Walnut Grove, MO to Dilday Mill, MO – 21mil, 10mph, +1400ft elevation gain

Today was a nearo ( near zero) or rest day. 21 miles and it was 91 degrees at 11am. Ugh.

Today’s post will be “ From my Saddle 2”. Things that go through my head while riding. You may or may not want to know but here we go anyways.

Rail, MO to Walnut Grove, MO – 78mi, 10.9mph, +5075 elevation gain

Phew. Today was a big one. Just when I thought I would stop we got to a road closed sign ahead. Soooo not wanting to tackle this on my Nero ( near zero) day I decided to figure it out today. We rerouted Jocelynn amd she made it to the next Intersection before me. 78.3 miles later we are staying in Springfield for 2 nights in a hotel. Yippee!! Sooo. I tried teaching swim lessons again this morning but my students wouldn’t even blow bubbles. They are much too heavy to help them float on their backs too (I think they call this cow tipping) Jennifer Ahous, Any suggestions. Hot 97 degree finish. Saw 2 East bounders but on massive hills so we didn’t stop. Crazy insane climbing. Strava pooped out when we rerouted because we stopped too long, I would guess. Nice locals gave great advice. It’s still REALLY hilly. Over 5,000 in elevation again. Tonight or tomorrow be ready for another “from my saddle” report. click “Read More” to see some photos

Eminence, MO to Rail, MO – 66mi, +4000ft elevation gain

Awesome day…. REALLY.  Zero snakes.  That’s a record.  Zero mean people yelled at me.  Another record.  We met an east bound cyclist (Peter) and his wife was following him. We also stopped for propane and George wouldn’t even charge us.  Better part of this story is that when I was 10 miles out of town and had met Peter, while we were stopped along the road George drove by and stopped and asked if we were ok.  Such a kind man. 

Pilot Knob, MO to Eminence, MO – 70mi, 11.1mph, +5482ft elevation gain

Friends.  It’s HOT.  Absolutely beautiful terrain.  A wee bit mountainous, lots of National Park lands.  This morning was nice and cool. We are starting earlier and earlier to heat the heat.  We didn’t quite get that done. Finished in 96 degrees. Jocelynn is my rock star keeping me hydrated amd sun screened.  

Chester, IL to Pilot Knob, MO – 64mi, 11.2mph, +4,364ft elevation gain

Well. God was in charge of our day completely. Friends I can’t make this stuff up. He truly has us in the palm of his hands. Terrain was beautiful. People in Missouri don’t like cyclists. Well not all but got yelled at a lot today. At about 53 miles Jocelynn was following when I saw a large screw sitting straight up and I knew we were going to hit it. As soon as I could we pulled over and sure enough. The screw was in our rear tire. We googled and Walmart was just 4.5 miles away. I took the wheel as I was afraid it might blow and didn’t want that on Jocelynn. She stayed aired and $13.50 later Walmart had us patched and on the road. We took the opportunity to do our shopping too. So it wasn’t in vain. Great miles. Hot weather again. I physically handled the heat a bit better today. We met 3 more cross country cyclists too today. Missouri is now in 2nd. 8 dead snakes. Click “read more” for photos

With Illinois under her belt, Donita has ridden 1,208miles and +67716 ft in 21 days. She is doing great! Keep cheering her on and sending prayers her way.

Wolf Creek, IL to Chester, IL – 62.9mi, 11.4mph, +3195 elevation gain

Brutal. Nothing short of brutal. The truck registered 99 degrees. I know the temp off the asphalt was much higher. I had to call it at 62.9 miles. I am 3… YES. 3 miles from Missouri but it was unsafe for me to continue in this heat. I was stopping to cool every 5 miles amd climbs werenot happening. I must be smart. Jocelynn made sure we increased my fluid intake and we took my core temp a couple of times too today. Needless to say we will start at 5am tomorrow.

Cave in Rock, IL to Wolf Creek, IL, 64mi, 11.3mph, +5033ft gain

Hilarious story. If you need a good laugh read on! I have told you you will get the good….the bad….and the ugly. Here’s to the ugly!

Great HOT day. Had to take lots of heat breaks. 94 degrees. I would guess the heat off the asphalt was way over 100. 5,000 feet in elevation climbing in this heat. I thought we were in IL. It’s so hilly and they are steep. They even warn you. Check out the photos.

We started this morning with a problem….of course. And learned this evening that God has a HUGE sense of humor. This morning we encountered our first poop tank blockage and were not able to dump. So after much research I added 4 times the amount of tank -orange stuff to our pooper and prayed. Just as my devotional told me to this morning. Pray God sized prayers. No little prayers. BUT God sized prayers. So I did. I asked him to unclog our tank. I kinda was a beggin him to if we are being honest. I didn’t know what we were going to do if he didn’t. Soooooooo. Tonight we have full hook-up.  A luxuryin the camping world.  Sooo. I went to unscrew the sewer cap.  It was under pressure and yep….  it exploded all over me.  My face.  My everything.  I guess the “clog” got free during our day. Jocelynn to the rescue……but not before she got some good footage of me dying.  Seriously dying.  

64.97 miles. Had Strava issues again. click read more to see photos

Clay, KY to Cave in Rock, IL – 32mi, 10mph, +2295ft gain

Well friends. The rain won today. We were at it 8 hours to get 3 hours and 9 minutes on the road. We just bagged it as another storm approaches. It was lightening alert after alert. We are officially in Illinois though. By 3 miles. . Jocelynn beat me as usual at rummy again. We pass the time well in the truck. We are getting good at these rain delays. We learned about a lady crossing the US blind. She is a veteran and suffered a traumatic brain injury leaving her blind. Sounds like we would hit it off. I’m super excited to cross paths. Shawn Cheshire. Look her up. I would guess we meet in Kansas. She is going the opposite direction. I’m out of rollers and back into climbers. But that’s ok. It’s peaceful here when not raining. I even taught swim lessons this morning. 1067.4 mi +61078 ft / -60717 ft Click “Read More” to see photos

Today Donita completed Kentucky. Total miles to date. 1067.4 mi +61078 ft / -60717 ft