June 30: Sloppy ride to Washington

Finally, the Missouri River

Today I strike out onto the Lewis & Clark Expedition Bike Trail.  Of course, the central feature of this trail is the Missouri River which you see for the first time in this journal behind me.  I have struck out on getting my picture of the confluence of the two rivers.  In Illinois, the viewing tower is COVID closed.  Missouri has a satire park at the confluence site, but the road to it is closed due to flooding.  My guess: this road is probably closed more often than open.

So my goal now should be easy: just ride up to the source of that river behind me. How hard can that be?

So today I knocked off about 30 miles. Mostly soggy miles. I waited out a thunderstorm before leaving Audrey’s place. Eventually the rain let up and the thunder stopped. But not for long.  Shortly after starting westbound on the Katy Trail, the rain began again. I’m starting to get used to riding in the rain; I definitely enjoy the cooler temperatures when it rains. But the Katy trail gets sloppy when it rains.  I’ve been here before in the rain - the bike gets caked with sandy gray mud, along with my body and clothes from the knees on down.

The rain continued for an hour and a half.  I tried waiting it out camped out beneath the US 40 bridge, but after 25 minutes, it wasn’t letting up, so on I went. Thunder continued throughout this time although I saw no lightning.  Normally I don’t ride in thunder, but the trees provided a thick canopy over the trail, so it didn’t seem to be dangerous. Eventually I got to Weldon Spring where I shared a conversation with a guy I had passed while he was walking.  During our conversation, the rain finally stopped.

Next stop was Defiance where I hoped to pick up a new water bottle. I got to the bike shop: COVID closed.   Only open three days a week, and not on Tuesday. Eventually,I left the trail to head into Washington.  I took a picture from the bridge there over the river. Skies were lightening to the west, so hopefully drier weather tomorrow.  Before getting to the Super8, I stopped at a car wash and spent $1.75 to spray down the bike.  Darn, I forgot to take a picture before washing the bike off.

They are calling for more storms tomorrow. I may consider  a reroute off the Katy Trail. 

PS. Today is likely southernmost point of my journey. Happy that route will turn northward. Cooler eventually.

Miles: 37.3

Elevations: High 647 at Washington car wash. Low: 447 on Katy Trail

Max speed: 23.9

Rain on the Katy Trail today

Camped out beneath US 40

Femme Osage Creek

Femme Osage - Daniel Boone home nearby

Defiance Bike shop COVID closed

Missouri view. West at Washington

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