TransAm Day #20 Ellington, MO - Houston, MO
TransAm Day #20
June 14, 2018
Ellington, MO - Houston, MO
71 Miles
Ride Time 6:20 Hours
Tour Total Miles 1438
I didn’t sleep so well last night at the Ellington bike hostel. The cot was too short, and the end bar dug into my shins. Claudio snored in the adjoining cot. The air conditioner loudly hummed to keep out the heat and humidity. Claudio and I got up at 4:30am and packed in darkness while Miles slept in. Claudio made me coffee. Italians are so funny about their food and meal routines. I was on the road by 5am.
There was a dude robot sticker on the map at the hostel. It’s nice to know that I’m back on Mike Riscica’s trail. Somebody had tried to peel his sticker off so I decided not to tag the hostel.
It was a hazy, foggy, and cool morning. The smell of skunk was in the air, and I spied the culprit. One of the benefits of going westbound is that the sunrise is at my back. I don’t ride late into the day so I never ride into the sun.
My strategy for the Ozarks is to just keep telling myself that they’re not that bad. I did finally turn on the Garmin elevation profile to see what climbs were like up ahead. I don’t know if that makes things easier or more difficult. I set my new downhill speed record of 43 miles an hour. It scared the hell out of me. I’ve heard it said that the Ozarks are like a roller coaster, and I concur. On the steep uphills my Garmin starts beeping every time I go less than 3 miles an hour, because it thinks I’ve stopped, adding insult to injury.
Two white puppies ran after me and I yelled at them to go home. I saved yet another turtle- or at least I moved him to the side of the road. I hope these turtles don’t wander back into the middle road after I’ve gone.
After 30 miles I went to Ruby’s cafe in Eminence for breakfast. I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon at restaurants out here. The table silverware comes wrapped in plastic. It that really necessary? My breakfast bill came to $7.77. The waitress said it was the second time that had happened today. In West Eminence, on a downhill, I had to slam on my brakes as a deer jumped right out in front of me. That’s the last thing I need. What a crappy way to end a tour. Cyclist hit by charging deer.
I’m leaving a trail of sweat today. It’s streaming off me. I should figure out a way to catch it all and funnel it back into my hydration system. The second turtle I tried to help today was a speedy turtle. When he saw me approach, he turned around and ran back to the side of the road. I’ve never seen a turtle run so fast! His shell made a clicking sound on the pavement. I love turtles and it’s been a pleasure seeing so many of them out in the wild.
Many of the roadsigns I pass are punctured with bullet holes. I’ve seen this for much of the tour. I suppose the practice begins with a 12 pack of Bud light. Your partner, riding shotgun, leans out the window fully loaded and does a little target practice from the moving vehicle- just like back in Afghanistan. Another reason why I prefer to ride in the morning.
The majority of my daily concentration focuses on the white line. Often it’s overlaid with a rumble strip. If there’s no traffic I ride to the left of the line, out in the road. When I hear or notice an approaching car, I head to the shoulder to the right of the white line. The 30 inch wide gauntlet lies between the rumble strip and a steep drop down into a ditch. Pray I never go down into that ditch. The rumble strip is punishment enough.
Miles and I had a discussion over dinner last night about which state had the crappiest roads to date. It was unanimous. Illinois, you’ve got some road work to do.
I stopped at the Sinclair station in Summerville for iced tea. Afterwards I persuaded a nice gentleman to photograph me atop the plastic dinosaur out front. Outside of Eunice my Garmin sent me right onto Gaston Road, which was gravel. It was trying to send me off course, and it made no sense. My crazy Garmin has a mind of its own.
Drops of rain began to fall from the sky. I pulled over and put on my shoe covers and turned on my lights. After a few miles the sun came back out so I turned off my lights and put the covers away. In back of me the sky was dark and I could hear thunder. I worried that Miles and Steve would be hit. Steve seems to be a magnet for these rain storms, and I manage to avoid them. That’s another advantage to starting early in the morning. You can get to your destination before the storm hits. That being said, avoiding storms doesn’t get you as many likes on Facebook.
I rode past numerous stone quarries on the way into Houston. Even though I'm in Missouri I am technically staying in Houston, Texas tonight. The town of Houston, MO lies in Texas County.
I ducked into a Taco Bell when I got to the town, because another storm seemed imminent. I ate a burrito and edited this report. When I saw that it wasn’t going to rain I pedaled over to the city park. I called the local police station to get permission to stay there. They were so nice. They invited me to use the nearby swimming pool, which has a 10’ diving board. I haven’t seen or been on one of those since the 70’s. It was exhilarating! I got water up my nose on the water slide. I took it a little too fast.
Miles showed up at 5pm. He did get caught in the storm, and showed me photos of the walnut-sized hail stones. He got a good story out of it for sure.
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