Day 64, Marshfield to Houston, MO

Miles – 67

Miles From Start/To Finish – 2,949/1,396

Ave Riding Speed – 4-33 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 7.5

Weather – Sunny and 93 (heat index 108)

I was up before Kim this morning at 4:45am. I fixed us a cup of coffee with the hotel room Keurig coffee maker. Kim got up and went for ice for our water bottles from the hotel ice machine and grabbed some cream for her coffee. We showered, packed, split a banana and a little yogurt and were out the front door by 6am, about 15 minutes before sunrise.

The air was still, humid and 75 degrees as we pulled out onto Hwy 38, about one block south of out hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. We headed east in the near dark, with out lights flashing from the front and rear of our bicycles.

For 25 miles we hit the steep rolling ups and downs of the 2-lane, no shoulder, highway through, at times, near zero visibility in the lower lying areas of the countryside. Vehicle drivers continued to be very considerate when we were riding uphill to the crest and would wait behind us until we reached the top. If we had the opportunity to pull over into a driveway of another road crossing, we would do it to let them pass. From the very beginning of the day our clothes were dripping wet and are shirts and pants are crusted over with body salt.

As were riding from steep hill to steep hill today, up to a 12% grade, I kept thinking about how these last couple of days of riding, through rural Missouri, have some parallels to real life. Each hill is an obstacle is front of us that we can choose to overcome. Those obstacles in life, just like these hills, will keep coming, and each time we get to choose how we’re going to deal with it. Sometimes we don’t see the next hill or obstacle coming, as it’s around the next bend in the road. Once we’ve overcome the last obstacle, we get to choose our reality of it, learn from it and move on to the next one, because in life, there is always the next potential obstacle. There is no going back or do overs, what is behind us will forever be the past. The only direction is forward. Our direction for this adventure is Virginia, but around every corner, every day, is the next obstacle. As we’ve been maturing during our ride, as in life, we get a little better at handling the next potential obstacle.

In Hartsville, the first rural community on today’s route we hit at the end of the first 25-miles, we road a block south on the main drag to a convenience store for some ice and split a egg sandwich. The cashier filled out water bottles up for us with water. We didn’t hang around too long and kept moving east.

About a mile out of Hartville we ran into a young man headed west and pulled over to his side of the road for a quick chat. We introduced ourselves and met Mark. He is a twenty-something year old who started riding 8-days ago, from Charlottesville, VA, with his dad’s best friend, who was behind him a ways, and they are heading for Pueblo, CO. We wished him a safe journey and kept moving.

A couple miles down the road we met up with Mark’s riding partner, Brian. Brian had an accent and said he grew up in South Africa and lives in Charlottesville, VA. He asked if we were heading to Yorktown and we confirmed we were. He said that we would be passing through Charlottesville and he’d love it if we took him up on his invitation to stay there while passing through. He expects to be home by the time we were coming through. That’s pretty cool and we’ll probably looking him up when we get closer to his place.

We continued another 20-miles through more rolling countryside hills on Hwy 38 until we reached Bondavis, at the intersection of Hwy 38 and MM. The was a building on the corner that looked like it might be a convenience store so we pulled in and saw the “OPEN” sign hanging from the window sill and lit up.

There were a few cars parked in the shade under a big tree in the dirt lot. There were some old car parts and other stuff laying around the building and we leaned our bikes against the ice chest outside. We walked in and there were a few ladies having a cold beverage at the indoor tables and chatting about the upcoming state fair. There was some dust around the place, but also a small selection of snacks and cold water and pop in the fridge. We grabbed a Gatorade, water and chips and set them on the counter. The owner said if we need some ice, just open up a bag in the freezer outside, if there isn’t one open, and take all that we need. Once again, there is the seemingly unlimited support of the riders that pass through on the TransAm route. Kim went back for another bottle of water and gave the guy $5 and said it’s just for being so generous. He almost wouldn’t accept it, but Kim said to keep it for the next rider that comes through.

It was getting hotter and we needed to keep moving. We got back on Hwy 38, which turned into Hwy 17, and road another 18 miles into Houston. We turned south of our route, on Hwy 63 for 1-mile, to our destination for the night, the Southern Inn motel. We pulled up at 1:30pm.

We checked in and decided we would walk to Walmart we passed a few blocks earlier and do the grocery meal(s). Pickles, cottage cheese, Kombucha, tuna fish, buns, chips, salsa and grapefruit. Kim also picked up another book to read. She’s read a couple during the adventure so far and leaves them in the motel room when finished, hoping someone else will enjoy it.

Tomorrow there’s an epic 27-mile leg of the route into Ellington, that should test our physical abilities, probably our mental strength as well, as the climbs are steep, long and one after another. It’s the last 27-miles of a projected 68-mile day. Temps are supposed to hit 100 and the heat index around 108. We’re each carrying 4 bottles of water and will make regular stops to hydrate. We’re also planning to have dinner with Julie, a Director with the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, who lives a few hours away. We’re looking forward to meeting her face-to-face for the first time!