bones, or anywhere that may chafe. Nancy and I have tried a number of different brands of chamois cream, including Assos, Butt Butt'r, and Beljum Budder. Assos is a little creepy because it kind of tingles, but it does work well. My favorite is Beljum Budder, because I'm convinced that when I use it I become Tom Boonen, Belgian world champion bike racer. Nancy and I brought lots of all three on the trip. After five or six hours in the saddle, we really appreciate our chamois cream.