Day 39, Marshville to Ash Grove.

This dog followed Lisa and I for the longest of time. I finally out ran him and left Lisa to deal with it.

Horses are cool, I really like them a lot. Missouri and Kentucky has tons and tons of horses.

This is Marylin with Lisa, she stopped to talk story with us while we camped at the park.

The park was located right next to a cemetery. We slept not 20 yards from these graves.

Lisa and her new friend at the swimming pool at the park.

Some of the roads were flat, and some of them weren't.

Every town has one of these. The bigger towns have bigger ones. They hold water. So you can tell when a town is coming up when you see one of these.

Tiny farms are numerous along side the roads. This one was typical of what we saw.

That dog that was giving us so much trouble decided to kiss my camera lens as soon as I decided to take his picture.


Day 39, Friday, June 19, 2009. Marshville to Ash Grove, Missouri. “Hell In The Sun”. 49.26 miles.

We’ve been on the road for almost 40 days. And now that the Summer is fast approaching, I feel the effects of the heat. I never realized how devastating the heat can be when you aren’t prepared. I can train for the hills, I can train for long distances. I can even train for long hours in the saddle. But the heat, along with the high humidity is something I did not expect to be a major problem. Well, guess what? It is! Today was a perfect example of what can and will happen when dehydration starts to set in, and you can not replenish your fluids fast enough. I perspired more today than I think I’ve done in my entire life in such a short period. I could not drink enough water to replace what I lost, and I wasn’t even thinking about my electrolytes. After about 40 miles into the ride, I began experiencing muscle contractions, and a slight case of the cramps. It was my worse day so far. The heat felt like a blast furnace, and the hills were like mountains. No fun to say the least. I recall at dinner later on in the evening, that I couldn’t let go of my fork. I had to use my other hand to remove it., and when ever I positioned my legs a certain way, I could feel it starting to cramp up. We were in this Chinese Restaurant at the time called “The Golden Dragon” I didn’t think much of it at the time, I was just curious as to how a Chinese Restaurant made it’s way all the way to the middle of no where, And! How the food was going to taste. Let me tell you. A Mandarin combo plate for $4.99 is hard to beat. Especially if it is on par or better than any thing I’ve had anywhere. If you’re ever in Ash Grove. Don’t forget. “The Golden Dragon”.
Today we met Mike again, the west bounder we met earlier yesterday. He and his friends spent the night a few miles after Marshville. Due to miss communication, they had to ride another 7 miles after 8:30 in the evening to get to their destination. We never saw his buddies, but had a chance to talk story with Mike, and found out he just graduated from collage, and was looking to specialize if self sufficient living. You know, all that ecco stuff. I’m glad there are those like Mike trying to do something about our environment.
Shortly out of town, we passed a small ranch with a herd of cattle grazing next to the road. A dog emerged from the herd of cattle. I though it was a pit bull cause he stood there staring at us as we rode by. A couple of seconds latter, here comes this dog, running along side us. A puppy, maybe 8 or 9 months old. He was just so happy to be with us, that we couldn’t get um to go home. He must have followed us a good mile and a half, before I told Lisa that the only way we were going to loose him, was to out run him. With that, I took off. The dog kept up with me for at least a quarter mile, maybe more. But I was able to lose him on a long down hill section. It felt good going fast, so I kept going. I ended up missing a turn, and went about a mile in the wrong direction before looking at my GPS for our route. I had to go back.
I finally caught up with Lisa at a gas station in Ash Grove. This place only has about 4 or 5 hundred people. So everyone was really friendly. They all knew we were going to camp at the city park, and gave us directions. Officer Davis, a local police even stopped to make sure we were doing okay, and came back later on to check up on us. He told me that one day he would like to do what we are doing. It seems that just about everyone we meet, has an interest in perusing some kind of challenging goal in life, and look at us as fulfilling ours. Which is true. I’ve wanted to do this for quite sometime now, and after today, have serious doubts as to weather or not it was a good idea. Anyway please keep praying for us, we appreciate all your help……………….. Later in the evening, we had the chance to meet Marylin, a wheel chair bound elderly lady living near the park who was taking her dog out for a ride. She shared with us interesting things about the area, and really seemed to enjoy our company. She seemed very concerned for you comfort and well being. Thanks Marylin.
We also met Bret, an east bounder starting from Washington, who was on his was to Virginia. We shared a pavilion together for the evening. Bret was a bike mechanic, and a very friendly and interesting person to talk to. ……………… Just abut 7 o’clock, Brittney and George showed up. Two east bounders who had started from Pueblo, Colorado. They had just crossed Kansas, and we exchanged stories about the route ahead. It seemed that they had better news for us, than we had for them. Dinner at the Golden Dragon was the high light of our evening. A great meal at a great price in the middle of no where is always a good deal.
Good night, hope tomorrow will be better., Ted.