Day Nineteen (60.5 miles, 761.1 total): Let It Rain

I'm tossing around in my sleeping bag like a rag doll. It's to hot, to cold, arm falls asleep, I can't get comfortable. Ella is stretched out completely asleep on her blanket next to me. Even my tossing didn't wake her up. I check my watch; 5:15AM. Everyone is still asleep in the dark little motel room. I stare at the ceiling until the sun peeking under the shades start to wake the others. Ella yawns and rolls across the floor. She looks at me and tilts her head. Before she becomes a spaz, I take her outside to run around. She happily jumps through the grass until shes ready to come in.

Packing is a little slow this morning while we make breakfast in the room. Bill, Bob, Celia, and I, get our gear on the bikes and roll out. Clouds linger above our heads as we cruise out of Summersville. We have pretty good shade cover among the trees while we pedal up the winding roads. We pass an Amish family riding in a horse and buggy. Rolling hills meander through the woods of the Missouri Ozarks with the occasional house popping up in the treeline. Climbing on, we reach Houston in Texas county around lunch time. Why is there a county named Texas in Missouri??

After we stop at a gas station to pick up Gatorade and water, we head on over to Hardees for some lunch. Full of food and energy we kick back into gear and pedal on up the road. Hill climbs start right after lunch. The cloud cover leaves sporadically and humidity clogs the air. The climbs are short but steep and each one saps the energy right out of you. When we get to the top of each one, success fills us with energy and we bomb down the other side. At the top of the hill, you can feel the excitement build just before you jam the pedals down and fly over the asphalt. The exhilaration of speed is a breath of fresh air against the humid afternoon. The hills turn into long slopes and the shoulder of the road quickly disappears. Drivers fly by us, obviously displeased we are on their road. Some honk their horns, some smoke us, and some drove close enough to force us on the rumble strip. One particular red truck was pretty aggressive and Bill was as mad as a hornet. I would have really liked to see Bill get his hands on that driver and throttle him a bit. Some of these drivers need to really be taught a lesson. Karma will get them back eventually.

We travel on, pressing through the heat of the afternoon. At an intersection down the road, we run into Mark again. Once we are all caught up, we leave as a group down the road. Before long, Bob and Bill are gaining speed and taking off ahead. I Fly after them, but the headwinds slow me down on the hills. Every time I try to catch up, the wind pulls me back! We zip down the roadway, racing to the finish line. Finally at the top of a massive hill, I catch up to Bob and Bill taking a rest in the shade. A few minutes later, Celia shows up followed by Mark. We take off for the final stretch to Hartville.

Before long, we arrive at the Hartville grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Celia had her chain slip in the parking lot, so Mark and Bob helped her fix it real quick. Finally, we made it to the park where we were spending the night. Celia wanted to go swimming, so she went off to jump in the pond. A little while later while we were sitting around, the storm finally caught up. The rain came down like a sheet. Walls of water surrounded the pavilion we were sitting under. A stray dog ran under the pavilion and hung out with us. Ella wasn't to pleased and quickly asserted she was Alpha here. The little furry puff ball put the big stray dog in place! Once it realized Ella was in charge and we weren't going to give it more food, the stray finally left.

It is starting to get dark and I still need to pitch my tent, so I'm signing off for the evening! We hope you are enjoying our adventures and keep following us as we speed our way across the US!