Gravel Grinding

Today was relatively uneventful. Our route followed US 60 through central Missouri. Originally we had planned several detours onto side roads to get us off the highway, but we found the highway to be pretty agreeable so we elected to skip the detours. The traffic was light and the shoulder was wide. The only problem was the incessant amount of gravel and debris on the shoulder. We were constantly pointing out hazard after hazard.

The scenery was very pretty as we climbed out of Van Buren and out of the morning fog. The terrain in the area is a series of regular undulations with a wavelength of about one mile. So we went half a mile up, half a mile down, over and over. The sameness of the hills and valleys was remarkable. Even the little towns all seemed to look and feel the same.

We stopped for a break at McDonald's in Mountain View where a guy who introduced himself as Darren commented on our rides: "those look like nice bikes." We told him our story, but he seemed more interested in the bikes. We made sure to keep an eye on them while we were stopped.

Mountain View: apparently the Coke machine capital of the world

Lunch was at a Subway in another look-alike town called Willow Springs. After lunch I noticed my rear tire was flat. Not surprising given all the debris. That makes three flats for me and one for Tom so far, so he is overdue. Actually four flats is not too bad in 1000 miles of riding.

After changing the tire we decided to take one of the planned detours to get off the highway for awhile. We followed a tiny back road out of town for about 2 miles. Sure enough, the pavement ended and it became a gravel road. We could not escape the gravel! Unfortunately there was no alternate route so we were forced to backtrack. Extra miles due to backtracking are not fun miles. I really wish our mapping software (RideWithGPS, which uses Google Maps as its underlying routing engine) had an option to detect unpaved roads and avoid routing onto them.

Houston has Missouri City. Missouri has a town called Houston, in Texas County. Go figure.

We made it to Mountain Grove (Mountain View, Mountain Grove, even the town names are alike) just after 2 PM. Our bikes were badly in need of cleaning after the rain and mud from a few days back so we bought a brush from an auto parts store and brought it to the hotel. The hotel had a hose, a bucket, and some soap so now we have clean bikes. I'm sure that will make them easier to ride somehow.

Today's ride was 85 miles, 4045 feet of climbing, under clear blue skies and pleasant temperatures. Rumor has it that there is a good Mexican restaurant in town so there may be a Margarita in my future.

Thanks to all who have commented on the blog. Thanks also to Lisa, my personal IT consultant, for helpful tips on commenting.

By the way, Tom also has a blog. It's at www.trsbratus.wordpress.com.