Day 29: 60 Miles

Farmington, MO to Ellington, MO

It was really nice this morning to wake up in a bedroom to myself. I got up on my own schedule, instead of waking up when the earliest person started moving around. I had also picked up some food for breakfast the night before which meant I didn’t have to go in search of the nearest gas station for food this morning.

I looked at the elevation map for today and it seemed like it was going to be a hard ride. I got about a mile into the ride and my legs felt tight. I began to question if I should take a rest day. Especially since our accommodations in Farmington were so nice.  It took 30 minutes of pedaling before I loosened up and stopped worrying about turning back or having to find a place to stop early.

After riding for 20 miles I was confused. This was supposed to be a hard day and I was riding fast and feeling great. The hills were steep but not too long and I was getting up them without a problem. I pulled into a gas station for a water and some food and the first person I ran into says, “You better trade that bike in for a bus ticket, because you’re not making it over those hills with that”. This made me nervous about the ride all over again.

As I was pulling out of the gas station I ran into Matt. I thought he was ahead of me, but he had gotten a flat and pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot to change it out. We started off riding together and within a few miles a couple of dogs were running up the road after Matt. As soon as they saw me coming they left Matt and ran right at me. I guess it’s true that you don’t have to be faster than the dogs, just faster than someone else. Matt got away while I hopped off my bike and started walking. I was hoping the dog would leave me alone, but he just stood his ground and stared me down. This lasted a minute or two and then the dog squatted and took a dump right in my path. He must have felt satisfied with that, because he got out of my way and allowed me to pass.

The rest of the day was filled with more ups and downs, but it was much easier than I had anticipated. I had to stop around mile 35 to change out a tube, but other than that there were no problems. I got into the town of Ellington and found the bike hostel where we’ll be staying tonight. It’s not nearly as nice as the one in Farmington, but it’s got showers and air conditioning so I can’t complain. Considering the town had recently flooded and ruined the motel in town and a bunch of other businesses, it was incredible that they continued to keep the bike hostel open. Matt was already at the hostel when I arrived, then two more cyclists, a husband and wife, showed up. They had been following route 66 and just gotten onto the trans am trail. The four of us talked for a while. It has been really interesting running into new people on the road like this and learning about them even though I know after one night I’ll probably never see them again. I grabbed a pizza for dinner and headed back to the hostel where we continued our conversation before getting to bed early.