Today’s Date: July 8, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Ellington, Missouri

Today’s End Point: Farmington, Missouri

Today’s Miles: 65.83 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 3,048.12 Miles

I have to admit that after yesterday, I did not really want to get out of bed. The weather report called for thunderstorms (caused by Hurricane Beryl) to move in at 11:00 am and a dry bed was very appealing. But get out of bed I did at 4:30 am, and after a magic meal of Pop-Tarts with a two bottle 5-hour energy drink chaser, I was ready to go.

The sky was partly cloudy and although humid, the temperature was relatively mild. My route would take me northeast to the city of Farmington, which seemed fitting since I grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The elevation gain for today was slightly more than yesterday, so I was a little concerned. I would hit most of the hills in the first 20 miles.

What a difference it is to climb the hills with fresh legs as opposed with my legs yesterday that already had 40 miles in them by the time I met the steeper hills. I handled the hills much better than yesterday, with no need to walk the bike. A couple of the hills had gradients up to 13 and 14 percent, but I was able to slowly grind up to the top.

Speaking of grinding, so far on this trip I have replaced my bike chain twice. Before I left this morning, I oiled my chain because I was hearing some grinding noise when I pedaled yesterday (for a while I thought it was my knees). When I rode today, I noticed the same grinding when I was in two of my gears; the gears I use most often. This leads me to believe that the cassette needs replacing. Skipping ahead on this issue, when I finished the ride today, I called a bike shop in Carbondale to see if they had a cassette that would work. I was told no, but they are ordering a cassette that should be there on Wednesday when I get there.

Getting back to the ride, the morning sun created some wonderful colors in the sky and I rolled on through the lush green hills. As with the last couple of days, I was rewarded with a cooling and fun descents after tough uphills climbs.

I wrote earlier when I was in Wyoming that I met a girl named Tasha who was going east to west on the TransAm route. She provided me with map coordinates of four spots where she had been attacked by dogs-three spots in eastern Kentucky and one spot in Missouri (she was actually bitten by one of the dogs in Missouri). I knew that I was going to go by the provided coordinates along Highway N in Missouri today. As I got closer, I stopped, got out and held my pepper spray in my hand while riding, and proceeded cautiously.

The coordinates coincided with the top of a climb (of course). Sure enough, as promised two dogs were barking excitedly as I approached the top of the hill. I should have, but did not, stop and get off my bike. Instead I tried to outrun them while spraying pepper spray at the lead dog. Big mistake in that I almost lost control of my bike twice and did not come anywhere near hitting either dog. Before I knew it, they were retreating back to their home, probably wondering how someone so drunk could stay upright on a bike.

My heart was racing but I felt good that I had run the gauntlet unscathed. I relaxed a little bit because this anticipated encounter had been on my mind the last couple of days.

A few miles after the dogs, I came across a group of riders who had set up a rest stop. They were riding cross country for MS, and they had support vehicles that would set up these stops along the way. The support vehicles would also carry their equipment. They were a nice group of people from all over the country, New York, Florida, Seattle, etc. It looked like a nice way to go. In the 20 minutes we talked, the storm clouds were moving in fast. I still had 25 miles to go so I was off.

Ten minutes after I left the MS group, I turned onto some very rural country roads. When I did so, the sky opened up and the rain came down in sheets. There was no thunder or lightening, so I kept going. It rained for about a half-hour, and after the last few days I would much rather have torrential rain than heat.

It was a circuitous route to get to Farmington, but I finally made it to the outskirts of town. Farmington has a population of 18,000 people, a much bigger town than I have been visiting (for instance, the population of Ellington,Missouri, where I stayed last night, is 790 people).

On my way to my lodging, I passed a DQ, so that handled lunch. I rode to the hotel through heavy suburban type traffic, much more than I have seen lately. I realize it is what I ride through back home in Elmhurst, but it’s amazing how out of practice I was.

I checked in at noon and I am glad I did because it has been raining intermittently since I arrived. After yesterday’s trying day, today was a relative breeze, even with the rain. Tomorrow has rain in the forecast but I am only going 45 miles. Best of all, tomorrow night I should be in Illinois.