To Err Again

John Dilsaver and I had planned to ride the Route 66 & Cooky's Pie Permanent on Saturday, but John was not feeling well. Mike and Nancy Myers were riding the To Err is Humansville Permanent, so I decided to ride with them with some apprehension. The Myers ride a recumbent tandem and I have not been riding much, so I was not sure I could keep up with them. We left Strafford at 7:00 AM with the temperature a chilly 34 degrees but no wind. We hit the first control in Buffalo just after 9:00 AM. The wind began to blow out of the southwest at 6-8 miles per hour, but we made good time to Humansville, getting to the control right at noon. The temperature had warmed to a toasty 60 degrees, and the wind picked up to about 14 miles per hour giving us a good push back to Buffalo. Unfortunately, it shifted out of the south as we were leaving Buffalo and I began to tire. The Myers built a lead on me, although they stopped once because they were unsure of a turn. They were soon ahead of me again and were topping the route's biggest and steepest hill on Farm Road 223 as I came off of MO 125. I pulled into the Travel America in Strafford at 5:45 PM, 15 minutes after the Myers. The constant hills helped me generally stay with the Myers because while they were faster on the flats and downhills, I was able to catch up on the climbs. My higher profile into the wind contributed to my slower pace on the last leg south out of Buffalo. I am glad I went because it preserves my string of 200K rides in pursuit of the RUSA R-12 award.

Nancy & Mike Myers