I'm now in Alton, MO and am starting to hear the familiar twang of of the "South" when speaking with folks (like at the Grandma's Kitchen cafe). I had to change my route since the shoulder along Rt. 60 was so torn up and rocky due to construction that I headed south along a back road and am now in a much more rural area. Also, I've been riding through the Ozark mountains for the past couple of days. Whereas other mountain ranges I've been through (the Cascades, Rockies, etc.) have had some long climbs up to very high elevation, the Ozarks seem to be more a series of rolling, and sometimes steep, hills. As you can see in the first picture the road rises and dips every quarter mile or so leading to lots of hill climbing but also some fun downhill coasting. In some cases, if I play it just right, I can pick up enough speed on the downhills to almost get me up to the crest of the next uphill! Still, it's been rather difficult handling all of these ups and downs so soon after getting back on the bike. In fact, the outer part of my right knee has been hurting and also my left Achilles tendon has started acting up. So, since the next town is 40 miles away, I only rode about 30 miles today and will try to take it easy tomorrow as well. Lots of Advil helps too! I hope to get back onto my planned route within the next 2 or 3 days and then head south through Tennessee. Thanks again for all of your supportive comments! They are especially welcome right now when I'm facing a number of challenges.
Total mileage so far: 2,588
Please consider making a small donation to help cancer survivors (sadly, my mom was not one of them) http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2008/steveonhisbike
2 comments:
Steven:
Glad to see you're up and moving again. Sure hope it won't be too taxing to get to Sarasota. Ralph and I can't wait to see you. We'll be in Alexandria at the end of September, but only for two days:9/29 and 9/30. B & S will be in NY right before that (9/24-9/28). In mid October, Ralph and I will again be in D.C. 10/15-10/17. Sure do hope you'll miss all those dates when you get to FL. We are REALLY looking forward to seeing you and having you relax!
Love You,
Aunt Helen
Hi Steve,
I see that all is well with you.
Since we met in Berlin a lot of things changed. I lost my job end of June and I am now in search for a new opportunity. While cleaning up I found again your email and website. I have been reading thru parts of your trip. Very impressive and it must have been a great experience so far.
I wish you all the best and will read again the next coming weeks.
Best regards,
Patrick Van de Vorst
Post a Comment