More of the Same In Missouri  Day 3, 75 Miles

We left out of Chillicothe, MO en router to Kirksville, MO at about 7:25. The first 25 miles were on the highway. The fast moving cars always make me nervous, but fortunately, we had a good shoulder to ride on. My new riding partner, Darryl, came out quite pumped and ready to go. I, on the other hand, was still very much recovering from yesterday's full day of hills. He started off the day with a very strong 18+ mph pace. I was fine staying with him, but I was very wary of burning out to quickly. As I was processing whether I should drop back or not, Chris Oliver, the recumbent biker, pulled alongside and offered to pull while we drafted. Chris is a super fast biker, and when combined with his all carbon recumbent, he is a rocket. So much so, that he usually arrives at the finish line 30-40 minutes before everyone else. Today, for some reason, he decided to 'take it easy', so as part of the taking it easy, he decided to hang back and pull some of us along. Darryl jumped right on this. I was happy to get the help, but I was nervous that it would still be too much. We did this for 10 or so miles on the highway. I realized fairly quickly that while Chris was pacing much slower than his usual, he was still just too fast for me at that early in the day. I dropped back and allowed the two to move forward on their own. They kindly slowed for me, but I waved them on. Soon, they were dots on the horizon and I was on my own. I enjoyed the solitude and made my own time at between 17-19 mph.

The first 25 were hilly, but with sections of flats in between.  It was a hard workout, but I was very happy when I hit the first SAG stop to have plenty of gas in the tank. I commented to one of the guides that I was happy that it was not quite as bad as yesterday. Tom quickly corrected me by saying the worst was ahead. He wasn't lying; it was 45 miles of hill after hill after hill. I couldn't believe that a place could have so many hills. I wondered what geological event caused such a landscape to be born, and I made a mental note to research it. The first rollers were actually fun, where I could go 30 MPH down the backside and not have to work too hard to get to the peak of the next one. That lasted for maybe the first 5-6 hills, after that, it was just plain hard work. I spent the bulk of my day by myself and was ok until about mile 40. After that, I was really psychologically and physically struggling. The landscape was breathtaking, but all that I could think about was getting off the bike and cursing the next wave of hills. At mile 55 or so, I was really huffing and puffing. Hydrating and eating were just not doing what they had done the day before. I slowed way down and attempted to give myself a working rest. I stopped to drain a bottle and eat a banana and gobbled down some sports bean (caffeine laced jelly beans) and got quickly on my way. The next 10 miles presented the worst hills of the day. Fortunately, I got a lift from the beans and was able to pick up my pace. At mile 65, I was suspicious when I saw flats in the distance. I had seen that before but my hopes would always get blasted because the road always managed to have a giant set of hills just around the next corner. This was like Christmas... beautiful nice easy climbs with plenty of flats. I cruised into Kirksville, MO about 12:45 local time and finished relatively strong.

It was a very hard day and it's time to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I will cross into Illinois after another long day of hills. I'm about 250 miles into my journey and wishing it was 1200. I miss home and my family and there are moments if I made this decision under the influence of alcohol ; ) 

Thanks for all of your support.

My second lap top has some issues so I was not able to post video:

A couple pictures from today: