Pedaling Again

Thanks for all your thoughts wishing me a quick recovery. It worked! I was back on the road again today in spite of some side effects from the antibiotic. (I will not provide details on this.) A short ride was on the schedule and the terrain was mercifully gentler than previous days in Missouri. It was just the right amount of distance and difficulty for the back-to-the road day.

As before, the Missouri road shoulders were bad – really bad. Scored pavement, roadkill – still armadillos about one per mile, gravel, rumble strips. At least this time the shoulders were fairly wide and that gave me some negotiating room. I was pretty jealous because the road for cars was freshly paved asphalt.

I’ve given Missouri a bad wrap so far. In fairness, Jeniece, the owner of our hotel, The Golden Door, was very kind, and helped us figure things out in Osage Beach. I asked her why, with the famous Katy Trail being in Missouri, the kind of thinking that would make road shoulders usable didn’t reach the part of the state I was in. She said a new rail-trail is under construction in the Osage Beach region and there’s excitement about it. The Kansans clean their road shoulders after each weekend, we were told. I don’t know if there is a shoulder-cleaning schedule in Missouri. 

I was rewarded at the end of the ride with a long view of the state capitol building of Missouri. It’s super enlarged so not good quality. 

By putting in that link to the Katy Trail, I discovered that I am quite near it. It seems to parallel Route 94 that the RAAM route takes. Maybe, just maybe, I have to bike the Katy Trail tomorrow instead of the RAAM route to see if it will redeem Missouri for me.

Ride details

Start location: Osage Beach MO

End location: Jefferson City MO

Distance: 44.6 miles

Cumulative distance: 1928.4 miles

Elevation gain: 1981.6 feet

Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/728103089