Bendavis, Missouri to Ash Grove, Missouri
Woke up at 5:45 and started packing up. Sign on the store in Bendavis, MO said they open at 6:30 AM. The store owner, Chuck Chermack pulled into the parking lot a little before 6 and I wasn't sure if he'd be too happy about me camping on his property. He said, "Good morning" and was almost apologetic, about his store not being open yet. He said he'd hurry up and get the coffee going for me!
Chuck is originally from Arizona, so naturally we hit it off. The store was something he bought for his wife and daughter so they'd have something to do. He raises cattle on a 100 acre farm as his main activity.
He asked me to sign his book of bikers that have stopped in over the years. Again, MANY have gone before. I read a lot of the entries but one in particular struck me.
LA to DC
Left 5/13/03 and hope to arrive 6/3/03
I said, "Chuck, this must be a mistake" and he said, "No it's not." The biker was from Hungary and was doing 175 miles a day! Stopped for less than 10 minutes. The coffe was great and sitting around talking to some of the locals was fun. The big talk among them this morning was about the A.I. guy and how talented he was....that's the guy they hire to artificially inseminate the cows, and apparently this one is very good at what he does.
The best question of the trip - since my mom said, "I want to send you some money, should I send you 2 tens or a twenty?" I said, "A twenty, I'm trying to keep the weight on the bike down." - came from Chuck at breakfast. He asked, "Has the trip changed you?" He asked with a tone like he had a foreknowledge that it had, but just wanted to hear how. On the spot I told him "Yes, you know it's not about the bike riding it's about the people and a real firsthand sense of what this country is made of."
As I rode all day yesterday, I continued to think about that question and I realize that people out here live lives of quiet contentment and it doesn't seem so rushed and harried like back east. They enjoy the rain, they enjoy the sun, the good and the bad - it's just life - a day at a time - full of friendly, simple humor.
It was great to wake up at the junction of routes 38 and MM in Bendavis, MO.
Bulletin! 9:23 AM 4 miles east of Hartville, MO the 1500 mile barrier is broken!! A few minutes later I was in Hartville, MO (pop. 607) and stopped at a hardware store to buy a bulb for my flashlight. Never thought of bringing a spare bulb, extra batteries yes, bulb, no. I got to see the courthouse lawn I would have slept on. Checked the internet and post office and kept movin'.
The rest of the day was a biking killer. My goal was to reach Ash Grove, MO. Mainly, for two reasons: One was because that was my scheduled stop for the day and I was running about 20 miles behind. The second reason was that yesterday after only going 78 miles I wanted to see what 100 felt like.
Totals for the day: 97.86 miles 7 hours,52 minutes 1582.3 total miles
But look at the number of hours - I went up a lot of hills. Had one easy 20 or 30 mile stretch and thought it would be like that the rest of the way but those hills became relentless! Now, I can't wait until Kansas. With 15 miles left to go I got a chocolate milk and some donuts, ate 'em and laid down on the grass. I fell right asleep for about 10 minutes and actually atarted dreaming - dreaming about being DONE!
along the way on the overpass for I-44 near Marshfield, MO I met my third fellow cycler - Jonathan Sledge- a 23 year-old self proclaimed vagabond. I am so jealous of him, because he'll be able to do this again in his lifetime. Maybe several times. He was doing the TAT from Oregon to Virginia - no odometer - his preference, his style. I told him I couldn't live without mine. He told me the city park in Ash Grove, MO has a shower with all the hot water you can stand, so that became incentive #3 for me.
He told me about a fellow heading west on a bike with a trailer that is going to El Salvador via Los Angeles. He has a video camera mounted on the front of his bike and a wooden chair in the trailer he's towing! I hope I catch up to him. Jonathan also told me another story about not being ble to afford stitches after ripping open his hand, so he took some pain killers and some booze and his friend was gonna sew him up with dental floss, but he ended up just really wasted at the hospital anyway with the doctors laughing. He was a very likeable dude and reminded me of me when I was his age.
66 miles from Kansas, the towns are quiet at 9PM. Stores, restaurants and gas stations are all closed. Found a liquor store on the edge of town open until 10. Got a large Smirnoff Ice citrus vodka drink and called Peg to catch up (Didn't speak to her yesterday) then back to my tent. I took a hot shower earlier after setting up my tent in the city park. Then rode around town leaving all my stuff in a tent a mile away. I don't fear being ripped off any more so I guess that's another way the trip has changed me. I think I'm getting it! Anyway since all the restaurants were closed I had to resort to cooking a freeze-dried dinner on my portable micro-stove. Never thought I'd be enjoying Mountain House cuisine in a town with 4 or 5 restaurants. But it was dinner nonetheless, at a cement table in a park witha full moon overhead--dining alfresco I believe they call it. All in all, pretty good. Talked to Troy for a bit too. He's enjoying school a lot this semester.
Clear, cool, dry night. Ahhhh sleep....z z z z z z z z z z z