Day 30: Resting in St. Joseph

St. Joseph, MO
Miles:  0

We had a much needed rest day today.  We are just over the halfway point, so more effort than usual was devoted to cleaning and inspecting bikes for adjustments and maintenance needed to finish the trip.  Someone on the laundry staff made a mistake that benefitted all of us.  A nice big bag of pink towels were provided for bike cleaning along with buckets of soapy water and a hose.

Some riders went into St. Joseph to tour the town, but I spent the day arranging for a new cassette and resting.  I appreciated having time to relax, since most days are heavily scheduled.  I called the bike stores in Kansas City, buy couldn't find any that were open due to the Fourth of July holiday.  Rex went to Performance Cycle in Ann Arbor.  Not only were they open, they had the cassette and chain I use in stock.  He Fed Exed them to me at the next hotel, but because of the Fourth of July, I won't get them until Wednesday evening when we arrive in Kirksville, our last night in Missouri.  We ride 90 miles on Tuesday and 82 miles on Wednesday, and Wednesday is affectingly called the Day of a Thousand Hills.

I got a message from a friend this evening who recently did a 100 mile mountain bike race.  His cable disconnected on the first hill of the race so he rode 100 miles on his small (triple) chain ring.  Then I talked with another friend who in an Ironman had a derailleur break early in the race and rode 90 miles in one gear to finish the race in Boulder, Colorado.  So what am I whining about?  I still have many gears to work with.  After hearing from them I realized this evening that mental strength and patience will be more important than physical strength for the week ahead.

The forecast for tomorrow is for temperatures in the nineties and slight wind, and the wind we have will be from the east.