Jeff’s Missouri Bicycle Trip Report - 05/26/09
Day 9 - Afternoon
Waiting for the milk truck to pass. 
Break time.
Somewhere back on the trail, I lost my US flag. 
Where a paved part
of the trail starts. 
At 3:00 p.m. I
approached Willard. 
In Willard I
stopped at the trailhead for a break. 
I should have been
thinking about finding a place to stay dry, but I still didn’t think it would
rain on me again! I was wrong. As soon as I left Willard, it started. At one
point, I could hardy see the trail. I got wetter today than yesterday. The only
good thing was it quieted the squeak from my left pedal, which was falling
apart. The rain lasted maybe 15 minutes, and then I was able to get the
camera back out. Apparently I’m riding on buried track here also. 
At 4:25 p.m. I reached the end of the Frisco Highline Trail. (I’m
looking backwards here.) 
I
followed roads indicated on a Springfield map as “Bike Routes”. Not much to
these bike routes besides the signs. 
At 5:08 p.m. I
reached the entrance to the fairgrounds. I was close now. I could walk from here
if I had to. 
A few more hills –
one I had to walk up – and I was in the subdivision. At 5:28 p.m. I was at Bill and
Laurie’s house. Laurie somehow knew I was there and came out to greet me. She,
obviously, was relieved to see me. She took the “end-of-trip” picture for
me. 
I was disappointed to hear that Tahdra and Isaac weren’t there
yet. I wanted some dry clothes! ;-) While waiting, I sent out my
last email report: Subject: Day 9 - drying out
again!
Date: Tuesday, 5-26-2009 7:31 p.m. Up at
6 a.m.
Motel breakfast: waffles, raisin bran, bagel, orange juice,
coffee.
8:40 a.m. start.
Backtracked to start of frisco trail. There at
9:02 a.m. Back to where I started at 9:27 a.m.
Heavy rain at Willard.
End of
Frisco at 4:25 p.m..
Bill and Laurie’s at 5:28 p.m.!
Waiting for Tahdra, Isaac,
and dry clothes.
45 miles
6:12 moving
7.2 mph driving
Thanks for
your home front support.
Full report to follow.
Jeff I also had
time to take a few more bike pictures - of the damaged pedal (enlarged hole next
to crank) and wet trail dust. 
Bill rigged up a clothes line in the garage for hanging wet
items. 
I stayed outside, not wanting to get a shower until I had dry
clothes to get into. Finally I called Tahdra. They were lost. Laurie gave
them instructions on how to get here from where they were. Finally, around
8:00 p.m., they arrived. Laurie and Bill gave Tahdra a house tour while I cleaned
up. Then we went to Ziggie’s for supper. Our waitress took our orders (from 5
persons) without an order pad, and didn’t get anything wrong. I’d never seen
that before! I really enjoyed my steak and eggs breakfast, as well as getting to
visit with everyone. Once we were back at Bill and Laurie’s (about 10:30 p.m.), I
don’t remember delaying by much getting to bed. I was looking forward to
sleeping in! Day 9: 46 miles in 8 hours, 48 minutes = 5.2
mph.
Spent: $0.00.
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