Hound Dog 124K & Cooky's

I have been a little slack blogging. Tamara Mitchell, David Nelson and I rode the Hound Dog 124K permanent on November 27. This was the inaugural ride for this permanent populaire. It was a little chilly at the start, but sunny and little wind.

Good thing it was too cold for bugs to be out














Ozark riding lawn mower in Marionville (Photo by David Nelson)














Former service station in Billings














Everyone enjoying a ride














Back in Springfield (Photo by David Nelson's camera)














Dan Pfaff and I played hooky from work on Friday, December 10, to get in our 200K for the month. We were concerned about the cold weather moving in and when it would warm up again. On Saturday, winds were up to 29 mph with gusts to 44 mph. It snowed over night. Current temperature on Sunday morning is 16.9 degrees.

Tamara rode her 200K on Thursday. R-12 tally:
Tamara-10 months
Dan-6 months
Ralph-6 months

'Tis the season



















Sunset outside Springfield














First snow Saturday night

Another New Permanent Populaire

A new Permanent Populaire has been approved by RUSA. The Bolton's 115K starts and ends in Springfield with the turnaround at Bolton's General Store, north of Willard. There is an intermediate control in Fair Grove. The section between Fair Grove and Bolton's is on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. More details on my web site.

Two New Permanent Populaires

Two new Permanent Populaires have been approved for Southwest Missouri by RUSA. The Taillight 134K starts in Mt. Vernon with the turnaround in Joplin. There is an intermediate control in Sarcoxie. The Hound Dog 124K starts in Springfield with the turnaround in Aurora. There is no intermediate control. There is more information on the Southwest Missouri Randonneuring web site.

1950 Cyclocross Race

I think I will stick to randonneuring.

Marshfield Mash 112K

Yesterday, Dan and I christened this permanent. It was a great day to ride: sunny, cool and just a little wind out of the south. We saw alpacas and an elephant, as well as other animals, made from old horseshoes. The horseshoe animals were on KK at Turnbo Road. This puts me officially at 3,600K for the year and on track to ride 4,000K for the year with at least two more 200K rides to go.

Alpacas














Horseshoe elephant














Other horseshoe animals














Hard to see, but looks like a T Rex

Another Month, Another 200K Permanent

On Saturday, Tamara, Dan and I rode the old standby, Route 66 & Cooky's Pie, to Golden City. The route overlapped with the Springbike Fall Metric Century, and Dave Nelson took a photo of us as we passed him. It was a great Fall day to ride except for a good headwind out of the north.
R-12 tally:
Tamara-8 months
Dan-4 months
Ralph-4 months

Tamara, Ralph & Dan by Dave Nelson












Longhorns west of Miller













Golden City, MO














Wild flowers still in bloom in October

Precious Moments 202K

Last Saturday, I rode the Precious Moments 202K permanent with Tamara Mitchell and Dan Pfaff. This was the inaugural ride for Precious Moments. The weather was great with little wind and a high temperature of 76 degrees. There were plenty of hills and the usual Ozark dogs. There was very little traffic the entire route. While we had to get up early to drive to Carthage, it was worth it because the biggest hills are on the east end of the route. We were glad to get them out of the way before we were tired at the end of the ride. R-12 tally:
Tamara-7 months
Dan-3 months
Ralph-3 months

Carthage, MO, control














Leaving Carthage














More hills, F Hwy, Jasper County














Miller, MO, control














Willard, MO, control














Dade County, MM Hwy & FR 185














Crossing the Spring River into La Russell














La Russell, MO














Goss Cemetery, FR 1085, Lawrence County














Harvey Cemetery, E Hwy, Jasper County