[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on October 17, 2004]

One of the reasons I gave in my last message for staying an extra day in St. Louis was that there was rain in the forecast, so I planned to spend most of Wednesday indoors. Well, Wednesday turned out to be beautiful; all the rain came Thursday, the day I left town! I had made plans to meet my host, Corey (Malinda's husband) at Waffle House on my way out of town, so I could buy him breakfast. Unfortunately I told him the wrong intersection, so he never found Waffle House and I had to eat without him.

I made a full four-cup pot of coffee this morning and flew down the trail into Jefferson City, arriving early for church.  The first person to talk to me there was Don Love, who had noticed me on the road and thought I might be headed to his church!  He introduced me to a bike dealer and a highway employee among the congregation, who were able to answer my questions about shoulders on US highways I've been eyeing.

Slow going again today, in spite of excellent weather.  I got a late start due to partiers keeping me up late.  Couldn't seem to get fired up until I stopped for coffee at  noon.  Even so, I didn't make it into Jefferson City as I had hoped, but only into Tebbetts.

The trail Web site had indicated a campground here, with Jim's Bar and Grill as the contact.  But Jim recommended I check out the hostel next door instead: just $5 a night to sleep indoors with hot showers, a microwave oven, coffee, etc.  It's fantastic!  What a great find!

33.1 mi

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on October 13, 2004]

Hello again. I'm having such a good time in St. Louis that I decided to stay an extra day! That and the weather is a little rainy for riding the (packed-dirt) Katy trail, and I've decided to bypass Kansas City and Lawrence, KS on my way to Oklahoma. Like Madison and Chicago (both of which I bypassed earlier), Kansas City is just a short bus ride from Minneapolis. St. Louis is not. Visiting St. Louis is a rare treat.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on October 10, 2004]

Hi, folks! I've arrived safe and sound at the home of my friends in St. Louis. I'll be here until at least Wednesday.

I had a route all planned out to get me into town today, but I missed my turn.  When I stopped to look at local maps at a gas station, I found that there's a new bridge across the Missouri River that wasn't on my maps, and that I could get there via the Katy Trail.

Encouraged by the campground owner's description of an off-road bike trail paralleling the River Road, I headed back east this morning rather than following US 61, even though 61 had a nice wide, paved shoulder.  Alas, the part of the road with the off-road trail was the part I skipped by going to the campground last night! 

I had hoped to get all the way to Cuivre River State Park today, but I drastically underestimated the hilliness of the Great River Road between Hannibal and Louisiana, MO.  It was a beautiful ride, but very slow going.  By the time I was ready to leave Louisiana, I knew there was no way I'd make the state park by sunset.

I had had to pack my tent very wet this morning, so I wanted to let it dry before trying to sleep in it again... so I went to the nearest campground, which was west of Louisiana, in Bowling Green.  Out of my way, but at least doable.

distance: 37.8 mi

This morning as I was loading the Mac bag, I found a stash of acorns that someone -- squirrel? chipmunk? totoro? -- had carefully placed in the toilet-paper bag.  Whoever it was hadn't touched my food, probably hoping it would be there later, along with the toilet paper for a cozy nest.  I felt bad for spoiling such earnest preparations for the winter, but I couldn't very well return the acorns, so I left them under a tree.

Although I had a great visit at Sandhill, it felt really good to hit the road again today.

The only unusual thing that happened today was that a dog befriended me and followed me for about 7 miles.  I finally enlisted the help of another dog owner to keep him in one place while I rode away.  I enjoyed having the company for those miles, but I was afraid he wouldn't be able to find his way home, and he was getting very hot and thirsty.

I picked up the Great River Road at Canton and followed it through LaGrange to Wakonda State Park.

total distance: 51.84 mi