Hello (again) Missouri, my 7th US state on this trip.
What a crazy hot day. It seems the humidity has gone up a few notches and riding is now becoming very sticky and even harder work. The temperature at the days peak hovered around the mid 30's or 90's.
I left Leavenworth and my fantastic hosts just before 8am.
The riding was fairly suburban with commuter traffic to begin with but nothing too heavy.
I had hoped to do a 97 mile day but I came through Camden on 64.15 miles and decided to throw in the towel. I spotted a motel with a very cool looking pool and couldn't help myself.
The rolling hills have continued way into Missouri.
I can confirm it is a myth that Kansas is a flat state. Western Kansas was flat as a pancake but Eastern was relentless ups and downs.
I again climbed over 4,000 ft today which is amazing considering my maximum and minimum elevations were only 300 ft apart.
I passed another cyclist (not a tourer) who described the local hills as a chess game. It's a tactical approach knowing which ones to attack and which to roll up slowly.
I think I'm losing this match because my knees are aching more than they have for several weeks. I'm going for it on too many climbs!!
This same cyclist also tried to give me everything he had. His food, his water, his spare tubes etcetc
I tried to let the wind dictate my route today. It started by heading north and so did I. As the day grew older we both switched direction and headed slightly more easterly.
Unfortunately this method of choosing a route can lead you onto some pretty poor roads, or 'unimproved roads' or f@*%ng s^*t roads.
I ended up riding on basically dirt tracks for a while. Whilst out in the middle of nowhere on a dirt track I started to hear gun fire and proceeded to pedal faster. I think it was just a shooting range but I had to remain hopeful they didn't mistake my helmet for a ..... thing they would want to shoot. All was fine though.
I leave Kansas with good memories of many, many people I met when off the bike. A friendly State.
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