Love Rollercoaster

Well, an update to our experience at the Arrowhead campground/redneck Woodstock last night.  As I had said in my previous blog, a couple had kind of shoved their way into the spot directly next to our tent last night, complete with their dog Coda.  We knew that was the name of the dog since the girl repeated it constantly, barking orders at the dog, none of which she followed up on.  I can just imagine the dog's brain, hearing Coda, Coda, blah blah, Coda, Coda, all its life.  So that was a little odd, as was the entire campground.  We tried going to bed a little after sunset, fully expecting that this place was fired up and ready to party.  In any case, it went on like that for a while and I dozed off.  Then all of a sudden, the folks on the other side started blasting music out of their truck.  "A country boy can survive," by Hank Williams (Jr.), followed by a bevy of other country and oddly country-rap songs.  I looked up and it was about 2AM when this started.  They were in their truck listening and blasting this, since (like a good third of the tents in this place) they couldn't figure out how to put up their tent and just slept in their truck.  After a while I was getting a bit annoyed, maybe about 3AM, I shined my light in the truck window, and they got the idea and closed the window and turned down or off the music.  Then Coda-lady next door started yakking about this and that and didn't stop talking until I have no idea, at least another hour later?  

A few of the more well-constructed tents at Arrowhead

So we got a total of about an hour-hour and a half's sleep last night.  We woke about 5:30, making sure to make lots of noise as we awoke and started dis-assembling our campsite.  Oddly, many of the same crews who were up until who-knows-when were either finishing up last night's activities or starting anew.  What a circus.

We got started as early as we could today, feasting on a breakfast sandwich from the Sinclair Station across from the Dairy Shack where we ate last night.  We had them make a couple of sandwiches and we were on our way.  According to the previews, we knew we were going to have a lot of up and down hills today.

Rollercoaster, by the Ohio Players is all I could think of today as we hit the road, going up, going down, going up, going... you get the idea.  After we finished what was a very long day in the near 100 degree heat, we figured out that we had climbed over 7,000 feet today, or more than any single day of our trip.  This is more than crossing Hoosier Pass in the Rockies, or any of the other Passes.  We had never done more than about 5,200 feet, and today we did almost 7,200.  They were almost always followed by a quick downward run, leading to the next hill.  The tough thing is that the steepness of these hills were much worse than the Rockies.  I had never once stood up on my pedals in the Rockies, but today I had to do so to get up about half a dozen hills.  Up, down, sweat, up, down, sweat.  

Roller coaster, all day long

We did get a bit lucky today in that we passed by Johnson's Shut-Ins state park, which was rumored to have a great swimming hole.  We went in to investigate, and were told that it was about a mile into the park.  We were able to cycle back there, and found that a "shut-in" was a narrowing of a gorge or a riverway, so these shut-ins were where the east fork of the Black River is forced into a narrow area, creating waterfalls, and lots of pools.  It was pretty cool, and it really did cool us off, as we had been on the road for quite a while and were getting pretty overheated.  A jump into the pool waters, while not as cool as that of the Jacks Fork River, since that was natural springfed, was still really nice.  We jumped in with cycling jerseys and shorts on, and then we let them dry on our bodies, which unsurprisingly didn't take that long after we got back on the bikes.

Getting ready to jump in!

Back on the road on a long day

Today's realistic goal was one of a few small towns along the way, but Jerry and I both knew that after two days of camping, one of which at the redneck Woodstock, had taken the toll.  We needed air conditioning and a shower, because we are delicate dinosaurs - and our gear was starting to stink.  Our stretch goal today was Farmington, because Dave, the east-to-wester we met in Ash Grove, had told us about the cycling hostel there.  It is located above the historic city jail, and it is made just for cyclists doing the Trans-Am.  The city runs it, and all you have to do is call and they will give you the code to unlock the door.  This became the goal, the driving reason for riding a good 90 miles today in almost 100 heat, while doing more climbs than any other day yet.  We just had to get to this little slice of civilization.

Inside Al's Place, a haven for Trans-American cyclists

Well, after almost 10 hours on the bikes today, numerous stops and foot-and-butt breaks, lots of water, a few Gatorades, and ice cream bar each, we limped into Farmington, victorious.  We went straight to the hostel, and sure enough, it was everything promised.  It's called Al's place, named after a local rider/racer named Al Dziewa, a popular figure who died from cancer a few years back.  It is a really cool space, a loft-like area, where they have old bikes displayed, and some jerseys from the Tour of Missouri, a pro race that had been held in the area.  They have 3 bedrooms with multiple bunks, 2 bathrooms with showers, a kitchen, living room and dining area, a computer for access, WiFi, and glory-be, a washer and dryer, which we are now gratefully using.  We showered and went out to find dinner.  We tried a really nice restaurant, but were told that even sitting at the bar we would have to wait to get dinners.  We left there, but not before meeting 3 young men who are also doing a trans-am trip.  However, I think they are simply following US Bike 76, without maps, and only one of them is actually riding, and he is actually riding an electric scooter, all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  We had to go to find food, or I would have gotten more details, because it sounds goofy, and they weren't really sure where they were going to stay tonight.  I offered the cycling hostel, but they thought they had secured a spot with someone who was currently at a wedding reception.  I'm half expecting them to show up here late tonight.  They did say that they were making about 70 miles a day ( I think they recharge or change batteries), and it took them 17 days from Yorktown to here.  In other words, that's what we should expect going the other way.  17 days.  That puts us into Yorktown perhaps about the 28th or 29th of July, barring any issues or future days off.  

The facts:  today we went 90 miles and climbed 7,200 feet.  We hope tomorrow is a bit cooler, and we know we will have fewer hills to climb.  We leave Missouri tomorrow for Illinois.  Adios, Missoura!"o