200K Brevet in Liberty MO

John and I went up to Liberty for the 200K brevet on Saturday, April 5. We left at 1:00PM on Friday to scout out a new permanent route from Strafford to Humansville. The original route I mapped out had some gravel roads west of Buffalo, but after driving around the area, we found a paved route.

We were at the Perkins Restaurant, the start of the brevet, at 6:00AM. John ordered a big breakfast, but did not finish it because he was feeling queasy. I gave him a couple of antacids to try to calm it down.

There were 28 cyclists when Bob Burns, the RBA, sent us off at 7:00AM. There were more cyclists than I expected to see following a PBP year, but the weather was predicted to be nice (high around 65 degrees and sunny) except for a stiff south wind later in the day.

The route is hilly with 8,580 feet of climb (profile) and meanders around generally north and west of Liberty (map). Shortly after the start, John dropped behind the group and I slowed so he could catch me. He had dropped his chain and said he was doing okay and not to wait for him. That was the last I saw him until after the ride.

As we climbed to the northeast towards Prathersville, I connected with three other riders: Jack, Eric and Brian, who I rode with off and on most of the day. The ride was generally uneventful until I turned south on B Highway just outside Ridgely rather than heading straight west on E Highway. Eric was with me, and we ended up riding an extra 5 miles, about half on gravel roads. Jack and Brian were behind us when we left the route and were surprised when we later pulled into the halfway control at Platte City.

The first part of the return ride went well because we were generally heading north and east. We turned into the wind for the last 25 miles from Plattsburg back to Liberty. It took almost 2.5 hours to complete that last leg. I am not sure how strong the wind was blowing, but the Perkins' flag was straight out when I returned. The ride took about 10 hours and 20 minutes, 40 minutes less than last year even though I rode 5 more miles.

Meanwhile, John's stomach had gotten worse, and he heaved his breakfast on the front of his bike. He had to abandon the ride about 9:30AM and checked into a motel in Kearney, the hometown of Jesse James. He was only about 10 miles from the start as the crow flies, but since I had the truck keys, he did not have anyplace to go. He tried to call my cellphone to let me know his situation, but my phone was off. I called my wife after I returned, and she called back about an hour later after John called her. For some reason, John's voice mail message was not registering. I drove up to Kearney to get him, and we dropped his brevet card back at the Perkins before heading back to Springfield.