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The Life's Too Short Tour
(Since completing the trek I've been working on a book about the journey to be published in 2011. )
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Days 55 and 56: Pushing for the Prairie
Houston, Missouri.
A downpour lingered over the area all day, and so I decided to forego any pedaling today, and took a room here to wait it out. Yesterday I pedaled through delightfully flatter terrain. The hills are getting smaller day by day. At one point I saw a stray dog with two pups, emaciated. I stopped and fed them two cans of tuna fish I had been carrying with me.
Midway into the day, a man pulled over in his car and accosted me for conversation, in a replay of many previous incidents just like it. He introduced himself as Jim, a bicyclist from Pennsylvania on vacation in the Ozarks. Just like with others before, it was a few minutes into the meeting that he opened up to me about his personal travails, and I assumed my default role in these situations as roadside counselor. He showed me two portfolios of photos he had taken, gave me a water bottle, and a supply of energy drink powder called Cyto-Max. I spent 45 minutes listening to Jim, who called himself a Christian and quoted a few verses during the exchange. I am puzzled as to why these interactions continue to happen, in ongoing fashion, all along this trek. The Cyto-Max, incidentally, which I mixed into my water, is designed to alleviate lactic acid buildup, a nemisis for me throughout the past 54 days on the road. I mixed some into my water, and drank it down, and was shocked to discover a new power in my legs, with minimized lactic acid pain over the hills. This stuff really seemed to work.
I pedaled to Houston quickly, and checked in with police before setting up my tent in the town park pavilion last night. At the camp I spent a few rich hours with two fellow Trans Am bicyclists, Tom and Paul. The east-bound duo are from Cincinatti, both around 60 years of age, have been on the road from Oregon an equal amount of time as me.
I found a connection with the older riders. There was a lot of laughter between us throughout the night and then when we breakfasted together. Paul, a retired police officer, was riding a recumbent bicycle, the first of which I have encountered on the tour. On a recumbent, the rider sits upright as if on a chair, with pedals out ahead. He towed a trailer with his recumbent for his cargo. Tom, a pipe-fitter and custom-home builder, rode a new Kona touring bike with matching a panniers and two American flags waving from the rear. After our camps were set up, we sat on picnic tables in the pavilion as darkness overtook. I shared with them, over maps of our routes, several short cuts and accomodation possibilities. Paul retired early, leaving Tom and I to spiral deep into conversation until after midnight, with moths orbiting about the pavilion lights and Tom puffing on thin cigars. We delved into esoterics late into the night.
Tom said he put two American flags on his bike to increase his visibility to motorists, and was surprised at the favorable reaction he been garnering from passersby ever since. "It's incredible how much more friendly people are since I put the flags on," he said.The next morning the three of us went to McDonalds for breakfast, and Tom stopped at a nearby Wal-Mart and bought two such flags for me to fly.I spent some time in a coffee shop in Houston, trying to blog. I was invited to stay at a church in town, but declined as it was four miles off-route and I was not up to the extra bicycling that evening.
Day 56: I awoke from the motel feeling fairly well-rested, packed up and loaded the 520, and am now in McDonalds where I am finishing up this post before heading out to Marshfield. The WiFi at the motel didn't work last night, another saga in the WiFi problems that seem to exist everywhere. McDonalds is the only place where I can rely on it. A typcial challenge in trying to think and write in McDonalds or in coffee shops, as I have stated here before, is the music that plays constantly in those places. Thankfully it is at a low volume in this particular McDonalds.Today I will pedal west from Houston, along route 17 to Bucyrus, then to route 38 through Fairview, Bendavis, Hartville, and finally to Marshfield. It represents about 65 miles. At Marshfield there is free camping in the city park.
The terrain is getting flatter, the roads straigther, looking more and more like prairie land. Eastbounders I meet, such as a group in the motel last night, deem this terrain "hilly," but their perspective is borne of the horizontal landscapes they've traversed through Colorado and Kansas. Westbounders like me have pushed for weeks through the vertically oriented Appalachains, which make these western Ozark hills seem downright flat. I look forward from here on out to easier riding, and corresonding high mileages, as the plains unfold before me.
until later...
5 comments:
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As you close in on the west, Jenny and your Mom continue to make plans for the journey east to meet you. Jenny is training for the trek on a daily basis. She most recently rode a tough 18 miles through trails and back roads in the Santa Cruz Mountains,a true test of endurance by anybody's standards and it only took an hour and a half. Jenny and Tom will ride and Moya (Tom's mom) will be needed relief in the escort vehicle with water, food and rest for the touring pair.I will stay home and take care of the houshold chores and OTTIS and OZZY, our wonderful cats.
The days are shortening, the hills mellowing, and west coast becoming more of a reality with every pedal stroke. Hope to see you soon.
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND A SAFE RIDE!!!
MIKE
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Hey Tom, keep up on pushing, your doing great.....almost to the finish line !!!! be safe..Andre, Linda, Jesse, Aj and Ashley
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Glad to know that the terrain that awaits you will be easier and more pleasant to ride. I think you are doing amazing even with all the hills and climbs.... and you are doing it with more than 30 pounds of weight strapped to your bike everyday!
I was touched by the fact that you feed those poor dogs.
I hope the weather will be conducive to biking tomorrow so you can continue onward. It will not be too long before you reach Santa Cruz. Enjoy every moment! :)
Lots of love.
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“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the difference between dog and man.”
- Mark Twain
Tom,
I'm glad you fed the starving dogs. Bet you wish you could have done more huh?
It's good news to hear the Cyto-Max helped the lactic acid pain (as long as it is safe). Do you think you will have as much trouble with the pain on the flat terrain? Just imagine what kind of mileage you can get in Kansas even including stops and pictures. I think Kansas will be a more peaceful and enjoyable ride. Hope so! Head west young man! Head west! Take care, I love you, Mom