Do we make it to Potosi?

This
could
be a
tough
day!

It's
supposed
to be
beastly
hot!

My
chain
keeps
falling
off...

leaving

me

flailing

for a

grip!

And my

pedal

clips

have 

jammed up...

so 

if I 

start 

to fall...

Plunk!

So today
I decide
to bike
the
whole
way...

in my
Granny
gear -

the cogs
so
easy
your
grandmother
could
bike them.

It's 57
miles
to
Potosi,
Missouri.

Then
another
so-many-miles
to the
YMCA.

I think
Potosi
is as far
as I
can get.

Then
I'll have KC
drive me
on to the
YMCA

Then I'll
go back
and
SAG Alex
for her
final
few miles.

That's
my plan.

But I won't
tell Alex.

She would get mad.

Our day
starts out
foggy....

No
sleeping in(n)
for
bikers.

It's hills,
hills
and
more hills
from
the
start.

Gas
stations
are
few
and
far-between.

More
churches
than
service...

...and
cemeteries.

Big crosses
seem to be
popular
here in
the
midwest.

It's our
last
station
for a
long
stretch...

We'd

better

enjoy it!

We
entertain
ourselves
with the
notices
by the
bathroom
door...

as we
shake out
our
nerve-
tingling
hands.

I discover
I can
lubricate
my
clip-outs...

by
spitting
on my
shoe-cleats.

Whatever
it
takes!

The road
is
getting
longer...

and
hotter.

I stop
for
my last
slurp
of
water...

and a
moment
to appreciate
a
country
flower.

Al and I
are
separated

She's
way out
ahead
looking
for a
town...

for a
break
from the
100+
heat.





We
are
getting
desperate!

We can't
call
KC....

Despite
the
looming
cell tower

there
is
no
reception!

Our last
hope
for a town
comes
and goes
with nary
a sign...

Is
this
the
end?

Look!

Salvation
ahead!

We
are
saved!

And
look!

There's
KC!

I could spend
all day
under
their
umbrella...

or
under
their
fan....










or
standing
in front
of
their
refrigerator!

But
after
that welcome
break
in the
shade...

we
must
continue
on...

On the
hot,
hot
road...

every
hill
grinding
my
muscles
to the
brink.

I need
my Cateye
on my handlebars
to ensure
me
my pedals
are making
progress...

but alas,
my beloved
Cateye
lies back
in a sewer grate
somewhere
west of
St Louis.

In this
awful heat
we can
only go
12 miles
before a break
in shade.

Pass
that cold
water,
KC!

KC
offers
to bike
the rest of the way
for me...


but she's
only
kidding.

Six
more
miles
to
Potosi!

I'm
melting
in
sweat!

How
hot
can
it
get?

Are those
vultures
circling
over
my
head?

We are
thrilled
to see
Potosi
at
last!

Welcome!

Now
comes
the
moment
of
truth...

Do I
continue
on the bike
ride?

All the way
to
the Summit?

Or do I
wimp out
and
take the car
with KC?









We ask
the folks
at the gas
station?

How far?

How hard?

We get
varying
answers...

7 miles...No, 15!

Very hilly...

No, just
3 hills.

Finally,
we call
Tom,
back home
in Indiana...

Google it
for us
Tom.

How far
is it
to
the
Summit?

I don't know,
he says.
But I see
they have
a
golf course!

Thanks,
Tom!

I decide
to go
for it.

But stay close KC...

In case I collapse!

The fella
in the
gas station
was right.

There are
only 3 hills.

But they're
each
3 miles long!





We stop
for a break
each
three
miles...

And the
heat
is only part
of the
problem!

Our eyes
light up
when
we
see
Road AA...

We're
on
the
last
stretch!

437 miles
we've
biked
to
get
here...

from
Indianapolis...

across
Illinois

into
Missouri

and
into the
Ozark
wilds
around
Potosi.

We

made

it!

What
a great
experience
to share -


Mother
and
Daughter....

and
Daughter...

And
it is
definitely
worth
it...

- by
pedal
power -

to
finally
reach

the
Family
Nature
Summit!