Days 20 and 21- The Ozarks: Vistas and Drivers That Take Your Breath Away (Updated)
Again, i awoke with motivation that comes from an upcoming state line - Chester (which is the birthplace of Popeye, or whoever it was that he was based on) is right on the Mississippi. I ran into Drew as i was pedaling out of town. Funny, we didn't plan to spend so much time together, but we both went with it. We took pictures on the bridge into Missouri and headed through the farms toward the Ozarks which we'd reach later in the afternoon. Hills again. The roads in Missouri were no better than Illinois, and the drivers are the biggest dicks on the trip yet. Drew and I met a west-to-east cyclist, Nick, who minutes before, as he was innocently riding up a hill squeezed to the side of the shoulder, was shouted at by a woman: "You're gonna get someone killed, you fuckin' piece of shit!" Nice.
The Ozarks are gentler than the Appalachians or the Blue Ridge Mountains, not as tall or steep. Thank god. And i'm in better shape than i was two weeks ago. The hills are plateaued at the top so there are often fields of farmland before the next climb. Sparkling rivers, ponds and creeks. As the Blue Ridge Mountains were azure-hued because of the clouds, there is a mossy greenness about the Ozarks. The trees alternately densely populate and dot the landscape.
Eighty-four miles brought us to a campground on our map in a town with no name, right over the Reynolds County line. The County Line Bar partially hid Kyle's Campground from the road. Drew and I checked in there, cleaned up in the cold outdoor shower, and followed the "good food" sign into the smoke- and biker-filled bar. My veg of the day was fried okra. Again, i'm pleased at my flexibility. Danny J has called me a delicate flower at times (for a variety of reasons including doughnuts give me acid reflux, i can't drink coffee, and i can't consume any caffeine after 10am at the absolute latest cuz i'll be up all night) but i'm a robustly flexible eater now. I even had a burger and fries. Other choice was pizza (and too much dairy...well, you know.) The campground certainly wasn't much to look at but it was only $4 for the night, balancing out the overspend in Chester at the Best Western. I didn't sleep that well, realizing first-hand why they call it the whippoorwill. What a freak that bird is.
Add armadillos to the list of creatures seen shuffling away and splattered on the side of the road.
In the morning, Drew and I got ready quickly. There was minimal breakfast. Drew was out of peanut butter so i gave him one of my bars. It was to be another 100-miler, but this time through the mountains. The trip to Chester was 105 miles to be sure but much of that was flat. To be honest, i wasn't sure i could do it. But the choices of places to stay in MON (Middle of Nowhere), MO (seriously, a t-shirt up on the wall in the County Line Bar boasted this fact) were few and far between, so we were headed to Houston.
Jinx recently shared with me a mind-game she plays with herself when training - using the idea of having a certain amount of energy pellets to spend per day. I do a different version of positive affirmation in my head during some of the rougher days, like Day 21 from MON to Houston, MO. If the day is to be 100 miles, for instance, after 10 miles i'll say to myself: "Can you do what you just did 9 more times?" And I'll answer "Yes, i can." It's simple, but it works, especially in the early part of the day.
It was murder out there on Day 21. The sun was beating down hard from the moment the day began. Yes, the hills are gentler in the Ozarks, but they're still hills and it was midday at 85 degrees. I drank so much fluid. I stopped twice to refill all 3 bottles plus had a ton of water at lunch and a V-8 to replenish salt. Drew was ahead of me the whole way, and honestly my competitive edge helped me get through the day. Knowing the next day would be my rest day also was a kind thought. The map says that the hills in Missouri are like roller coasters and it's true. The downhills (at least initially) made the struggles uphill worth it. The roads were better through the mountains and did not curve sharply so i was less afraid of just letting go and enjoyed speeds up to 40 miles per hour.
We met a few other cyclists: Barb and Dan, a married couple with gloriously flat Milwaukee accents you couldn't overdo in your imitation if you tried. They were on this amazing tandem recumbent bike with something like 40 or 50 gears. Very slow on the uphills for sure. We also ran into Sean, coincidentally doing the same route as me but backwards. He had some good info about snakes for the upcoming areas in Western Kansas and Easter Colorado, and a camping story somewhere out west reminded me that bear country is coming up and i might want to reconsider the pepper spray thing again. The ranger told Sean to spray the black bear in the face and run. When it's dark, how do you tell if a bear is brown or black? Eek.
I made it to Houston and a crap cheap motel. Drew was way ahead of me and was not resting the next day, so that was likely our last day of traveling together. It's fine. There are definite pros about being with someone else, but there are pros to being alone, which i am now again.
The Ozarks are gentler than the Appalachians or the Blue Ridge Mountains, not as tall or steep. Thank god. And i'm in better shape than i was two weeks ago. The hills are plateaued at the top so there are often fields of farmland before the next climb. Sparkling rivers, ponds and creeks. As the Blue Ridge Mountains were azure-hued because of the clouds, there is a mossy greenness about the Ozarks. The trees alternately densely populate and dot the landscape.
Ozark Loveliness
Eighty-four miles brought us to a campground on our map in a town with no name, right over the Reynolds County line. The County Line Bar partially hid Kyle's Campground from the road. Drew and I checked in there, cleaned up in the cold outdoor shower, and followed the "good food" sign into the smoke- and biker-filled bar. My veg of the day was fried okra. Again, i'm pleased at my flexibility. Danny J has called me a delicate flower at times (for a variety of reasons including doughnuts give me acid reflux, i can't drink coffee, and i can't consume any caffeine after 10am at the absolute latest cuz i'll be up all night) but i'm a robustly flexible eater now. I even had a burger and fries. Other choice was pizza (and too much dairy...well, you know.) The campground certainly wasn't much to look at but it was only $4 for the night, balancing out the overspend in Chester at the Best Western. I didn't sleep that well, realizing first-hand why they call it the whippoorwill. What a freak that bird is.
Add armadillos to the list of creatures seen shuffling away and splattered on the side of the road.
In the morning, Drew and I got ready quickly. There was minimal breakfast. Drew was out of peanut butter so i gave him one of my bars. It was to be another 100-miler, but this time through the mountains. The trip to Chester was 105 miles to be sure but much of that was flat. To be honest, i wasn't sure i could do it. But the choices of places to stay in MON (Middle of Nowhere), MO (seriously, a t-shirt up on the wall in the County Line Bar boasted this fact) were few and far between, so we were headed to Houston.
Jinx recently shared with me a mind-game she plays with herself when training - using the idea of having a certain amount of energy pellets to spend per day. I do a different version of positive affirmation in my head during some of the rougher days, like Day 21 from MON to Houston, MO. If the day is to be 100 miles, for instance, after 10 miles i'll say to myself: "Can you do what you just did 9 more times?" And I'll answer "Yes, i can." It's simple, but it works, especially in the early part of the day.
It was murder out there on Day 21. The sun was beating down hard from the moment the day began. Yes, the hills are gentler in the Ozarks, but they're still hills and it was midday at 85 degrees. I drank so much fluid. I stopped twice to refill all 3 bottles plus had a ton of water at lunch and a V-8 to replenish salt. Drew was ahead of me the whole way, and honestly my competitive edge helped me get through the day. Knowing the next day would be my rest day also was a kind thought. The map says that the hills in Missouri are like roller coasters and it's true. The downhills (at least initially) made the struggles uphill worth it. The roads were better through the mountains and did not curve sharply so i was less afraid of just letting go and enjoyed speeds up to 40 miles per hour.
We met a few other cyclists: Barb and Dan, a married couple with gloriously flat Milwaukee accents you couldn't overdo in your imitation if you tried. They were on this amazing tandem recumbent bike with something like 40 or 50 gears. Very slow on the uphills for sure. We also ran into Sean, coincidentally doing the same route as me but backwards. He had some good info about snakes for the upcoming areas in Western Kansas and Easter Colorado, and a camping story somewhere out west reminded me that bear country is coming up and i might want to reconsider the pepper spray thing again. The ranger told Sean to spray the black bear in the face and run. When it's dark, how do you tell if a bear is brown or black? Eek.
I made it to Houston and a crap cheap motel. Drew was way ahead of me and was not resting the next day, so that was likely our last day of traveling together. It's fine. There are definite pros about being with someone else, but there are pros to being alone, which i am now again.
Stupid question here: at any given time, how many people are doing this? A dozen? A hundred?
ReplyDeleteI mean, do you meet cross-the-country bikers every day, or just now and then, or... how does it work, exactly?
BTW, this is Natalie's friend Doug -- we met in Romania -- and I'm really enjoying following this.
cheers,
Doug M.