TransAm Day #21 Houston, MO - Marshfield, MO
TransAm Day #21
June 15, 2018
Houston, MO - Marshfield, MO
70 Miles
Ride Time 6:07 Hours
Tour Total Miles 1505
Last night it was the Rusty Crank hammock sushi roll at the Westside Park in Houston, MO. A barking dog and kids playing, made it difficult to fall asleep. I also had itchy bug bites which should have been zapped by the swimming pool chlorine.
Miles has a broken spoke and his rear wheel was badly out of true. Today he had to rent a U-Haul and drive his bike back east 130 miles to a mechanic in Farmington. We looked at all the options last night. A one-way Über to Farmington was $200 and there weren’t even any cars available. He could have proceeded forward 180 miles to the next bike mechanic in Pittsburgh, KS, but his rear wheel had a bad wobble and he’s loaded down with four panniers. The mechanic in Carbondale had told him that he didn’t have the right touring wheels. I can’t stress the importance of having the correct equipment for this trip. Hopefully Miles will be westbound again tomorrow. Miles is a fine young man. He just finished veterinary school and passed all his exams. After his trip he’ll be looking after lucky dogs and cats in Georgia.
Last night I purchased the rest of my TransAm digital smartphone maps. I have the paper maps and the set for my Garmin, yet the additional iPhone maps are invaluable. With one click I can determine whether or not I’m on route. I can pinpoint services and even get relevant phone numbers. Redundancy is the key. I took a look at what lies ahead out west, and it’s pretty exciting!
After twenty miles this morning I stopped in Ben Davis, where my maps had promised me a grocery store. What I found was more of a hardware and farm supply depot. As Becky reported, ‘What Ben Davis lacked in food choices it certainly made up for in it’s extensive range of chainsaws and hose clamps. Also worst restrooms of the trail so far, despite some very stiff competition. Nice people, though’. I managed to get two small Gatorades, a cup of coffee and prepackaged donuts and pastries. It wasn’t very satisfying. I talked with the owner and a local farmer who were talking about deer and bailing hay. They asked me about my trip and thought that I had made good time across the country. They had a cyclist registry which I signed and stamped with my official Rusty Crank seal. The proprietor mentioned that a number of cyclists had been through there yesterday.
I pedaled another twenty miles to Hartville, where I hit the supermarket to restock my banana and apple supply. I then went to the post office and mailed old maps and things I no longer needed back to my New York team. I stopped at the LJDS Family Cafe and got myself a Larry burger. They advertised free WiFi, but their internet wasn’t working. There was no cell phone or data service in the town. There were lots of kids in the cafe. Two were playing checkers. I overheard conversations about swimming holes and snakes. A little boy asked me where I was from and I replied, “New York City!” He asked me if my feet were sore.
After Hartville, there was no food or services until my destination in Marshfield, thirty miles down the road. It was blistering hot, but one of my water bottles was ice cold. I had a little stomach illness on the road this afternoon. Without going into detail, I had to pull over. It’s fascinating how fast flies flock to feces.
For ten or so miles coming into Marshfield on Missouri State Route 38, there was a road chipping crew. Tanker trucks first slather the road surface with black goopy oil. Dump trucks then spread gravel over top. Finally, steamrollers press and even out the surface. Flag men held cars back at both ends. The Flagman at the junction of State Route JJ told me that there had been several cyclists who had come through earlier today. Aside from Brian I wondered who else was up ahead.
Marshfield did not make a very nice first impression. It was very industrial. There was farming equipment, gas and propane tanks and refilling stations, in addition to heavy duty electrical supplies, grain elevators, and a freight train line. It was dusty and hot, and there wasn’t a lot of character. In the main square downtown, most of the storefronts had ‘for rent’ signs. There were three bail bondsman offices. But then I discovered outside of the municipal building a scale model of the Hubble space telescope. Marshfield is the birthplace of Edwin Hubble.
I called and got permission to camp in the city park. There were signs everywhere in the park that said no bicycles and no trespassing between 10pm and 5am. But the lady I spoke with was really friendly, and said that I was welcome there. There were no showers in the public bathroom, so I invented a new way to take a bird bath and wash my clothes simultaneously. I was fortunate that no one came into the bathroom while I was standing there naked with water splashing everywhere.
I took a nap in my hammock, and then got up and noticed some townsfolk looking and pointing at me. I felt self-conscious and explained to them what I was doing. It turns out that John and Sherry were surveying the park for next week’s big BAM - Bike Across Missouri. The park would be day two's lunch stop for hundreds of cross state cyclists. They told me that US Route 66, which comes through Marshfield, had recently been designed a National Bike Route. They were totally awesome people and it was great to meet them. Unfortunately, I was now running late for my dinner with Steve H, original TransAm partner from day one. We’re back!
I met Steve at Smokey J’s, right across the street from the Hubble telescope model. John and Sherry had told me that the proprietors of Smokey J’s are huge supporters of cyclists and the big BAM. Steve and I had a great reunion and traded plenty of war stories. I’m happy to report that we’re back on the tour together. At the restaurant, I heard from Becky that she was ten miles out of Marshfield. That last stretch through the lose gravel was rough. At the time of writing, she still hasn’t arrived. Steve spent the night at the Holiday Inn. I headed back to the city park, where yet another couple was pointing at me and making me feel self-conscious. This time it was Heidi and her husband. Heidi is a huge cycling advocate and runs the local Marshfield Cyclons Facebook page. Her license plate reads CYCLONS. She asked me if I needed anything- a trip to Walmart, ice cold beer - Woah! Spot on! Yes! We talked for awhile in the parking lot and then my friends from earlier, John and Sherry, reappeared. Marshfield is awesome! I’ve had a great experience here, and it shows that first impressions can be deceiving.
Comments
Post a Comment