Part of my training regimen for the MR340 is biking to build endurance. There are a lot of paddlers that are much better and stronger than I am and they will get a great jump on me in the first 24 hours but after that first 24 hours we are all about the same. Every year we have been in the position that we pass nearly every canoe we see during the last 100 miles of the race which I thinks makes "Sons of Auxvasse Creek" one of the best of the worst and its where endurance makes a difference.
My adventure friend and long time buddy, Tom Young, and I are always planning some sort of adventure and this year we came up with the "Gateway Tour" which was a compromise to fit into our schedules and to see some new country. We planned to start at the Arch in St. Louis hence "Gateway Tour".
One of the issues we had to deal with was the Missouri Bankers Convention which I had to attend since I'm on the committee that plans it and it started on Wednesday. My wife and daughter were going to attend with me so it didn't make sense for me to take a vehicle to central Missouri then have them drive down in a different vehicle in a few days. To get around the two vehicle issue I decided to ride Amtrak to Jefferson City where my son is in training at the Highway Patrol Academy. I could send most of my gear ahead with him and meet up with him to load the bike up with my camping gear and other stuff I always think I have to have to avoid dealing with it on the train.
My beautiful wife, Dianna, took me to Independence, Missouri to catch the train which was a neat experience. There was one other individual on the train with a bike, he was headed to St. Louis to meet up with a couple of friends and they were going to ride the entire Katy Trail out and back which is an annual trek for them. The train staff were very accommodating of the bike and the trip was very enjoyable.
I departed the train in Jefferson City just below the Governors house which is a pretty good climb to get out of the river bottom where the tracks are. I always head to the Lewis and Clark statue at the capitol when in Jefferson City to pay my respect to Corps. Then off to a bike shop to get a new mirror for my helmet which I broke when getting off the train.
The local bike shop is near Central Dairy which is a must stop when in Jefferson City but on this day I had to pedal past because I know a full belly of ice cream is not conductive to riding a bike for 40 miles. The bike shop belongs to the family of one of the guys I became good friends with during our river travels for the Lewis and Clark reenactments during the bi-centennial. I acquired my mirror and had a nice visit and then headed out to the Highway Patrol Headquarters to see if I could find Matt's vehicle to recover my panniers for the bike. He was parked in a restricted area so I just moved on knowing I would have a chance to meet up with him in a few hours at my brothers house near Fulton.
Jefferson City has a few bike routes and I was able to find my way back to the Highway 54 bridge which recently added a bike lane at a cost of $5,000,000. I'm support bike routes and trails but my opinion is $5 million is a little pricey for a bike lane across the Missouri River. But its there and I will use it. It hooks into the Katy and just north of Highway 63 there is a spur that gets on on the way north off of the trail onto old Highway 54. There is still some traffic but nothing like the new 4 lane highway.
I pedaled into the Holts Summit McDonalds and was disappointed to see the 15 cent (I just discovered my computer don't have a cents symbol) hamburger sign gone. It was and old sign from the original McDonalds in Jefferson City. I guess too many folks came in for the 15 cent deal. After a quick meal I got back on old Highway 54 and headed north into New Bloomfield where I had to cross over 54 before heading north again. I was pedaling into a headwind which made for a little more effort but the sky was overcast and it was in the low 70's which made for a cool ride, sometimes even chilly ride.
Just a couple of miles before Fulton a small dog came out barking and chasing me, I didn't know he had a buddy until I felt him grab my right foot. I wear a relatively heavy hiking shoe and the dog was unable to penetrate the shoe but its always a shock when a dog grabs you. I have been dog bit on two previous occasions while bike riding and they both broke the skin so I guess I was fortunate this time. I usually carry pepper spray and sometimes a pistol but in this case I didn't have either because of Amtrak regulations. I got off the bike and threw a few rocks at the dogs and got back on my way.
I grew up near Fulton so I know my way around the little city pretty good except some of the streets are not there now. Anyway I went by the Churchill Memorial to pay respects to the old "Statesman" and to look at the wall President Reagan made the Russians tear down. Interestingly the west side of the wall is brightly painted in German graffiti while the east side is a dull gray.
Then on to my brothers, Robert, house to get a shower and clean up to go to one of the grandsons ballgames. Matt's girlfriend had driven down from Lawson so she, Matt and I met a Roberts house while he and his wife, Pat, were dining out in Columbia with friends. The three of us took off for New Bloomfield where the baseball game was in progress when we got there. It was a good game and my grandson, Grant, made some good plays. One of the other grandsons, Chase, was there but he was pretty busy exploring since he not in the same league as Grant. The oldest grandson, Dawson, was with his mom at another baseball game in Columbia. We all managed to meet up at Aries Pizza in Fulton for a post game meal where I attempted to load up on carbs for my bike ride before heading back to Robs house in Calwood for some sleep.
The next morning I recovered my panniers from Matt's vehicle and Rob took me to Toms house where we loaded up our gear in his truck and headed off to meet his wife at the St. Louis airport where they would celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary very briefly before we hopped on the Metro. Incidentally Dianna and I would celebrate our anniversary the next day by text message. Do we have great women or what?
If you would like to follow more of this trip you will have to go to Tom's blog at: http://bigmuddyriver.wordpress.com/
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