Jeff’s Missouri Bicycle Trip Report - 05/26/09
Day 9 - Afternoon
Google Earth Map
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 3:00pm 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 4:25pm 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 5:08pm 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 5:28pm 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 nine - drying out
again!
Date: Tuesday, 5-26-2009 7:31 PM Up at
6am.
Motel breakfast: waffles, raisin bran, bagel, orange juice,
coffee.
8:40am start.
Backtracked to start of frisco trail. There at
9:02am. Back to where I started at 9:27am.
Heavy rain at willard.
End of
frisco at 4:25pm.
Bill and laurie’s at 5:28pm!
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
8:00pm, 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 five
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 10:30pm), I
don’t remember delaying by much getting to bed. I was looking forward to
sleeping in! Day Nine: 46 miles in 8 hours, 48 minutes = 5.2
mph.
Spent: $0.00.
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