Day 27 Week 4, Friday 16 May 2025

Watkins Mill Missouri to Achison Kansas today. Achison is right on the border after you cross the Missouri River. Another State in the bag! It was another tough day with very high winds after lunch. Up to Smithville Lake it was beautiful, just a light breeze, partly sunny in the low 70s and beautiful scenery. We stopped at a quaint little town called Paradise for drinks at the 15 mile mark, then Than and I stopped at Platte City and ate our lunch at the Courthouse. After that the wind really picked up out of the West, Southwest. There was a stretch of about 12 miles where we had a good crosswind riding on a major road, but fortunately there was a decent shoulder. Nevertheless, it is hard work keeping going in a straight line with 35 mph wind gusts coming at you from the side. Then as we got closer to Achison there was a stretch pretty much dead into the wind as we crossed the Missouri River. The advantage of a headwind is that it cools you off, but damn it is hard work pedaling at 7-9 mph. We got to the campsite around 3 PM after going 70 miles with a lot of rolling hills- totaling 4400 feet of elevation gain. The wind is so high at the campsite we are holding off pitching our tents- it’s supposed to die down later on in the afternoon.

Sorry about not posting photos or videos- wireless is pretty much non-existent at the places we are staying. When we get to a motel at some point in a couple of weeks I hope to download a bunch and update my posts accordingly.