I ate a big breakfast and updated my blog from yesterday, then I hit the road. There seemed to be a lot of traffic on the back roads today, I am guessing the people were on the way to, or on the way home from Church, since it is Sunday.
Highways A, BB, UU, and EE were all narrow, winding roads, for the first 20 miles of today's ride. There were not too many big hills heading out of Washington, and the weather had a nice cool feel. There were no winds at first, and the it was a nice tailwind, heading into Sullivan.
I stopped at a Steak and Shake when I got to Sullivan. I ate a slaw dog and a mint cookie dough milkshake, along with a gallon of ice water. It is much cooler today, but you still sweat a lot climbing the hills.
It was about 35 more miles, from Sullivan to Potosi, on Hwy 185. I was hoping that it wouldn't be too hilly, but boy was I wrong. The road out of Sullivan just went up and down, like a roller coaster, all the way to Potosi.
About 15 miles south of Sullivan I finally found a hill I couldn't climb. I had to walk my bicycle up this mother. This is the first hill in all my travels this Summer that I couldn't make it up. It was so steep I could hardly push my bicycle up as I was walking.
I miss the Mississippi River. We're riding way inland now, and the scenery isn't so great. I rode almost the entire day on Hwy 185. It is a narrow, winding road with no shoulder and lots of big hills. Most of the time the road drops straight down 5-15 feet to the ditch on the side of the road. It is one of the most dangerous roads I've been on this Summer.
The ditches are all full of beer cans, cigarette packs, and fast food wrappers. There isn't hardly anything interesting to look at, it's mostly just scrub oak forrest. There aren't many farms, and most of the ones I passed today were run down or abandoned.
A lot of people live along Hwy 185, but most live in run down mobile homes or small pre-fab homes. I saw lots of chained-up dogs barking their sad, neglected barks. Most yards have no landscaping and there is lots of junk sitting around.
But enough of that, I'm starting to bum myself out ! It was still a good ride, and a really good workout, too. I stopped in a little grocery store in the middle of nowhere, about 10 miles before Potosi. It was called Lyubov's Cantina, and I drank a Gatorade, ate some cheese corn puffs, talked with Lyubov, and watched as a dozen hummingbirds flew around her feeder.
I got into Potosi at sunset, and stopped at the fairgrounds. There is supposed to be a campground there, but everybody was busy setting up a carnival. I asked, and they said it's ok for me to set up my tent, so I'm way up on the hill overlooking the fair.
I made it 76 miles today, so I'm proud of that. I hope tomorrow's roads are safer and more scenic. And flatter.
