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

Winter Riding in October

It is already getting too cold for most cyclists to ride in this area. Doug, Rae, Tom, Neil and I headed out this morning at 7:30AM for pancakes at the VFW in Strafford. The temperature was about 40 degrees, and it had rained during the night, so the roads were wet. It looked like the sun was going to breakout on the way to Strafford, but more clouds moved in while we were eating breakfast. As usual, the vets bent over backwards to make sure we got enough pancakes, juice and coffee. We left the VFW just after 9:00AM for Fair Grove, We were going to turn back towards Springfield short of Fair Grove, but we missed the turn and headed on into town rather than backtrack. We had a tailwind on the way back to Springfield, so we made good time. The County paved several of the farm roads this past summer, making for a smooth ride. The sun never came out, but then it never rained either. Hopefully, we will see a warming trend soon. John and I still have a 200K permanent to ride this month.

Kum & Go in Fair Grove

To Err is Humansville 205K

John Dilsaver and I rode this permanent on Saturday. It is the toughest local permanent with 8,930 feet of climb. Fortunately, we picked a great day to ride. It was mostly overcast with no wind. We managed to avoid the rain that was predicted. It was a pretty unremarkable ride. We were chased by a few dogs and saw historic buildings; Texas longhorns; mules; great blue herons as we crossed Pomme de Terre Lake; a bevy of quail in the road and lots of goldfinches feeding along the road. As we were pulling into Humansville on Business MO Highway 13, a couple of ambulances came screaming the other way. When we got into town, we saw a van that had slammed into a telephone pole. We heard later at Nana's Country Cafe that the driver was a local and had a heart attack. Nana's was decorated with a John Deer theme.

John at the 6:00AM start














Control in Buffalo














We saw mules














Lunch stop in Humansville














We saw Texas longhorns, but they stampeded
away when they saw the camera














Log one-room schoolhouse just north of
Fair Grove in Dallas County














Log cabin next to the school house














W.C. Potter House (circa 1888) north of
Fair Grove on FR 221

Flint Hills 225K Permanent

John Dilsaver and I drove out to Council Grove, KS, on Friday to ride the permanent on Saturday with Spencer Klaassen, Kent Fulton, Jack Romans, Arlys Minear and Brian Bettis from the KC area. The route is an out-and-back to El Dorado primarily on KS Highway 177. We met up with everyone, except Kent, a little after 8PM at the Corp of Engineers campground along the lake north of town. It took a while to get to sleep with the bright moon shining down and the occasional vehicle roaring down the highway about 1/4-mile to the east. I was concerned about mosquitoes because we were right on the lake and they have been so bad in Springfield, but they were not a problem.

We were up by 5AM and headed into town to the start at the Short Stop c-store. Kent arrived shortly after we got there, and we were soon off into the dark.

The route took us through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve just north of Cottonwood Falls. There was a large stone house and barn that now serve as the visitor center. On the way back, we saw quite a few visitors.

With a slight tailwind, we made good time and arrived at the control in El Dorado at about 10:30AM. The only delay along the way was when Spencer had a blow out in Cassoday and had to replace his tube and tire. Most of the group bought lunch at a Dillon's grocery store in El Dorado, while I went across the street to Taco Bell and John started back straight from the control because he did not want to tighten up during lunch.

The ride back took a little longer. The headwind picked up to 12 miles per hour with gusts to 20. We rode in a pace line, but I started to slow down, which I typically do after lunch. My rear tire also began to go flat just south of Cassoday (a popular place for tire problems). I pumped it up a bit and eased into town. The tire was in pretty bad shape. The thread was thin, and there was a groove down to the casing along one side as if something had rubbed against it. Fortunately, Brian had a spare tire to replace it, and we were back on our way. I was riding better with a fully-inflated tire, but I began to feel extremely sleepy after we left Cottonwood Falls. This is a re-occurring problem that I have not been able to solve. We got a little strung out towards the end, and I rode into the Council Grove control with Brian and Arlys about 5:30PM. We had a good dinner with the group at the Hays House restaurant before driving back to Springfield.

Overall it was a great ride. We got to see some different scenery and ride with a great group of randonneurs who worked together to make the ride successful.

Getting ready to ride














Heading out of town in the dark














One of 3 Rivendells on the ride














Stone one-room school house














Stone barn at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve














Cottonwood Falls














Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls



















Me, John and Arlys taken by Spencer














Lunch outside the Dillon's in El Dorado














Pace line against the wind on the return

The Pie is the Prize

On Saturday, John Dilsaver and I were back out on the Mother Road (Route 66) riding west to Golden City for pie at Cooky's. Actually, only about 11 miles of the Route 66 & Cooky's Pie 206K permanent are on old Route 66. We headed out about 5AM with a slight south wind. Since I set up the route in 2007, Springfield built a new airport terminal and the route goes right by the entrance at a new roundabout. I was concerned about the amount of airport traffic we might encounter, but there was no problem that early in the morning, and the afternoon traffic was not bad either.

We were not really pushing the pace, and we made it to the first control in Miller (37.5 miles, 1,910 feet of total climb) just before 8AM. With the wind at our back most of the way, we reached Golden City (64.4 miles, 2,820 feet of total climb) just before 10AM, and Cooky's was still serving breakfast. Cooky's is a popular stop for riders on the Trans-American bike route, but the 10 or so riders eating breakfast this time were all from Mt. Vernon, about 35 miles southeast of Golden City.

We left Cooky's about 11AM. The south wind had picked up (23 mph with gusts to 28 mph), and it seemed a lot warmer. The wind hammered us on the south legs back to Miller (5,520 feet of total climb). The same clerk who had validated our permanent cards was still there. She told John that the Mt. Vernon group had come through earlier, but they did not have cards. We wondered if she had asked for their cards, and we invented stories we should have told her like: only card-carrying cyclists are real cyclists; or that we were on release for good behavior from the Green County jail, but the ankle bracelets did not transmit that far, so we needed to document where we had been.

The route is pretty much east-west after Miller, but we were both pretty tired from fighting the headwinds. Fortunately, we had good cloud cover from M Highway (98 miles) on into Springfield, so the temperature did not continue to climb. At about M Highway, I also began to get extremely sleepy. I finally stopped to take a caffeine pill, which began to kick in about the time we stopped at a church in Elwood (9 miles from the finish) to fill our water bottles. We made it back into Springfield shortly after 5PM (5,250 feet of total climb). John and I were both surprised there is that much climbing in comparison to the Munger Moss Route 66 200K we rode July 31, but there are some good hills on the east half of this route.

Golden City














John's half-eaten blueberry pie














My Dutch apple pie














New Roundabout at the Springfield Regional Airport entrance

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

June & July Ride Roundup

Rode a lot of miles in June and went on vacation for 2 weeks in July, so I had little time to work on the Blog.

Nixa St. John's Clinic Ride on June 6

Tom and I rode the 70-mile route out to Aurora and back. It was a pretty challenging ride. Fortunately, we had a tailwind for the big hills on the way back. The ride was free and the support was great!

Tom Leaving a Rest Stop














Edwardsville, IL, 600K on June 13
I went up to Edwardsville with Judy, and we stayed at a motel close enough to the start so I could ride over while she slept in. The ride went pretty well until after we left Belle Rive. I became extremely sleepy and began taking some caffeine pills to stay awake. I was riding with John Jost, Dennis Smith and Scott Thompson, but I could not keep up with them as we left Thompsonville. I caught up with them just as they were about to leave Creal Springs. They waited while I bought a bottle of chocolate milk. We rode six miles of big hills to the bike path that would take us to Vienna. It was almost dark as we started down the bike path, and it seemed like it took forever to ride the 15 miles of gravel trail sprinkled with twigs. I stopped a couple of times to get a drink because it was too difficult to try to drink while riding. I was exhausted when I pulled into the motel about 10:00PM, and went to bed after a shower and part of a salad from MacDonald's. Unfortunately, I had stopped taking electrolyte tablets on the trail, and I woke up with severe cramps. I took a couple tablets and went back to sleep. When the alarm went off at 2:00AM, I turned it off and laid there with the intent of getting up, but I went back to sleep. Judy woke me up again at 2:30AM, and I went down to the motel lobby, where John, Dennis and Scott were ready to go. I told them, I just didn't have it in me to go on, and I went back to bed. I think the problem was that I had not gotten enough sleep going into the ride. For a variety of reasons, I only got about 5-6 hours of sleep the three nights before the ride.

John Jost giving instructions at the 4:00AM start














Dennis Smith and John outside Breese














Dennis and me on the Loafers Bench near Bluford














Scott Thompson, Dennis and John at Wilkey's Cafe in Belle Rive














Edwardsville, IL, 600K on June 27
I went back up to Edwardsville to try the 600K again. I made sure I had plenty of rest, but no other riders showed up because of the predicted high temperatures, so I just rode a 106 miles with John Jost, the RBA, and headed home. I tried using Sustained Energy to keep me going and it was working pretty well until about the last 30 miles when I began to feel bloated. I ate a sandwich when we stopped in New Baden, so that may have contributed. I have tried Spiz and Perpetuem in the past, and I always became sick to my stomach after a few bottles. I am going to try a lower concentration of Sustained Energy, and if that does not work, go back to solid food and chocolate milk, which worked well for the 210 miles of the earlier 600K I rode.

I spent Friday night at The Innkeeper Motel in
Hamlin, IL, and even the motel had a garden.














MS Pancake Ride on July 25
Tom and I rode the 52-mile route. I rode 12 miles to the start in Battlefield. It looked like a rain cell was moving in, so Tom and I left about 15 minutes before the ride was suppose to start. It started raining, with some lightning, shortly after we left, and we were some of the first riders to arrive at the pancake breakfast in Republic (10 miles). One of the staff told us that they had held up the riders at the start because of the weather and told the riders they could drive to the breakfast if they preferred. We continued on as more people started showing up in cars and on bikes. It pretty much stopped raining after the third rest stop, and we saw very few riders along the route. It appears most riders either did not ride or they rode the 30-mile route. We made it back to Battlefield about 10:30AM. I got a free massage and chiropractic adjustment, before riding the 12 miles home. Unfortunately, it started raining again couple miles from the house.