Today’s Date: July 4, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Pittsburg, Kansas

Today’s End Point: Ash Grove, Missouri

Today’s Miles: 73.27 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 2,801.21 Miles

Happy Fourth of July everyone. I hope everyone is having some good barbecue!

Another forecast for rain all day, which means it didn’t rain. It had rained during the night, but there was not much rain on the road. This would be another day of no resupply stops, I needed to pack everything out.

For today, I was going to ride east and exit Kansas after about ten miles. When planning for this trip, I knew there would be adventurous parts and challenging parts. Kansas was a challenging part-strong headwinds, incredible heat and monotonous scenery. I am glad it is behind me but the next couple of weeks look to be physically challenging so I think it is going to be tough all the way to Richmond.

After leaving Kansas, I stopped to have a snack. As I was eating, the first eastward rider came up to me. His name is Daniel and he was from Switzerland. His route started in San Francisco and then he picked up my route in Pueblo, Colorado. In a few miles, he was going to take Route 66 up to St Louis and then end up in Philadelphia. He was 65 years old and had last visited the States about 40 years ago.

For the next ten miles we rode side by side and talked. We compared notes on Kansas (our views were in alignment) and talked of our experiences on the road. He had been paced by the same two dogs as I had from a couple of days ago. About three years ago Daniel rode from his home outside Zurich to the most northerly part of Norway. With the temperature in the mid-90s today, northern Norway sounded pretty good.

It was nice to ride with someone for a change, I hadn’t had the opportunity since riding with Brad in Colorado. Our conversation was easy and fun, and the ten miles went by quickly. Unfortunately, at the end of the ten miles our paths diverged and we had to say goodbye. I think both of us would have liked to ride together longer, but the ride awaits.

The route in Missouri is described as a manually powered roller coaster. In the mountains out west, the climbs were longer than the hills climbs in Missouri, but Missouri climbs are much more steep.

As the day wore on, the sun came out and the temperature spiked to 93 degrees with a “feels like” temperature of 105 degrees. The combination of the external temperature and the heat I generated internally from climbing started to get the best of me. On one hill I had to get off and walk the bike up because of the heat. I still had twelve miles to go so I was getting worried.

I took a long break in some shade, though with the humidity the shade only provides so much relief. I began to take breaks every half-mile, looking for any shade I could find. When I got to about four miles outside of Ash Grove I saw the most beautiful sight, a Dollar Store in the middle of nowhere. It was open on the Fourth and had air conditioning. I walked into the store and bought some Gatorade and Snicker Ice Cream bars. I was pretty toasted.

After taking my time in the store and eating my wonderful cold purchases, I hopped back on my bike to finish up in Ash Grove, Missouri. Unfortunately I am in a no indoor lodging zone so I am camping out. My campground is at the Nathan and Olive Boone Homestead State Historic Site, they have a couple of cyclist only campsites.

The temperature was still stifling when I arrive at 2:00 pm at the Site. They have a pavilion with picnic table and down a pathway are the campsites (far from the restrooms). Other than a couple of Site employees, there is no one else here.

I laid out my gear to dry and hunkered down under the pavilion. While I was sitting there, Wendy, the park manager, came up to introduce herself and tell me about the Boone Homestead and Nathan Boone. Nathan Boone was the youngest son of Daniel Boone. He was a veteran of the war if 1812, a delegate to the Missouri constitutional convention in 1820, and a captain in the 1st United States Regiment of Dragoons at the time of its founding, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His cabin has been preserved at the site along with two cemeteries, one for whites and one for slaves. The Site sits on about 400 acres and has nature trails throughout.

We talked for quite some time, about our families and her transition from living in St Louis to a much smaller town. She wanted me about tics, which are prevalent at the site-cool. They close up the park at 4:00 pm and before she left she brought me some cold water and some frozen push-ups.

It was too hot to set up my tent, so I waited until 8:00 pm. It is supposed to rain tonight so I ended up setting up my tent on the cement under the pavilion. I don’t think I will get much sleep tonight but tomorrow is only a 45 mile ride with a Holiday Inn at the end of it. I need to get done before the heat picks up again.