Day 30: Welcome to Missouri!

Pittsburg, Kansas to Fair Grove, Missouri- Cyclist Camping at the Wommack Mill

Five miles into my ride, and I’m FINALLY out of Kansas – can’t say I’m sorry. It’s not even light out yet, but it’s already a hot, humid morning. Everything is wet. As I entered Missouri, I got a plane fly-over by a crop dusting plane and soon after that, an owl gave me a second fly-over! I even had a slight tailwind this morning and was (relatively) flying! So far Missouri’s looking pretty good!

I called some friends while riding to pass the time and apparently long-distance calls to Germany aren’t cheap. I thought I was on WiFi calling but an alert on my phone for a $64 international charge clued me in. Oh well. Thanks for the encouragement Flo! I ate lunch in the Ash Grove picnic area and felt refreshed with a good refueling. Back out on the road it got hot and hilly. I definitely hit the steepest hills of the trip today. Even more frustrating was that my route brought me to an unexpected obstacle. On road “BB” in the middle of nowhere, Missouri, I came up to a “Road Closed” sign. No explanation. Just “Road Closed.” I could still see cars coming my way, but didn’t know exactly what the closure was for. I put an emergency call into my Cape Cod support crew, and with a little research and digging into the Missouri DOT, we learned that a bridge (over a small river) was out. It was being rebuilt, and on the map, the river looked too substantial to wade across. We quickly came up with a reroute, and luckily, it only added about 6 miles to the trip, but it also added some crazy hills. I was standing up, on the lowest gear, pedaling with all my force and only going about 4 mph. Any steeper and I was afraid I’d tip over! I hit flying grasshoppers again today. When you hit them on a downhill going 40 mph it feels like getting hit by a bullet. Any experts in grasshopper ballistics out there?

I got to the Wommack Mill in Fair Grove around 3:00. The Historical Society allows bicyclists to camp on the Mill grounds for free. They even provide hot showers and electricity to charge your devices. Just as I arrived and was checking out the area I met Leon and Sherri, 2 members of the Historical Society Board. They welcomed me, gave me a tour of the Mill and invited me to their ice cream social on the Mill grounds later that night. I could not have planned a better night to stop here. The old-fashioned social included food, live music, a classic car show and even fireworks! I ate nachos, 2 pulled pork sandwiches, ice-cream, cherry pie, and peach pie. Clayton was a great chef and hooked me up with some amazing BBQ pork. Everything was delicious, and they refused to let me pay a cent. I enjoyed my food, listening to live music, and one of the performers covered “American Kids” by Kenny Chesney, one of my favorite songs! The night ended with the town fireworks. They let me store my bike in a rustic cabin on the Mill grounds, so I think that will be my home for tonight. Thank you to everyone in Fair Grove, Missouri. What a great stop! VIEW PHOTOS

Distance: 105.72(2226.59 total miles)
Time: 8:07:26
Ascent: 4964
Descent: 4708

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