USA-Ride Diary

A few more miles have been added since we last made it to a computer to add some ‘blog.’ We are now in central Kansas with very high temperatures and strong sunshine. Having made it out of Illinois we entered Missouri, which I often pronounced ‘misery’ not to be too far wrong on several occasions! The change in the scenery was great, and we made it back in to rolling hills and wooded sides of the track. Before making it this far we had patiently sat and listened to many riders and locals talking of the dreaded Ozark mountains… Well fortunately we passed through these with little problems, and managed the climbs without too much trouble. Confidently, we pulled up to camp and went canoeing, swimming and river jumping (sorry, this is starting to sound like a holiday). We pulled up to camp, having cycled many many miles in great heat and were so tired we sat with our feet in the river water to cool off.
Early to rise the next day we set off to take in the rest of the Missouri. Then we found the dreaded Ozarks! Only we found them on the 114 mile day to Ash Grove. Not quite what we were hoping for. Still we spent the evening chatting to the local police man (not because we’d done something wrong Mum), who filled us with confidence about the land finally flattening out… We went to bed, beside the quietest trainline we’d encountered, much to the pleasure of Paul D. His usual 1, 3 and 5am visits to the ‘restroom’ were nicely alarmed with the continual blasting of the horns! Perfect. So here we are now in Kansas. True, the land has flattened out a little and the mountains are no longer with us. But as one old person once said to me (yes I do mean Paul D) the grass may not always be greener. That is true on two accounts…firstly, the grass in this place is yellow. Everything is yellow. Except the trees…there are no trees. Secondly, because for the last 250 miles we have had a constant head-wind, with nothing to see. Unfortunately, that is no exaggeration! This is meant to continue for another 350 miles…my how we chuckle. But the good news is, there is meant to be even less to see! I don’t feel even the slightest amount bitter about the cheery people headed the other way with their tail-wind. Not at all.
We have met some amazing people recently though. We met one guy riding on behalf of his friend who is currently receiving cancer treatment. He is riding up to 200 miles a day, and it was great to talk to him about his journey so far. Also Pat and Paul Voytko from Cassoday, KS, took us in to their home and allowed us to clean up and get a good night’s sleep before another early start at 0500. They trusted us enough to take their Harley in to town to the old saloon…I will say no more about that, but we will get the pictures up on here as soon as we can!
It would appear that things are getting further and further apart as we move through the centre of the country, but we will continue to update as much as possible. Thanks to all those who are leaving comments - it feels great to read them!