Bike Ride...sometimes no plans are the best plans ever!

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.

I have heard of the Katy Roundhouse campground and the Roundhouse but I have never been to either.  I heard the campground is very nice in case you all want someplace to camp along the trail.  From what I saw, the campground and the RV part both are nice.

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!  :-)

Fourth of July CMC Ride - 50 miles with hills!

Thank you to the Columbia Multisport Club for putting on a great event!  This is my first year to ride it and it was so much fun!  It is a free event and has a few different mileage routes to choose from.
23, 50, 75 and 100 miles.  All routes are on roads so we had to listen and watch for vehicles.

Some photos are ones I took, some are from Brian and some are from Liz.  Thanks you guys for taking pics! 

What mileage did I pick?  50!  Spoiler alert....SUCCESS!

I almost talked myself out of it....I have not slept well the past few nights and when I woke up at 4:00 a.m. I decided I was tired - even though I slept 4 hrs in a row (that is good for me!).  I layed there then told myself to get my butt out of bed in case I decide to go....then I walked outside and it was already muggy and gross.  The second time I almost talked myself out of it.  Ha!  I decided what my problem really was....I was scared.  Scared of not completing the mileage I wanted to ride.  I asked myself "Girl, you need to at least try!  At least start!  What is the worst that can happen?  You call Brian to come get you?"  So I hurried to feed critters and got ready to go.  Brian brought me in to town to be my support crew, and he ended up being support for others too.  :-)

We saw a couple hot air balloons on our way to the ride.  I love balloons...they were gorgeous!
I was nervous and excited about the ride and I was riding solo - I was one of the few not meeting with friends.  (As luck would have it, the girl behind me in this picture is one of the girls in the group I ended up riding with).

Smiles before I got started.....

Here is a group shot of most of the people who are riding....I am on the far right trying to stay out of the way.





All mileage riders took off at the same time....out the driveway and UP the first hill of the day.  :-)




I read the route but was not 100% sure what the directions were (Brian ended up loading it on my phone...but I didn't need it....I met three gals and we rode together...they knew the way)

I don't know how to pace myself...I try, and I think I do a good job...until I don't.  I didn't want to ride too fast too early and pooter out on the last half of the ride so I was trying to pedal steady and hang in the back of the group until I figured it out.  I ended up following three gals for a while then a few miles down the road asked them if they were riding the 50.  They were....we introduced ourselves then we rode the rest of the ride together.  I have to tell you all....riding by myself on a horse is very different than riding 50 miles on a bike by myself.  Having some fun people to talk to and share stories with make it so much more enjoyable!

My three new friends riding down the road...

Brian met us a few spots along the route and took pictures.  Here we are coming off the outer road....Brian joked about this picture.  Of course I am signaling that we are turning but Brian said it looked like I was saying "Look, I have friends!"  Ha ha!

Brian let us get ahead of him before taking this picture...





The four of us pedaling along...

Me and my new friends at the 'snack shack'.

There was one stop set up and it was run by volunteers.  There was all kinds of fruit, salty items like pretzels and chips, water with gator aid if you wanted to add it and some visiting.  Thanks to all the volunteers who worked out there in the middle of nowhere next to the hot asphalt.  You all rock and you are appreciated!

Close up of the back of my Garfield jersey...love it!  :-)

We are leaving the 'snack shack'...

The clouds and skies were beautiful today!  There were times I thought we would get a pop up rain shower but it never happened.  

A few self portraits along the way...

Okay, look at the road on the picture above...now look below.  It was bumpy and it also had long dippy trenchy lines - kind of like it was at the beginning of being stripped for some work.  I was worried my tires would get stuck in the lines and I would get bucked off.  It all worked out...and it was good experience. 







I got a new phone a couple days before this ride...my other one was pootering out.  Boo!  This phone does not have the awesome 'touch the screen anywhere and it takes a picture' feature.  Mine is a few generations older and you would think they would keep this awesome feature.  I love you Samsung but come on...don't take away the good stuff!  Anyways, Brian told me about a setting that will put a floating button on the screen.  I still have to know where the floating button is but it is better than only having one option.  I was practicing...

Route Z...we are only a few miles from our start point.  Okay, maybe 10-12 miles...give or take.  I lose track of distance and don't remember what my bike computer said.  :-)
OH!  And the hills!  The start of the ride had several hills - for me this was a big deal!  I have not ridden hills and have been talking (talking doesn't get it done...does it?) about needing to find some hills to practice on.  Anyways, I sure don't remember Route Z having as many hills as we rode.  Holy smokes!  I don't normally cuss...well, I didn't used to.  HA HA!   





This was the last shady area before getting back...so we took a quick break.  We were joined by other riders who found water that was turned on so everyone topped off water bottles.  Thank you church for the water!

This is one of my favorite pictures...Brian took this and there is chickory in the front with awesome skies above...and our group looking so small.  (you have to click on it to make it bigger to get the feel) 

I MADE IT!!!!!  And still smiling!!!

My goal was to finish the ride in 6 to 6 1/2 hours.  I figured that was an average of 10 mph plus a few stops.  We finished in 5 1/2 hours!  And we took some long stops...so I am very happy.  And sore.  Ha ha!

I was very blessed to have found this group of gals to ride with.  The pace was good, they were fun, and they don't realize it, but they kept me going.

I really need to work on my nutrition.  I did take a couple of Clif Bars with me (love the chocolate mint) and I thought I ate good at the 'snack shack'.  While riding I was fine, but when I stopped I was very shaky.  As in VERY shaky!  When the ride was done and I stopped by the car it was worse and I felt horrible.  How can you feel horrible and great at the same time?  Well, I did it!  I walked around a bit to try to calm the shakes down.  So - I need to figure out what to do better to make sure that doesn't happen on these long rides.  Brian was wondering about my blood sugar...will explore that.  We went to get something to eat and I felt better....and now?  Other than being a bit sore I feel GREAT!

What a fun day!