Lisa and I had breakfast together at the hotel and then bid our farewell. Last night could very well be the last time I sleep in an air conditioned place on a nice comfy bed in about a week. Pic below of me taking my final walk down the hall of the hotel all loaded and ready to go.
The Kansas City metro area is another example of good bike infrastructure. They have bike lanes and/or multi-use paths throughout the metro area. I was primarily on bike paths until I was pretty much outside the most congested part of the area. After about 3 miles, I made it into Missouri (pic below).
Google maps routed me through the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area. For a short time, I was on paths that were not much more than a walking trail (pics below). There was one short steep area that was extremely rocky that I had to hike-a-bike up. Pardon the fingertip in the 2nd photo.
Pic below of Ben from Lawrence, KS. He is riding from Kansas City to St Louis to watch a Phish concert. As I was riding along a dirt/gravel road just before meeting him, I was noticing bike tracks that were dramatically weaving to the left and right. I wondered to myself why a cyclist would weave back and forth that much. When I came upon Ben, he was stopped smoking a cigarette and rearranging the load on his bicycle. He stated this is his first bicycle tour, and that he bought a cheap rear rack to carry all his gear. He indicated the rack is acting like a pendulum, and is causing him to weave from side to side. After he got through reloading his gear, he left and rode about 20 feet before turning around and coming back to rearrange the load because something was rubbing his wheel. He told me the most he has ever ridden was 25 miles, and today he is going to try to make it about 70 miles. I hope he is able to complete his trip, but I have doubts unless he changes his loading configuration:)
Pic below of Pleasant Hill, MO former train depot.
Just outside of Pleasant Hill I got on the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail State Park. Pic below of Tru, who was just coming off the trail as I was getting on. He is from St. Louis and is riding from there to visit friends in Kansas City. He then plans on riding back to St. Louis. He said he is going to invest in bike racks and panniers for his next bicycle trip because carrying a backpack on a bike is not comfortable.
Pic below of Rock Island Lake from the trail.
Pic below of me at the Rock Island Spur trailhead in Leeton, MO.
In Windsor, MO, I completed the Rock Island Spur and got on the Katy Trail. I plan on staying on this trail to the St. Louis metro area. Pic below of the highest point on the Katy Trail, 955 feet. I'm glad I got that over with because the air was mighty thin and it was hard to breathe up there :)
I reserved a spot to camp tonight at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. I was thinking that since it is Thursday night that I would be the only one there. I was wrong. There is some kind of horse competition going on and there were a lot of RVs and horse trailers. Fortunately, I was able to find a somewhat isolated place to pitch my tent ( pic below).
Below is a pic of the very nice Swine building at the fairgrounds. The fairground has to be a large positive financial boost for Sedalia.
Total miles today: 101.4
I didn’t know that riders still stopped for a cigarette anymore. There is a famous Tour de France poster from the 1920s titled, ‘they smoked the cigarette!’ Also that fellow might want to get some stable racks for his weight (load) Although Anthony, a fellow like that might look at your loaded bike and think, this is the way! Anyway, I’m glad you survived the 900 feet in elevation. That dad gummed air is thinner there. Stay safe.
ReplyDelete~Ron
DeleteI can't help but wonder if he is still trying to make the trip.
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