Day 61: Jefferson City, MO

Day 61

July 16, 2015

Miles: 64

Sedalia to Jefferson City

We arose a little after 7am.  I used the coffee maker in the room to make a cup of coffee for both Di and me.  I watched the Tour de France while Di pored over a map of the area looking for the best route to Jefferson City.  The Katy Trail would take us to Jeff City (how the locals refer to Jefferson City) and that route would be 85 miles.  Di found another route that would take us to Jeff City and would be 20 miles fewer.  Go Di!  That's why she is in charge of the maps and all things organizational and I am in charge of making coffee.

Leaving the hotel for breakfast

Sedalia has some interesting bicycle racks

Main Street, Sedalia, Missouri, USA

We rode a half mile to the Sunrise Cafe.  For a cool looking city, it was surprising to find only one cafe open.  But the food was good, so the half mile ride in the wrong direction was worth it.

Pancakes and eggs, naturally

We finished our breakfast a little after 10am and got on our way.  The first part of our trip was on Rt. 50, which didn't have many cars and had a large breakdown lane - perfect for bicycling.

Sign seen shortly after starting the day's ride.

It was hot and muggy today, so after riding 21 miles we decided to take a quick break in Syracuse.  We found a store that had tables and chairs on its porch and we sat down to drink our Gatorade and try to cool off.  The store owner saw us on his porch and invited us in to sit at one of the tables inside and enjoy the air-conditioned air.  He then offered us one of his home grown tomatoes and we gladly accepted.

Di is happy to get some healthy vegetables

I love tomatoes!

I asked Harold, the store owner, if I could take his picture standing next to Di.  He said, "I don't know.  I don't want my wife to see me in a picture standing next to a beautiful woman.  I might have to explain myself."

Di and Harold

We said goodbye to Harold and five miles later were in Tipton.  We had just taken a long break, but we saw an interesting looking grocery store and decided to stop in.  I must admit the fact that the temperature was in the 90's and the sun was beating on us had more than a little to do with our decision to stop.  The first thing we noticed is the store had two aisles dedicated to candy.  What a great store!

Like a kid in a candy store

The second thing we noticed is the deli created amazing sandwiches for only five dollars.  Di and I ordered a turkey sandwich which, because it was so large, we split between us.

That's just one half of a five dollar sandwich

We bought a bag of Missouri peaches in addition to the gum drops that Di bought.  The peaches were great.  By the end of the day, I had eaten seven of the peaches.  Eating sweet fruit is better than eating candy.

By now it was 2:30pm and we still had 35 miles to go.  We were hoping for a nice flat ride for the remainder of the day, but boy, were we in for a surprise!  The ride was just one hill after another.

Rollercoaster hills

It was hot and humid and hilly and, weirdly, Di and I were having a blast.  We would race down one hill to see how far up the next we could go before having to pedal - it was like being in an amusement park.

There goes Di...

racing downhill ...

to try and make it up the next without pedaling.

By the end of the day we were very tired, but we both agreed it was a great day of riding.  There was beautiful weather, the road was a rollercoaster, and we rode through some pretty areas.

Pretty scene from western MO

Another pretty scene from western MO

We rode by many cattle ranches and corn, soy and hay farms.  I have a lot of admiration for our farmers - it takes a lot of hard work to run a farm.

Di enjoying her ride

So, we rode 64 miles on a hot and sunny day with a ton of hills and we both agreed it was an amazingly fun day.  We must be bike drunk.

Tomorrow we ride on to St. Charles (I think - I'd ask Di but she is sleeping already!)