I woke up around 6:30 this morning by accident. My phone didn’t have any service so I never knew what time it was and I set the time myself but must have set it an hour early. But it let me get an early start to the day. I heard coyotes for the first time last night. It was really cool. There were at least 2 and maybe three. I wasn’t scared of them since they seem to stay away from people. In the morning I met a retired couple named Mike and Shirley who were camped in a RV close to us. They offered us a place to stay since they lived close to the town I was planning on camping tomorrow night. They said they lived a little far outside the town but they would be able to pick us up in their truck. I only had an Odwalla bar for breakfast which Danny gave me. I thought I would be able to get peanut butter at the place we were camped but the groceries they had only consisted of chips.
There were a lot of climbs today. People describe the Ozarks as a rollercoaster and they are definitely right. There were a bunch of steep climbs and just as many fast descents. I had to wait for Danny a couple of times at the top of the hills but it wasn’t a big deal and it let me catch my breath and take some pictures. Plus he had to stop for me a few times when I had to quickly fix my bike and when I needed some food. After about 25 miles we found a grocery store and I stopped to get some peanut butter and have a proper meal. I drank a half gallon of V8 while I got my PB fix and talked to my mom.
A little before we met 2 people from Wisconsin, I forget their names but they were on a tandem recumbent going across country. After lunch we met this guy named Shawn who was riding from San Francisco to DC. He had ridden 2700 miles since May 2nd and only taken 2 rest days when he was sick. He told us to watch out for Copper Head snakes in KS and Rattlers in CO which I didn’t know about. He also gave us the number for a couple who put him up and like putting up cyclists but don’t like to advertise. These people are in the same town as Mike and Shirley but they live less than a quarter mile off the trail so it would be a lot easier to go to them.
I started experimenting with the video recorder on my camera for the final two descents. The first time down you can only see the trees above the road going past and can’t see the road at all. It’s a shame too because when I was coming out of the descent the trees opened up to an awesome view of a farm on the hillside. On the final major descent I propped the camera up in my front pouch but it fell down about 6 seconds in and all you see is the sky and hear me yelling the speed. But I hit 43.5 mph on that one which is my fastest so far.
I left Danny behind after climbing the last hill. I don’t know if he made it to Houston like we planned or if he stopped in Summersville. But he was planning on resting tomorrow so we would be splitting up soon anyway. Things seem to close early here in Houston. The library was closed by the time I got there and so was the Chinese place and the KFC buffet was close. So I went to Subway and got 2 foot longs. I could probably get another but I think I’m gona go eat some more PB at my tent. I’m camped in a park that was OKed by the sheriff but this is the first day in a while where I wont be getting a shower.
No comments:
Post a Comment