Day 28 - St Joseph, MO to Chillicothe, MO - 87 miles - 4,157 feet climbing - 5:30 hours in the saddle

As we rolled out of St Joseph, the birds were singing, the cricket chirping, the sun was shining….and the hills were rolling, over and over and over. They can in continuous waves, with the hills in the last 20 miles getting downright nasty!  While not long (usually .2 - .4 miles in length), the hills had significant grade for brief distances that exceeded 10%.  The highest I saw on my Wahoo was 11.8 percent, which is steep.

The wind turbines were prevalent around Maysville.  We made a couple of traditional Crossroads Cycling stops. The first was at the local school, where the 2nd and 3rd graders came out to meet us.  They asked a bunch of questions!  The second stop was at the DeKalb Co. Historical Society, where they graciously treated us to cinnamon rolls, bananas, PB&J and ice cold water.  And for at least one day a year, a Crossroad Cycling jersey is displayed in their museum!

Today was hot and and humid and the ride contained a lot of climbing.  So at mile 45, Crossroads provided “ice socks”. A tube sock is filled with ice and put inside your jersey between your shoulder blades.  It was a welcome relief.  Even after the ice melted, the wet sock provided a cooling effect.

We continue to see a lot of corn and wheat fields, but today was the first time I noticed soybeans. It is a soybean year this year on Ashbrook Farms in Illinois!  Can’t help but to include some farm pics since it is in my heritage plus it provides a sense of what we are riding through all day.

And a few random pics from the road….didn’t see any buggies today!

I am whooped tonight.  A good day of riding, but a tiring one because of the distance, heat, humidity and hills.  Riding through Chillicothe, I took a pic of the “Welcome” and “Claim to Fame” murals.  Got to the hotel at 2:30.  Quickly washed my kit, showered and went back to town for a beer and food at Shooter’s Taproom & Kitchen.  Tired and full, I came back to the hotel to write this blog and crawl into bed.

Tomorrow is a little shorter ride and supposedly less climbing…..but still alot of rolling hills to climb.

Savor the Journey // Achieve the Goal