246 miles later...

Wednesday we biked from Jefferson City to Hermann--48 miles on a very hot and humid day. Carrie ended the day with some serious heat rash. We won’t tell you where, but it was butt ugly. There was some storm damage on the trail -- washed out areas, muddy spots and downed trees. We were impressed that the State Parks crews were already at work clearing the path. But they were stalled at a large tree that had a huge bee swarm in it. They helped us get around that tree, then we ended up leaving the trail and biking on the road for the next 4 miles because there were so many trees across the path.
Hermann is in an area settled by Germans and known for its wineries. We went to one winery -- Hermannhof -- and bought a bottle of Norton wine, made from grapes that are specific to Missouri. Excellent. We enjoyed dinner at the Concert Hall and Barrel Bar -- not only is it the oldest continuously operating bar west of the Mississippi, it is the only bar we’ve ever been in that offers a 10% discount on Sunday if you bring in a church bulletin -- and they’ll make a donation to your church as well.
Thursday, Hermann to Augusta, 38 miles (40 for Len). Started out with one flat, then about 20 miles into the ride Carrie blew her back tire. Thankfully we had just passed a bike shop so Len was able to ride back and get a new tire and tube. Hence his extra 2 miles. Overall a very nice ride, still quite hot, but we refreshed ourselves with the samplers at the Augusta Brewery. Had dinner with Paul and Donna from OK City, who we first met at the hotel in Sedalia and ran into several more times. We had fun comparing notes with them.
Friday, Augusta to St. Louis. Our longest day, 48.7 miles. The first 25 were on the trail, then we rode through the St. Louis suburbs. Very hilly and challenging. We were glad to arrive safely at Chris’s.
Total miles: 246
Highlights of the trail:
Spending time with a couple (Paul & Donna) we met on the trail. They’ve invited us to ride the “Hotter than Hell” 100K next year -- it takes place in Texas in mid-summer. Reading the signposts along the trail about the Lewis & Clark Journey of Discovery which went up the Missouri in 1804. Biking along the banks of the Missouri between the river and the bluffs. And viewing Thomas Hart Benson’s mural in the capitol building in Jefferson City. We would definitely like to do it again--maybe with some of you next time.
We would start out each morning riding strong for the first twenty miles. The next ten would go a little slower with more frequent stops. Then as the heat increased and our legs tired, the vultures would seem to fly lower and closer to us. Then we would encourage each other to just keep going and show no signs of weakness. Apparently we managed to show enough signs of life to evade them.
Wildlife on the trail: a few wild turkeys the first day, 6 box turtles on the trail and a few sliders out on a log in a swamp, lots of tiny (1”) frogs, 2 black snakes (Carrie managed to ride over both of them thinking they were sticks--but they managed to slither off, so apparently they weren’t hurt), 1 other snake that looked poisonous, hundreds of butterflies, especially monarchs, thousands of grasshoppers (some of them really large, about 3”, and they would sometimes jump up on us as we rode by--gross), lots of turkey vultures, a few hawks and herons, and miscellaneous songbirds, mostly unidentified.