Day 28: St Joseph to Chillicothe MO

Today was the first of two dreaded rides of 'super-rollers' in MO. I've heard from previous riders that today and tomorrow were two days of mentally bruising terrain of rolling terrain as I described in a previous post. Its hard to describe why this 87 mile ride with 3500 feet of climbing is so difficult but I'll throw in a couple of pictures that may help. In essence, this terrain gives you glimpses 3-5 miles ahead that contain climbs that just seem to kick you in the teeth with hard work and nothing to show for it but another look ahead at yet another set of similar hills.

Here is a view that shows three rollers ahead. Not too difficult physically but tough to face as you get tired.

If you look carefully you can see that this is a climbing set of 7 rollers.....

Anyway, the people of MO do have a sense of humor. I passed one ranch but failed to get a picture. The decorative arch that announced their farm said 'Rancho de Bankrupto'

Here is one roadside establishment with a bit of beckoning charm.

Jeff and Roberta are making the tour on a tandem!!! Today's climbs are really tough on them but WOW do they fly on the downhills.

This following picture certainly won't do justice to my reaction, but upon cresting a rather tall hill the view of this expansive openness was breathtaking. Wish you could have seen it with me.

And this inscription on a local memorial spoke to me on the tour...... sounds a bit like the Beatitudes, one of my favorite passages from Scripture.

As we approached Chillicothe, we crossed the Thompson River (Hi Dr. Dave from MO) and I stopped to watch and listen to a bunch of birds swooping around the bridge. I'm guessing they were feeding; or maybe just playing, but in any event it was fun to share the sights and sounds of their fun and games. I'll upload the video later so you can hear the birds but for now here is a still  shot.

Finally, at about the 72 mile point I got a look an yet another test.... this set of hills was a real challenge. The final pitch you see out there had a grade that showed as 13% on my Garmin!!! Ouch, that one hurt.

Oh no, not another climb :(

Anyway, that's it for this report. A quick nap, route rap meeting, dinner and then to bed for me. 80 miles to Kirksville MO tomorrow.

See ya

Tom

 Click here to see details of today's ride:
Day 28: St Joseph to Chillicothe MO by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details