This day was possibly the most frustrating cycling day I've ever had. Here we are, four enthusiasts, chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle after a day off, and what do we get? Thunderstorms.
We drive back up I-35 to get back on our map's route, and we sit. And wait. And get some coffee at the convenience store. And wander through the fireworks tent next door (I was always drawn to the ones that promise giant flaming balls!). And wait. There was just enough lightning to make us leery, but not enough rain to drive us into the car to wait it out.
So we decide to drive on to Lawson, Missouri, hoping that as we moved east and the storm moved northeast our trajectories would diverge. Sadly, it was not to be. We hung out in the town park, in a pavilion, and then as we thought the storm passed we headed into a local cafe for a morale-boosting mid-morning snack. Sadly, we left the cafe in as much rain as we entered it ...
We drove a bit further along the route, and the weather cleared up sufficiently that we thought it was worth trying for a bit of a ride. I'm pretty risk averse about lightning, so I offered to drive. The guys got in 5 miles of riding, but the lightning line ahead of us was still too close and too threatening to make riding safe.
So we packed it in and headed to get some lunch in Lexington, which has a lot of importance in American history. Situated on the Missouri River bluffs, it lies on the Lewis & Clark Trail. It's also the site of a 3-day battle in the Civil War, and was the location of Russell, Majors & Waddell. RMW were the main outfitters for people heading west on the Santa Fe Trail, and they later founded the Pony Express. We didn't go check any of them out, but there are several points along the Santa Fe Trail through Missouri where you can still see the wagon ruts from the trains of Conestoga wagons heading west. Here's a snap of me with Matt and Al in front of the Lexington Pony Express memorial plaque:
After lunch we headed out in hopes of finding clear weather for afternoon riding. No such luck. More rain, and enough thunder to make us all uncomfortable at the thought of riding. Truly exasperating, to be raring to go but to have this yes-no-maybe back-and-forth with the weather.
So we head to our terminus for the day, Marshall, Missouri. We ran into some bad mojo at the Super 8 Motel where we had a reservation; the owner would not let us bring our bikes into our rooms. This is the first bad mojo we've encountered in the entire tour; everyone else has been welcoming and curious about our trip. So we left, walked our bikes across the street in a driving rain to the Comfort Inn, where they welcomed our business enthusiastically (and gave us cleaning towels to dry off our bikes).
After a utilitarian but uninspiring dinner at Applebee's, we topped off our frustrating day with a wee dram of Highland Park and a good night's sleep, to ready ourselves for Thursday's ride.
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