A tough day today going from Higginsville to Watkins Mill, Missouri. A total of 76 miles and 4455 ft of elevation gain. This was over what was expected because a bridge was out en route and we had to detour a considerable distance to get to Orrick and back on the route. We went through some very hilly country, a lot of rollers and a lot of climbing. I was riding ahead of the group and Simona, who had been riding ahead to the campsite, passed me in the opposite direction to tell me the bridge was out and to turn around and go to route 210 to get to Orrick. I turned around and went for several miles, then consulted google maps to see if there was a shorter way to Orrick. There was, so I took it- unfortunately it ended up being gravel roads, and not nice compacted gravel like the bike trails we have been on, but really rough gravel, meant for tractors! I ended up a mile in and got a flat, a big nail in my rear tire. While putting a new tube on, a lady passed by and I asked her about the best way to get to Orrick. She said that the way I was going was all gravel, similar to what I was on and she suggested I back track and head to highway 210! So that it what I did. I got to Orrick around lunch time so had my lunch at a gas station there and met up with Deb, Than and Theo. Than and I got in to camp about 3 PM. Turned out the main group had gotten lost and was picked up by the van and deposited at highway 210 to continue from there. They were then picked up to do the shopping for the evening meal. It was a wild day. The roads today were not the best- mainly 2 lane highways with no shoulders or really poor shoulders. A lot more traffic than usual so you had to pay attention to the road and not the scenery. We also had a lot of wind, mainly from the West, so in many cases we had a direct headwind, which slowed us down considerably. At least the temperature was not excessive, so going into a headwind you have a nice breeze cooling you off, but you just go much slower- at times only 7 or 8 mph. And there was no rain which is always a plus!! As we are getting into summer, one needs to pay attention to sun block and make sure you slather a lot on several times during the day. I’m doing a pretty good job making sure I don’t get any sunburn! At the end of the day I was definitely more tired than usual, but not so much to be worried about tomorrow, I think I’ll be ready to ride after a good meal and a good nights sleep tonight!
Below are the RidewithGPS stats:
Biking across the USA with Mike 
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