July 6: Day camping in Corder, MO

Santa Fe High School in Alma

My resting spot at Corder VFW

 View from Corder park. Nice community

My park bench at the Corder City Park.

My park bench in Corder 

Have you ever had to wait for something for 10 hours? Today, I did.  The goal today was Higginsville,  40 miles, still in Missouri. A stretch goal was 16 miles further at Lexington; it became apparent that Higginsville was all I would be capable. Up with the sun I got an early start, and I moved along quickly for the first 25 miles. Feeling good. I was well stocked with water and Gatorade, having learned that lesson earlier. The temps climbed quickly today, with typical high humidity. By 10:00AM the temperature had already climbed to 88, which is above my comfort zone.  No wind to speak of, and no shade. At this point I am about 7 miles from Higginsville. Those last miles were interesting to say the least.

I am trying to make safety paramount in this trip.  That means  listening to my body when conditions become extreme, and today qualified as extreme. I found myself looking for any shade I could find to cool down. Finally I came upon the Corder community VFW Hall. Nobody around but there was a patio area for smokers, which offered shade from an overhang.  The time was around 10:30. I rested for a couple hours as the temp climbed to 90. I tried to get up on the bike, and immediately became lightheaded.

(I am taking a new medication, which lists lightheadedness as a possible side effect. I think that medication along with the heat were the primary causal factors.)  At this point I knew I would simply have to wait for temps to come down before I could resume the ride. From this experience, I have now set a temperature limit of 85 for his ride.

One of the members of the VFW came by and he opened the building for me, and I got a chance to run cold water on myself, which helped a lot. I was about a half mile from the community of Corder, and I had checked by phone on the possibility of getting indoors there. Possibilities:  a library, but it was COVID closed. A cafe, but closed on Mondays. Other than that a bank, but who is going to wait for temps to fall at a bank, which was going to close before the temps came down. No gas station.  The  VFW guy suggested the city park which has restrooms with running water. So that was where I went. At this point I was feeling ok, but I had decided to  abide by my temp limit of 85. During this experience I consumed approximately a gallon of fluids, which I was carrying on the bike. Finally at 8:30PM the temp dropped to 84.  The hotel turned out to be 5 miles from Higginsville, so I rode the last 12 miles without problems.

Listening to my body, I am taking another rest day today at the hotel, using the day to catch up and recharge all of my devices, etc.  I have also made a decision about my route.  I am using maps of the route which are published by Adventure Cycling Association. The maps are excellent. However, I have some disappointment on the route these maps are taking.  I have not seen the Missouri River during the last two days, As the maps are taking me on hopefully more quiet country roads, not necessarily close to the river, which is where I want to be. Also another problem is lack of services along the mapped route. There were three towns on today’s journey between the ending points of Marshall and Higginsville. These were Blackburn, Alma, and Corder, all less than 500 people. No services, or places that were closed. The only restaurant in Alma and in Corder were closed.  This seems less safe to me. Tomorrow, with a good ride I should get to Independence which is a suburb of Kansas City. The AdventureCycling Maps avoid the entire Kansas City area completely, even though geography buffs realize that Kansas City lies on the Missouri River.  I am looking forward to seeing some places in Kansas City, so I will probably take another rest day there too.

Miles: 41

Elevations, High 864 at Corder Low 695 near Higginsville, Reservoir

Max. Speed: 26.2