Day 29 - Sedalia, MO

I had the best sleep in my tent camping at Coopers landing with my rainfly off looking up at the stars and feeling a cool breeze rolling off the Missouri river all night. Ryan's tire patch didn't work and I knew we would be lingering at camp in the morning until we could figure out another plan. I was quite happy with the predicament as I got up early and leisurely enjoyed breakfast on the river bank, talking to folks starting their day. A camper loaned Ryan his car to drive to columbia to pick up a new tire and the morning turned into a lazy afternoon.

The heat broke leaving behind a cool sunny day. I felt like could have stayed another week at Coopers, but by 2pm we were back on the trail planning to ride 70 miles to Sedalia.

I was full of energy and feeling great from our stay at camp. As I rode along the trial I marveled at all of its natural beauty, the caves along the cliffside, the trees shading the path, the large expanses of the river.

Only a few miles into the ride I came across an enticing sign for another camp and decided to have a look. I pulled in to find a cobbled together stage right on the river with an ecclectic group of 8 or so musicians playing a slow swampy rendition of "Can't you see". Two men were wheeling a Hammond organ off the back of a pickup truck off to the side. 30 or so people where out in tank tops and shorts drinking beers and enjoying what I learned was a weekly blues jam at camp Catfish Katy. A woman approached me and offered me a beer, she was happy to hear about my trip and that took me past the most beautiful and weird stretch of the Missouri river.

The rest of the day was spent cruising along the trail passing people out for Sunday rides. I pulled into Sedalia at around 8 pm after 70 miles and began looking for the camping option the map had promised. No information was on the board and the police had no info. After some digging I got a text from Ryan about camping at the fair grounds. I was able to pitch my tent just before dark.

Camping next to us where three raggedy 25 year olds riding from Cross country from San Francisco. They had no tent sleeping out on the grass and happioy telling us the have so far been able to avoid Mosquitos. They had were riding 100+ mile days with no rest days plowing down route 50 all the way into MO. They planned to make it to the east coast in 35 days. I couldn't think of a more radical experience, but one I wouldn't trade for my own.

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Location:Main St,Kansas City,United States

Day 28 - Easley, MO

I woke up sweating in my tent, a sure sign of a blistering day to come. We had breakfast in Hermann and jumped back on the Katty trail, the longest rail trail in America, by 10:30.

For the first time during the trip we rode together for the whole day, taking turns drafting every 2 miles. This is a much more efficient way to ride and you can noticable feel how much easier it is to keep a 20 mph pace in a head wind when you are riding just behind another bike, with large saddle bags hanging over both axles.

Truth be told I didn't like riding in this style and much of the day felt like work. The task requires a fair amount of concentration. You have to keep a close eye on your wheel when your drafting and when you are in the lead you are thinking about pace or obstructions in the road. I prefer to stop as I please and let my mind wander on the trail, evident by the two occasions I bumped into Ryan's tire.

We had about 15 miles to go when a knocking sound came. In an instant we heard a loud bang from Ryan's rear wheel. The tire had blown out in spectacular fashion. A large rip found it's way through the tred of what we thought were indestructible German kevlar tires.





We back tracked a hundred feet to Cooper's landing and found by far the best camp ground we've been too. It sits right on the Missouri River, has a shed and garage for a store and lounge and picnic tables and a fire pit out front. 20 or so people were out enjoying beers and big plates of food from a Thai truck, listening to a balladeer on a guitar. It didn't take us long to decide to make this our stop for the night.





Coopers started out as a bait shop 30 yeas ago and slowly turned into an outpost for hippies and creative types. They have live music four nights a week and once a year host an Eco-art festival. Interesting characters abound. Jim a glass worker, stays here the summer and is hoping to start a local music label. He also has a movie script in the works where Cheech and Chong meet Jay and Silent Bob for the first time here at camp. Ginger began helping out around here after her husband passed and cooks a delicious breakfast on the weekends.


Bob, a travelling nurse walks about camp followed by his family of geese. In the winter time I'm told you can spy eagles hunting along the shores and watch the ice floes slowly build until the river is entirely frozen.

At camp we met Rick, a 55 year slender architect with neat gray hair and glasses. He got a kick out of our cross country stories and became intent on helping us out, treating the flat tire like a puzzle to be solved. He offered to give us a lift to his house where he thought he might have a spare, so we jumped in his van with his with his wife Debby and he began to tell us he story of his house, how he bought the 27 acres in 77, started with 500 square feet and continued to add to the house and grounds for the next 33 years.

We pulled up to a grand cedar shingled lodge style facade. As soon as we exited the car, Rick giddy with delight began showing us the property. We him around followed a deck which went around the house passing two different 3 season rooms overlooking the woods. There was an outdoor jacuzzi inside a Japanese pavillion, walking trails he maintains twice a year, a fresh water pool, a 9 hole frisbee golf course, an outdoor shower he uses exclusively, a "get high" shed where he has "safety meetings" with his builder, and finally a miniature town he's created with old structures he's accumulated over the years including a hog house he used to clean every week as a boy growing up on his parents farm. There was a saloon, hotel, post office, all no taller than 4, each holding more junk inside.

"Now for a quick dip in the pool and then we can fix that tire". Rick handed us towels, turned the flood light down, took off his clothes and jumped in. The temptation of a cool swim after a long day of biking won over the potential awkwardness and we jumped in too.

We got out and put our clothes back on. Rick remained naked. "I'm naked outside as much as possible" he explained. "My wife, kids and neighbors have grown accustom"

Rick got dressed and we went to his work shop to try and patch the tire. Ryan was at the bench and I was standing next to him. I turned around to notice Rick had gone down to is underwear.

Lightening flashed in the sky and the first few drops of rain fell. Rick put his shorts back on and gave us a lift back to camp.



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Day 27 - Hermann, MO

We got a start on the day after having a great night out in St. Louis. We had breakfast with Nick and his father and headed out on the Katty trail at 1:30 pm. The Katty trail is a very
well maintained packed limestone path which follows along the Missouri River. It runs about 50 miles shy of Kansas City.

I was taking a slower pace being a bit sleep deprived. Our goal was a town about 60 miles out. At the beginning of the trail we began riding cooperatively taking turns in the lead, but i didn't have much in me and berfore long Ryan had pulled ahead.

I noticed the road feeling a little bumpier. I looked down and saw my rear wheel was flat, my first of the trip. I stopped, took off all my bags and changed the tube in the baking, sweating dripping on my tools tools. I checked the tire but didn't see any foreign objects. In about 20 minutes I was back up and riding to Marthasville for lunch.

After lunch I noticed my rear wheel was flat again. I painstakingly reexamined my tire off the rim and found the tineiest of metal shards protruding through the tred. I was so happy to find that bugger.




As the sun lowered the trail became more spectacular. Glimpse of a glimmering river, rabbits feeding their young, murky swamps along the shore, trees growing out of creek beds. I was happy to be outside.

Hermann, the town we stayed in, is the most German town in america acording to a couple we met. The planners surveyed the location and transported enough expats to get it started in the 1800s. Many of the business had authentic names like Berliner's pharmacy and there was a heritage museum on the main street.

We camped in the town park. It was not a very serene place being right next to a gas station anda high traffic road. I needed to keep my rainfly on my tent to block all of the lights. Unfortunately, this makes the inside a great deal hotter. I eventuly dozed off still sweating out all of the St Louis fun from the night before.







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Location:Missouri 100,Hermann,United States

Day 26 - Rest day in St. Louis

We decided to take a partial rest day in St. Louis. We got breakfast in Soulard in the morning. I noticed several Mardi Gras posters on the wall and was told the this area of town has the second largest carnival outside of New Orleans. We met an old timer at breakfast who had been living there for 30 years, telling us the area was full of rooming houses and liquor stores decades ago.

We rode west 30 miles to Weldon Springs where Nick's father lives. On route we stopped at a few stores to replenish supplies including the Maplewood bicycle shop where Ryan had a spoke replaced. The told us about the Katy trail, a rail trail which ran west almost all the way to Kansas City, our next big destination. What luck!

We dropped off our bikes and gear at Nick father's and had our first home cooked meal. Afterward we drove back into the city to the city musuem for a Fishbone concert.




The City Museum is one of the cooler spaces Ive seen. Large metal stuctures take overthe outdoor space, all of which you can climb. There are ladders around trees which lead to different plateaus, slides which bring you down to others and a large airplane shell 7 stories high at the top.

The concert was just what we needed, a burst of high energy. We met up with Franzie and Alex there and all danced about frenitically at the front of the stage. That area turned to a mosh pit after the first couple of numbers.

Afterwards we cruised around the city stopping at coffee cartel in the central west end and then to a karaoke bar for last call. We mustered a version of like a prayer. No applause from the crowd, but no boos either.

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Day 25 - St. Louis, MO

I got up at 8 am, what I thought was an early start. All the other tents had been packed except one, Ryans. He made it into camp at midnight riding a monster 138 miles.

The Trans-America trail continues west from Chester heading through the Ozarks. However, After realizing we were only 65 miles south of St. Louis we headed up to take in the city and meet up with oir friend Nick from New York.

I ran into TransAm Nick while eating breakfast at subway. He is the spindly 20 year old from PA we met in a Kentucky campground a week back. As luck would have it he was heading to St Louis as well so we decided to ride up together.

This was the firs time that I was riding with a person other than Ryan and Ryan and I rarely ride together, keeping different paces and stopping for different reasons. After about five miles I had pulled ahead of Nick and into the strongest headwind I've experienced. I could swear the stalks of corn on the side of the road were bent. i struggled to get the odometer up above 9 mph.




Large ominous clouds swallowed up the blue sky, being pushed foreward by gusts of wind. Just as I thought it would pour I stopped for a soda. I came back outside to hear nick quip "that was crazy"

We got back on the road together and Nick offered to take lead. We began drafting off of each other trading lead each mile and started making better time. The storm clouds passed us by and in their wake gave us a pretty strong tailwind. In an instant Nick and I were cruising at 23 mph, sharing the work all the way up to St. Louis.

We got lost in East St. Louis, something locals joke about because its a rough neighborhood. It didn't take long before we were back on track up on Eadds bridge riding over the Mississippi river and into Missouri, our ninth state of the trip. The silver arch soared high above the downtown buildings on our left.

In St. Louis we decided to spend the night at the Huck Finn Hostel in the hip neighborhood of Soulard. The hostel was dorm style with bunk beds and had the look of an old man flop house more then place catering to young backpakers. The mattress I slept in bowed down a foot in the middle.




Nevertheless, we did meet Franzie a German woman living in Carbondale and her younger brother Alex at the hostel. They were staying in the city for a few nights. Nick drove in and we all went out to eat at a local resaurant and then spontaneously decided to catch a Cardinals game.


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Location:Russell Blvd,St Louis,United States

Day 24 - Chester, IL

I struggled in a blistering sun as the temprature shot up past 90. My route, again courtesy of google, took my along winding country roads past farmland and woodmills on route to Carbondale. Parts of the road were stained with tar and my tires sizzled as they rolled over the small black bubbles oozing from asphalt.

I started at 10, far too late for this kind of heat and I only had two good hours of riding before the temprature slowed me down. The heat will knock 3 or 4 miles off your speedometer as easy as an incline will.

After 35 or so miles I reached Carbondale, a large college town, just in time for lunch and a reprieve from the midday sun. I stopped at a sandwich shop and while eating noticed another loaded bicycle across the street at a Mexican joint. I was back on the Trans-America trail. As much as I wanted to kill time, I inhaled my sandwich and became a bit antsy. I pushed on down the road to Pheonix Cycles, one of three bike shops in town, curiously all on the same block. The folks in the shop where nice letting me loiter inside and plug my phone into their wall socket. An hour had passed and I still had 40+ miles to go. I sent Ryan a text wondering how he was doing.

Another 10 miles down the road and I was in the town of Murphysboro. I stopped again to rest and evade the heat at a DQ. A text from Ryan popped up. Not much info other than an expressed willingness to still make Chester. I pushed on.

I continued on another 30 miles mostly on route 3. The evening sun offered not much of a break. A series of hills had me sweating through my shirt and hands slippery on the bars. A long flat stretch along vast corn fields unfolded and I was able to pick up the pace. As I passed Rockwood I spotted the Mississippi for the first time. The sight gave me a boost of energy, just enough to get up and down the hills while entering Chester.




Chester is the home of Popeye the sailor man. There are numerous effigies of him about town including a sculpture in the town park and a painting of him and Olive Oyl atop the town hall. There is a Popeye picnic held in his honor once a year. Mothman, Superman and now Popeye have so far mascotted towns along my path.

I'm camping on the back lawn of the Fraternal Order of Eagles here in town with 16 other cyclists on an organized Trans-America ride. Being a late arrival I didn't get a chance to see any of them, just their tents set up around a volleyball court.

Inside the lodge I treated myself to a 7 dollar chicken dinner and a couple of 1.75 Stag beers. Easy livin'.

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Location:W German St,Chester,United States

Day 23 - Vienna, IL

After two days off the bike felt foriegn to me. My saddle felt unusually comfortable and my leg muscles a bit unaccustomed to turning the pedals. We headed out from Ross's Landing, the lake house, on route to Vienna, IL our 8th state of the trip.

It was a solem day. Ryan and I split up early on and I kept waiting for the readjusment period of being back on the bike to be over. By the time we got to Paducha, a river town on the state border riding felt normal again and i didn't much worry about the 70 miles I was going to put in on the day.

I came across a high arching steel bridge painted blue on route 45, which would be our Ohio river crossing and entrance into Illinois. As I made my way up the ramp the concrete switched to steel grating and the shoulder dissappeared. I felt my tires skid around the metal and quickly slowed down to a crawl. Cars whizzed past me as the buzz of their tires over the grating became louder. I kept my eyes trained on the few feet in front of my, occasionally lettin my gaze slip through the grating to the river 200 feet below.

Once over the bridge I heard a shout from Ryan who was only moments behind me. A stack of cars slowly trailing him, a white sherrif's car in he lead. He had caught site of Ryan and quietly escorted him across. He pulled over to nicely let us know we shouldn't have been on the brigde and even commisserated with us about getting burned by google maps.




On the other side of the river we passed through the town of Metropolis, the home of superman. There were illustrated signs about town from the chamber of commerce and a giant statue in the town square. Each June they have a superman festival. Makes me wonder economically who would win in a fight: Mothman from Pt. Pleasant or Superman from Metropolis.

I continued on another 20 miles of flat straight road to the small town of Vienna. Ryan pulled an audible and stayed at Harrah's in metropolis. Hopefully we'll be staying in fancy hotels for the rest of the trip with all of his winnings.


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