July 5: Lemonade Aqui! Marshall and Math Q1

Lunch at the Catalpa Restaurant - Arrow Rock

Today’s ride took me from Boonville to Marshall.  On the way I had a chance to visit Arrow Rock Historic Site.  After some 150 miles on the Katy Trail today my route leaves the trail, and I strike out on regular roads and highways with vehicular traffic. I suspect the nature of the ride will change. Differences:

• Surface - the Katy Trail has a crushed limestone surface. So like a well-maintained dirt road. It becomes very sloppy when it rains, and it is slower to ride on. I am looking forward to traveling on pavement.
• Cars - an obvious advantage for riding on the trail; no motorized vehicles allowed. However still need to contend with road crossings.
• Slope - this is a big one. The Katy Trail is a converted railroad track bed. Elevation changes are very gradual. Now on roads, I have to contend with normal uphills and downhills, a two-edged sword. Downhills are wonderful, and with all the gear and me on the bike, i5 feels like I descend faster than normal. Maybe not, but it seems that way. But the uphills are slow, really slow. That’s the reason railroad track beds are set with very slow elevation changes.  Lifting that weight up the hill, especially steep hills is a lot of work! I find I am forced to use my granny gears a lot. Normally I don’t need them.
• Bicycle facilities - the Katy Trail is a hall-of-fame trail with many campgrounds, restaurants, BNBs nearby. On the regular roads these will be harder to find.
• SHADE! - most of the trail offers shade from trees lining the trail.  A huge advantage at this time of year.

On balance I think the advantages of the trail outweigh the disadvantages. I expect riding will get more difficult now.

So, about today’s ride. Halfway through the route today,I stopped at Arrow Rock Historic Site, which is both a landmark and a community. Arrow Rock was a landmark sighted by the Lewis & Clark expedition. A community grew on the site, and Arrow Rock is also the name of the community.

The Main Street of Arrow Rock has been maintained with its mid 1800’s construction. If you’ve been to Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Musuem at Detroit, it’s the same idea. I think COVID has been disastrous for this site. When I arrived there was nobody else in the visitor center, nor did anyone show up while I was there. This was at11:00AM (Sunday). Remember the Maytag repairman?  I think the lady who managed this visitor center has a similar job; nobody around, nothing to do. 

Most of the stores on Main Street were closed. The only place open was an ice cream shop, but I wanted a more substantial lunch. There was a single restaurant with outdoor seating, on a nearby street, called the Catalpa. It was the only place open, and I think most of the customers were locals. They converted an old church building into a theater, with a schedule of plays throughout the year. Everything cancelled until at least December.

I decided to not visit the actual Arrow Rock landmark. It would’ve meant a 100 foot hill down and then back up. The sun was already getting hot.  I did not see the Missouri River at all today. The only opportunity was at Arrow Rock, and it was obscured by trees, etc.

After lunch, I head out on the second half of today’s ride. Something like 16 miles to Marshall. As the temperature heats up, the miles go by more slowly, and I arrive in Marshall with a raging thirst, for anything ice cold.  I get tired of drinking 90 degree water from the water bottles. You can tell this town is not in Wisconsin! The town has a central square and main highways coming into town from all four directions.   Sign says 13,000 people. Think of Monroe, or Waupaca, for example. I’m coming in from the north side, looking for any gas station, restaurant, bar, to slam down something icy.  I came in from the wrong side of town in this regard, because nothing open on this main highway. I get to the central square; nothing open all 4 sides, nothing on any of the side streets either. Now it is Sunday, but really? Not even a bar?

I continue toward the south side of town, and then make the right turn on the main road leading to the western side where my hotel is. Finally, as I approach the western edge I can see McDonalds, Walmart, Sonic signs, etc. Just when I am in view of this commerce section, I hear a kid, “Lemonade, aqui!!”. He practically runs out into the street; he with his Mom is running a lemonade stand.  One of life’s lessons I’ve learned is always stop and buy from a kid selling lemonade.  To see the kids smile is priceless. I was probably the first customer, because the two lemonade pitchers looked full. Maybe helping a budding entrepreneur.

Miles:  41

Elevations: High 802 in Marshall (the daily rides always seem to end with an uphill; Low 602

Max speed: 26.7 mph

PS: I am calling myself the Math.Guy.  Math problems pose themselves along the way which are fun to try to solve mentally. A way to pass the time. Of course you can skip these,  But if you like math, maybe you’d like to give some of these a try. I will follow up with my answer, not necessarily the right answer, in a couple days!

Math Puzzle 1: in this post above I talk about uphills and downhills, compared to level riding. Imagine  Mark averages 8 mph on his bike, fully loaded, on level ground. So now his route takes him up a one mile hill, and he slows down to 4 mph, to climb the hill. Then a one mile downhill follows. How fast does Mark have to travel on the downhill to average 8 mph overall?

American Elm

 Chicory, also called blue weed 

Arrow Rock Monument

Theater at Arrow Rock  COVID closed

Main Street at Arrow Rock

Arrow Rock

Catalpa Trees provide the shade