Riding the Mother Road

I took off from work on Friday so I could ride the Munger Moss Route 66 200K permanent with John Dilsaver. This was the first time the permanent had been ridden. The route follows old Route 66 from Strafford, MO, east to the Oasis Truck Stop near Richland, MO. It was a great day to ride. The skies were clear, there was little wind and the maximum temperature was only 79 degrees. We took our time along the route and stopped often to take pictures. There are still a number of landmarks from the halcyon days of Route 66. The Munger Moss Motel, in Lebanon, is still in operation. I had hoped to have lunch at Wrink's Market on the return, but it is closed "until further notice". Wrink's was a fixture on the Road since June 10, 1950, when it opened. It closed March 16, 2005, when longtime operator, Glenn Wrinkle, died. Terry Wrinkle, Glenn's son, re-opened the store in July 2007, but apparently was not able to make a go of it.

For the most part, there was not much traffic along the route except on the return in Lebanon and on CC highway between Conway and Marshfield. I was concerned about the route through Lebanon because the road is being expanded to 4 lanes. There was no construction on Friday, but there are still a couple of 2-lane sections were we backed up traffic. There were quite a few trucks westbound on CC, which may have been an indication of traffic problems on I-44. As expected in the Ozarks, we were also chased by a couple of dogs.

On the ride out, we talked to a couple of old timers at Hannah's General Store, which is the control in Conway. They were back there for lunch when we stopped again, and they would not believe we had ridden to Richland and back so quickly until I showed them the receipt from the Oasis Truck Stop.

Tom Barnett loaned me his altimeter for the ride, and the total amount of climbing was 6,920 feet. The climb was about 3,190 feet outbound and 3,730 feet inbound. Most of the route is rolling hills, but there a few good hills westbound into Lebanon, Marshfield and Northview. I really enjoyed the route because of the scenery and the variation of small town and rural riding.

John in front of the route's namesake



















Me coming off the Gasconade River bridge
(a triple truss)














Home-made pie and fried chicken are long gone














Wrink's is closed again














Upper reaches of the Niangua River














John climbing the Northview hill on OO Highway,
the last climb of the day