Day 33: 71 Miles

Ash Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS

Just as the whiteboard at the bike hostel promised, today started off with 23 miles of hills. Luckily they were small and easy to get through. The locals talk about their hills everywhere I’ve been and how their hills are the hardest part of the bike route. They’d probably change their story if they could see what I had to get through in Pennsylvania.

I got through the morning with ease and sure enough​ right when I hit mile 23 there was no longer a hill in sight. All of a sudden I was going through long stretches with my Garmin reading 16 to 18 mph. I cruised along until I hit mile 30 and then I turned north into a headwind. The next 5 miles were the hardest part of the day. It was perfectly flat but the headwind made riding difficult. I have a feeling this is going to be the story for the next few days.

At mile 35 I arrived in the town of Golden City, MO and stopped for lunch with Matt. I’d been told Cooky’s Cafe was the place to go and it did not disappoint. Cooky’s is known for their pie, but I started off with a double cheeseburger which was amazing. The beef was local, so it was probably mooing not more than a mile down the road yesterday. I honestly think if this place was in NYC it would become one of those trendy burger places that has a line out the door. The burger was that good. I followed the burger up with a piece of Dutch blueberry pie with ice cream. There were probably 30 homemade pies to choose from and they all looked excellent.

Matt and I left Cooky’s and while we were getting ready to go these four old guys approached and started talking to us about our trip. It turned out they were a barber shop quartet, so they performed 2 quick songs for us right there on the street. They perform under the group name FOG which stands for Four Old Guys. It couldn’t have been more fitting.

I got back on my bike and had 35 more miles to go, but it was all flat. At this point I was heading west again so the headwind had disappeared. These miles flew by quickly. It’s the first time I feel like I’ve been riding at full speed since I rode on the flat bike trails in Ohio. With 5 miles to go I crossed the Missouri border into Kansas. That’s state number 10 and counting for this trip.

My stop today was the town of Pittsburg, KS (Go Penguins?). I rode into town and saw Matt’s bike parked outside a coffee shop so I stopped in to see what he was up to. I should mention that it may always seem like I’m chasing Matt down, and that’s because I am. He has a super light setup on his bike. No bags on the wheels at all. He has managed to fit everything he needs in a single handlebar bag. That probably means his bike and gear are about 40 lbs. lighter than mine, so I usually just let him go and try to track him down by the end of the day.

I decided to get a motel in town, but Matt was looking for another free place to stay. The next free spot was a church about 30 miles down the road and he decided to push on. With 70 miles done and the temperature in the low 90s I let him go. I may try to do a long day tomorrow to catch up, or hopefully he will take a rest day soon and allow me to catch up.

After checking into the motel I decided to head into town to find a bar to grab a few beers. I found a spot that had beer from a few local breweries that I’ve never tried. Tomorrow I’ll have to decide if I want to push for a long day to Eureka to catch Matt or just put in another 60 mile day to the next big town. I have a feeling that decision will be determined by the number of beers I have before the night is over.