Farmington, MO to Vienna, IL - 134 miles

Another chilly morning greeted us as we rolled out of Farmington's outskirts at 7am. I started out tagging behind Keith, a very strong rider. There were lots and lots of rolling hills, and some of them were very steep. At the first stop we had passed just about everyone. Gerald was riding with Kimberly so he was behind us.

Right before we descended into the Mississippi flood plain, we picked up Steve. We stopped for pictures with our bicycles on the bridge as we dodged semis. Steve added to the flow of the river.
We stopped at the second stop at the end of the bridge, and saw a six-foot bronze Popeye the Sailor Man. The creator of this cartoon character was from this town of Chester, IL. We picked up Brian and Alex at this stop, and went by Chester's attractions - jail, mental hospital, courthouse, and saloon. We continued to stomp up and down hills, and really got the pace moving in downhills and flat sections. We pulled into the lunch break at mile 70 a little after 11am. Lon and Wes pulled out before us, as they were marking the road because there were lots of turns.

We had tuna fish sandwiches, Jalapeno potato chips, and rice for lunch. We scooted out of there before sneaky Gerald could eat his signature two-minute lunch and pass us. We passed Lon on the road and then picked up Wes. We continued to hammer up and down hills into the next rest stop, atop a big hill in a scenic overlook park. More junk food - Twizzlers, M&M's Rice Krispy treats, Paydays, pretzels, etc.

We start stomping away again, this time with Wes. Dogs are chasing us left and right. We saw an outdoor sawmill in a field. They had a six-foot high saw blade. Looks like it was run by some sort of Amish type people - I think there some kinds that can use machinery. About ten miles from the end, Wes popped into his 56 tooth front chainring and took off with Brian in tow. Keith, Alex, and I held back to finish in one piece. Average on the bike speed was 19.8mph.
We finished a little before 3pm as the first bunch. Dinner was at great home cooking at Dolly's down the road. I had some pancakes, a ham and cheese omelet, toast, seasoned fries, and a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pizza with ice cream. The waitress was shocked at all the food we ate - seems to be a running theme of this ride.
Into Kentucky tomorrow.

Cuba, MO to Farmington, MO - 81 miles

Today was the shortest day of our trip at 82 miles. With the Kansas wind beating us up, and the previous two days of rain and cold, we all were relieved to wake up to sunny clear skies. It was still a little nippy out, but it was forecast to get up into the 70's. For breakfast, we had glazed Dunkin' Donuts, along with the usual choice of bagels, cold cereal, hot oatmeal, bananas, pastries, and OJ. I had two donuts, a bowl of frosted mini-wheat, and oatmeal with brown sugar and milk.

The terrain was going to be more steep rolling hills, which I really like to ride on. I started out after most everyone, and proceeded to pass just about everyone. Woody was only ahead of me at the first stop because he doesn't stop. While munching on snacks, Wes, Larry and Keith all passed me by. There was one steep climb after another, in and out of little valleys, through cow pastures, through forests. The scenery was beautiful. My rear tire was becoming more and more mushy as I whipped up the hills. The leak was slow enough so I rode it into the second stop. My rear tire was shot - cotton was showing, there were all kinds of gashes and cuts. It needed to be tossed in the garbage. I changed the tube and pumped it up with the available floor pump. The tire should hold for 30 miles. Meanwhile Gerald and Alex go through the stop.
More climbing into the town of Bismark where we had hamburgers for lunch. Again we had the usual gaggle of locals watching us. We were probably the most excitement they would have all year. Someone made some tasty homemade brownies for dessert. We also had some local Missouri fruit - a persimmon. It had a weird texture, was orange rust brown, and looked gross, but it didn't taste too bad.

Only 16 miles till the end of the day. It was mostly on a wide more trafficked road. Long, low climbs followed by long low downhills. Saw Alex fixing a flat along the way. Keith, Larry, Wes, and Gerald were back already waiting for the motel truck. A beautiful day for riding.

I changed out my tire (black Michelin Axial Pro). I should have changed it a few days ago, and I would not have gotten the four flats I did the last three days. The tire had about 2200 miles on it. It probably should have been tossed at 1900 miles. Went to a cool bicycle themed restaurant called Spokes (with a slightly grumpy waitress), and fueled up with French onion soup, pasta, then Dairy Queen for dessert.

We cross the Mississippi River tomorrow as we head to the lower tip of Illinois. We are slowly making out way south. Hopefully there will be no hurricanes or tropical storms waiting for us. We are going to enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts.

Lebanon, MO to Cuba, MO - 92 miles

We woke up to a continuation of yesterday's dreary weather of rain and cold temperatures. It was about 40 degrees and steadily drizzling. I had on a long sleeve polypro long sleeve undershirt, a jersey, winter gloves, and my Gore-tex rain jacket. Shorts, leg warmers, and booties on the lower half. I was pretty comfortable. Under arm vents in my jacket allowed me to cool off when chugging up hills.

We started out going up and down rollers. We were riding alongside I-44 on parts of what used to be the famous route 66. Signs marked this, calling it "historic route 66". I'm pretty sure this is the road people took to go out west earlier in the last century. I was riding alone for the most part, group riding in hills is not easy due to the constant changing of pace, different climbing abilities, descent rates, etc. The first stop was quick. The next stop was after a nice downhill in the town of Newberg, where the center of town activity seemed to revolve around the local pool hall. Some curious kids watched us and posed across the street while us bicyclists drank tasty hot chocolate.

We climbed out of Newberg, passing through the town of Doolittle. Some of the houses along the roads are pretty run down and strewn with garbage and miscellaneous (lawn) furniture. Lots of lazy dogs, then a white standard poodle decided to chase us. His underbelly and front were filthy dirt brown from his tireless chases of all the passing bicyclists. A poodle chasing me for some reason did not strike the same level of fear into me as a Doberman would. I then got another flat. Phil "Moody Blues" from Florida stopped to help.

Rode up to lunch after passing through the college town of Rolla. Lunch was tomato soup, macaroni and cheese, and hot dogs. Pecan pie for dessert. There was an authentic two-seater outhouse in the back from where lunch was set up.

More rollers into the end of this short day. Had some time to catch up on my laundry, have a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes, three egg omelette, toast, and hash browns. Today's high temperature was only in the mid 40's. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70's. We are really having some screwy weather. But tomorrow sounds like excellent riding weather. Tomorrow will be our shortest day at only 81 miles. We will reach our final destination of Charleston, SC in nine more days.

Pittsburgh, KS to Lebanon, MO - 141 miles

Today we finally left Kansas. We still had a crosswind, but the terrain was rolling hills so the wind was not as much of a factor as when you are out in the middle of an open field with nothing stopping the wind for 200 miles except you. We entered Missouri early in the morning and we promptly got dumped on by steady showers. Grim riding up to the first rest stop in a cemetery.

We started out with a group leaving the first stop. Met up briefly with a local ride wearing no rain gear. Not sure what he made of us, but everyone on this ride is a decent rider, and we are all getting stronger every day. We may have intimidated him because he turned off he road.

We got strung out after the rollers started up. Up and down. Oftentimes you could see them one after another ahead of you like a roller coaster track. They are nice going down and if you hit it just right you can coast up part way the muscle over them. The rain made things a bit dicey - blinding raindrops at 40mph, slippery yellow paint lines, pickup trucks, bumpy roads; these add terror to the thrill of descending.

Lunch was hot pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs. Two different types of brownies and much needed hot chocolate. Rode through a town and saw the tractor fair going on. All your latest models and a limeade stand too!

Up and down more. Grinded up some longer hills. The rain had stopped for now. My big Gore-tex jacket was doing a good job keeping me warm. You could not stop long though, a chill would set in quick. Got my second flat of they day. Wet conditions always cause more flats due to more crap sticking to the tires. Filled up on snacks some more at the last rest stop. Back onto historic Rt. 66 for a bit then the rain kicked in again.

Today was not too bad even though the rain made things unpleasant. The scenery was good - lots of cows, horses, chickens, fields, streams, etc. More dogs although none seemed very harmful. We passed through about a half dozen trash burning smoke clouds -yeech.
Despite the bad weather the crew was extra nice to ward off our blues. Kansas has gotten to some people, and this rain is not helping. I don't think these long distances are helping either. But hey we all signed up fully expecting this. Tomorrow is a shorter day - 95 miles or so. More rain forecasted for morning.

Winfield, KS to Pittsburgh, KS - 152 miles

More Kansas today! Ughhh! I'm sick of this state. Started out as the last person to leave with Nigel. We caught up to Brian at the first stop. The weather today was in the low 60's, overcast and misty. Again the wind was blowing from the northeast, making riding perfectly miserable once more.
We rolled through one little town after another. Oftentimes a water tower was all there was to mark its place. Sometimes there was a closed gas station in town. You wonder how anyone could live here. What is there to do? The scenery has improved from previous days. They seem to have heard of trees in this part of Kansas, unlike the western part where you could look all around you for miles and not see a single tree. Added to the trees were some cows, horses, goats, creeks, ponds, and some rolling hills. At one point five horses were running in a field alongside us. That was neat.

We picked up Pat, Denise, and Mike as we rode to lunch. Lunch was noodles and hot soup, and a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie. Off into the misty road. My yellow tinted sunglasses were getting too fogged up to use. We hit some nice rollers and I went off on my own plowing through them. Stopped again at next stop for some delicious chocolate brownies. Brian's wife was in town so he sped up to get home. One last stop where we had some gorp with M&M's. A local told us about a college football game in town as we rode into Pittsburgh. Got in around 6pm.

Today was a long day. The wind was obnoxious as usual. I liked the cooler temperatures. It tried to rain on us several times but did not fully open up. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain for sure. Plus another vicious crosswind. Plus 140 miles. Plus 6000 feet of climbing. Plus Lon said it is the toughest day of the tour. More details tomorrow.

Pratt, KS to Winfield, KS - 129 miles

Today continued our brutal foray into a crosswind. The wind had shifted slightly, however, and was a direct south wind instead of a southeast wind like yesterday. Nigel and I pretty much stayed together all day. At the first rest stop, Terri was playing Bruce Springsteen's album Nebraska to get us in the mood for the monotonous grain silos, endless milo, corn, cotton, and sunflower fields. There were actually quite a few more trees today, which helped in sections to cut the wind down and add variety to the scenery.

At the second stop before lunch we picked up Clifford who hugged our wheels for the rest of the day. Lunch was chicken salad and chocolate Zingers. The fast guys who don't stop long left before we did. Nigel had some business to take care of in the woods, and then we pulled into the last rest stop. Refill of water bottles, some Fresca, and cookies.

We turned directly into the wind for the fifth time of the day. Crawled along to Winfield. Nice big town, what you would think of if someone said "Midwestern town" - Main Street, movie theater, furniture shops, etc.

The wind mentally taxed me again today, especially the headwind sections. One of them was on freshly paved, oily black asphalt. Gravel clinked against our bicycles, the heat rose from the fresh road, and the wind battered us like Ping Pong balls. Quite unpleasant. The road crew just shook their heads as we moved in slow motion past them.

Tomorrow we go into Missouri. We will start to get more rolling hills which will break up the riding.
This flat stuff is better than hills, but it is b-o-r-i-n-g.

Ulysses, KS to Pratt, KS - 151 miles

One person - six foot four British wonderman Nigel made today easier. He insisted on pulling Brian, Keith and I along through a brutal 30-40mph southern crosswind. We took turns sitting on his left side in echelon formation for most of the day. He says it is just as much work switching around in a pace line, and he likes to use his aero bars. Hey I won't argue.

Before this train started, however, on our way out of town at least four people were taken out by some nasty railroad tracks. Nobody was hurt, but a few wheels were put out of true (and egos bruised).

At the first stop we got a good group picture with some sunflowers in the background. After the stop the road was lined with people with disassembled tires and tubes. Little prickly burrs called goat heads had stuck into several people's tires to flatten them.

Nigel continued to power away pulling us along through this brutal flag stiffening wind. We passed some cattle feeding lots and we got about a mile of foul smelling cow shit dust in our faces. Semis plowed along the road passing us. We pulled off onto a less traveled road, which eased our nerves. More wide-open fields of milo and corn, and hardly any trees to break the wind. Lunch was grilled cheddar cheese, tomato, and red onion sandwiches. Yodels and brownies for dessert.

We muscled along through the wind. At one point in the town of Ford we met the wind head on and crawled along at barely 12 mph. Just horrible. Then a few more rest stops and we got back with an hour of sunlight to spare. A lot of people had to get sagged forward (rode in the support van) to make it back in time. Got a good group picture at the end of the ride.

This was probably one of the most difficult and mentally taxing days so far. The wind is extremely demoralizing when it is continually whistling through your ears, helmet and tossing you front wheel around. Several times we bumped elbows due to the jostling by the wind. When will this wind be at our backs? I thought a tailwind, bicycling east, and Kansas went together. Hopefully tomorrow.