(Kirkwood, MO -> Perrville, MO)
Today we woke up and had a great breakfast of turkey bacon and cinnamon rolls. We decided to take a longer route today that travelled more south in the morning to avoid any headwinds later in the day. We took a paved bike path in the morning for the first 10 miles, but unfortunately that came to an end. The bike path had lots of trees for shade and we passed the Ulysses S. Grant historical site. It was closed. Also along the path were a combination of driving ranges, golf courses, and sporadic cemeteries. My biking partners this morning were Maceo and Sean. Five minutes after our first stop, Sean got a flat and Anna (the driver) went back to rescue him. Maceo and I found a sunflower garden and stopped for a photo-shoot!
Today was my first day back since visiting my brother in Boston. As a result, my body has to adjust back to the intense bike workouts. This morning I was sweating a lot, and the humidity did not help. I knew I had to stay hydrated, so I drank plenty of water. But after 60 miles, I felt dizzy and dehydrated. I feel I made the smart decision, and got in the car for the final 20 miles. One of our stops was at the St. Genevieve Café, where we got a nutritious blackberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious! We finally got to Perryville, Missouri where we are staying at a warmshowers with our host- Fraser. For dinner we had pasta, veggies, and meatballs; a great meal cooked by Cole. Cole and I tagged along with Fraser to walk his dog, “Nox”, at the dog park. When we returned, we made s’mores and told bike stories around the fire. Tomorrow is a teaching day; I’m excited for that!
-Travis
View of a hill we had to climb
Travis with sunflowers
Maceo with sunflowers
Love got us through the humidity