Most of the day was gone...ran errands, got a couple things done...and I knew the weather was supposed to take a turn Sunday so I wanted to get a bike ride in. Brian was not feeling well so I headed out...
...I had no idea where I was going to ride so I made it up as I went. When I got to the stop sign in Harrisburg I thought to myself "right or left?" I opted for right since I had not been to Rocheport in a while. While driving I was trying to decide which direction I would ride from there....again I opted for right. There would be less people and I wanted to ride to the big clay tile elevator building that I never get tired of looking at.
Heading out of Rocheport there is an alpaca farm...this little guy was hanging out by the pool with a kitty friend (in the chair). Life is good!
As many times as I have ridden by this place I have never noticed the alpaca quilt block on the barn. I love quilts so seeing the blocks on barns is a bonus for me. :-)
The tunnel going out of Rocheport...hard to believe trains took this route. I read that this is the only train tunnel on the Katy Trail.
This was my view most of the evening. I only saw two people on the way to my destination unknown, and three on my way back.
There are gates like this when there is a road crossing. I stopped because of the lone tree I saw while riding over the road...
It might not be the Big Tree at McBaine, but it is a Big Tree in training...
My Chinese Zodiac sign is the serpent (I say serpent instead of snake because it sounds way more cool!) And look who I found on the trail! A nice black snake that tolerated me moving around it. It doesn't look like it in the picture but it was every bit of 3 ft long.
I made it to the Hwy 40 bridge...not too far from my clay tile building...
And here she is...the 1921 clay tile elevator...
Not too far down the trail is the New Franklin trail head...up to this day Brian and I have not been past this point. I stopped to read the information on the wall that had a lot of neat information, got a drink and ate a protein bar, then decided to "go just a little bit further to see what is around the corner."
AAAHHHH!!!!! I love trains and want to live in a caboose! Can you believe this is what was around the corner?
Another surprise when I decided to "go just a little bit further".... the Santa Fe Trail monuments. Each monument has a story on a plaque below it. It was very interesting!
I was watching my time because there were still chances of rain and I didn't want to ride too far back in the dark. (I put lights on my bike just in case I forgot to pay attention...)
So what did I do? Decided to "go just a little bit further...." and I rode by Franklin, Mo.
Here is the Katy Roundhouse. It is hard to see what it is and what it did in the day because of all the growth, but when I leaned over the fence I could see the rounded rock wall. I need to do more research on this particular roundhouse but from what I read, most of the ones in the United States have fallen apart. There are a few still operating and are open to the public...who knew? Now you all do!
When I read about what it does I learned that a long time ago train cars were good at moving one direction - not both, so they would go to the roundhouse to get turned around - kind of like a record on a turntable - then go the other way. I am sure there is more to it than that...but right now that is all I got.
I decided to go "around the next corner" to see what was up and I saw some landmarks. I am so close to Boonville how can I not go all the way?
I followed the path and saw another cyclist...he is ahead of me (look for the red arrow). He stopped on the top of the bridge so I stopped to ask questions... He was loaded down so I know he had a cool story! He had just left Columbia and was heading to North Dakota on his bike. He is going to visit friends in South Dakota, go on up to North Dakota then zip on over to Minnesota. Hang out there for a little while then head back to Columbia. How cool is that? And here I was wondering if my legs would get me back to Rocheport! Ha!
Me on the 'new' Boonville bridge taking a selfie of the Boonville Railroad Bridge behind me. Next time I will ride to the bridge.
When Brian and I would drive over this bridge I would ask myself if I could ride my bike over it. Now I know the answer - YES I CAN! WOO HOO!
I rode over the whole 'new' bridge....HELLO BOONVILLE! OH MY GOSH! I RODE TO BOONVILLE FROM ROCHEPORT! I really wanted to explore some more and just keep going but my time line was tight...the skies are blue this direction but I was watching a few thunder boomer clouds around me that were very active and I didn't want to ride back in the dark AND rain.
On the way back I saw a couple stretches of trail that looked like Fall....
When I made it back to Rocheport I didn't have the number of miles I wanted, so I decided to go the other direction a couple miles. I am so glad I did! I was blessed with the most awesome sunset kissing the bluffs...
The sun setting...oh how I wish I could have gotten the colors to show up like I was seeing with my own eyes. Thank you God for the extra awesomeness before I headed home!
What a great ride! I really could have kept going! I was hoping for 30 miles and got back to Rocheport with 27. I decided to ride a while longer and decided I liked 31 better because I don't like even numbers. I ended up with 31 1/2 miles. Yay me!
Bike riding...it has done so much for me! Not only for my health but getting out to see things I have never seen before. And back to health....if I am feeling my anxiety kick in or I just plain feel ugly inside, I get on the bike and everything changes.
Until later....Karen and Tripp who told me it was okay with him if I rode the bike in double digits. Tripp (my mustang horse) has always thought riding mileage in double digits is stupid! :-)
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