Day 29 -- Topeka, KS to St. Joseph, MO

Miles: 87.71
Total Miles: 2163.49
Time: 5:32
Average Speed: 15.8 mph
Max Speed: 38.9 mph
Flats Today: 2
Total Flats: 13
Elevation Gain: 3166 ft
Weather: Slight wind that changed directions around 80 degrees and a little rain

Today we got into the real rollers of Kansas and Missouri. It was a day of down then up, then down then up. It was a little more difficult than the plains, but it had much better scenery, so the day went a lot faster. Also, we weren't rushing to get to church, which made the day a little more relaxed. We woke up at 5:30, ate breakfast at 6:00, then loaded at 7:00 and made our way out of Kansas. For the first 10 miles we rode in a little bit of rain here and there, but I was already sweating, so getting wet wasn't a problem. We rode on some state routes, so the terrain was relatively flat, and the best part is that it's getting closer to looking like Ohio. Someone told me how boring the terrain around here was and how bad the farms smelled, and I responded, "Yeah, it makes me cry sometimes because I start to get homesick." Anyway, it wasn't long before we made it to the first sag stop. We stayed there for quite some time. In fact, there were a few riders that came after us and left awhile before us. I guess that's one thing we can beat most of the riders in... eating. We eventually left the sag stop and continued our trek to Missouri. It was just more rolling hills on more state routes all the way to the Missouri River. Actually, for the last 5 miles leading up to the Missouri River, we had a slight tail wind.

We crossed over a bridge that was in really bad shape and had large slits that we could look down and see the river through. It was very narrow, so we couldn't stop in the middle and take pictures, but we got one after we crossed the bridge. They were actually building a new bridge just to the side of it because that bridge was in such bad shape. Only about a half of a mile past the bridge was the Welcome to Missouri sign. We stopped and took a picture, then we realized that the sign said Missouri was the "Show me" State. We have know idea what it means, but it gave us something to laugh about for awhile.

About 10 miles past the bridge and through some pretty steep rolling hills, we came upon the second sag stop. This stop was loaded with cherries and it was only about 20 miles out from the St. Joseph, so we stayed for a very long time. Wade and I probably ate around 2 pounds of cherries during our 45 minutes that we were there, but we had to stop because we wanted to save some for the other riders. We left the stop then rode through some steep rolling hills until we got to what seemed to be the top of it all. There were some awesome views up there and some really nice houses, but what really caught my eye was the farming that they did on the side of those hills. It was terrace farming that they do in layers on the along the hill. We took a picture of one of the farms, then we made our way into the city. When we got about 3 miles into St. Joseph, we got on a very nice road in a very nice downtown park that we followed for about 4 miles. When we were just about to leave the park, I heard the sound of air quickly leaving a tube, so I immediately turned around to Wade and Fran and said, "Who got a flat?" They both looked at me in a weird way and said, "It was your tire." They were laughing at me, but I didn't think that it was that funny. I changed the tire, Wade pumped it up with his hand pump, then we got on our way again. We rode to about very end of the park then I heard air rush out of my tire again. That is just bad luck. I changed the tire, Wade pumped it, then we finally rode the rest of the way into the hotel. There was a couple of good things that came about from the flats... We got in later, so the luggage was already unloaded, Wade's biceps got stronger, and I'm beating Wade at getting flats again: 7 to 6... I couldn't let him win at that too. Anyway, it was a tough but great day all together. Now we get to rest in St. Joseph. We're actually thinking of going to a museum tomorrow, the Psychiatric Museum... We thought we could relate to it.