West of St Louis...

Biking
is
full
of
surprises!

Whether
it's a
man
carrying
a turtle...

or
Skye
unicycling
over the
Continental
Divide...

I love
the
serendipity
you can
experience...

on
two
wheels
and
a
saddle.

Today
so far
our surprises
have been
funky
art...

amazing
people...

Off-beat
boats...

and
a
delicious
farmer's
market!

Who
knows
what
we'll find
next?

We've set
our Cateyes.

57 miles
to go
today.

From
St Louis
to
Washington,
Missouri.

Let's get
out
of this
St Louis
traffic
now...

to the
hilly
quiet
roads
of the suburbs.
















It's a
peaceful
biking day
until...

What's that?

Storms
ahead!

A chain
blocking
our
path!

Scramble
through
the
road block...

and I hear
a
clatter!

There
goes
my beloved
Cateye...

knocked
off the
handlebars...

and
down
the drain!

I'll have to
leave you
in Missouri...

Good-bye
Cateye!

Our
journey
continues...

thru
rain...

and
mud...

we
get
lost...


:(

Can
anything
else
go
wrong?

















Our luck turns!

A wonderful lady,

seeing us lost,

circles back

to give us

directions.

We find
the
Katy Trail!

The
sun
begins
to peek
through...

but the gritty
surface
of the wet
Katy Trail
gums up
our
gears....

making it
a tough
slog
for 30
miles!


Never you mind.

It's a
lovely
trail....

with
beautiful
flowers...

and
fascinating
Lewis
and Clark
history....

We're biking
along
the
Missouri
River...

following
their path
from
200
years ago.

I'm
enchanted
by the
history...

Al's
more
interested
in the
fellow
bikers...

enjoying
the
Missouri
Hospitality
Route.

We stop
for a spot
of
ice cream...

and
to wipe off
our
beleaguered
bikes.

We trip
across
tons
of little
toads...

stirred up
by the
recent
rains.

We meet
Ryan
and
Emily....

young
St Louisians
out on their
first
long bike ride
as a
couple.










You can tell
who carries
the weight
in this
family!

The crushed
stone
surface
has worn us
out!

When the
old fisherman
tells us
we need to
double back
on the
Katy...

we ignore
his
advice...

and risk
the narrow bridge
that he says
will
kill us.

We
survive...


and
the hotel
is that
much
closer!

We limp
into
Washington
exhausted....

so
glad
to at last
reach
our
hotel...

Wrong
hotel!

KC
has
changed us
to a better
hotel...

Two
miles
back...



and
uphill!

It's OK, KC.

I may
someday
forgive
you.

Luckily
tomorrow
is our
last
day...

biking...















on
to...




the
Summit.