Chuggin' Into Chillicothe, MO

On this day, there are a couple of St. Joseph, MO stories about fellow riders that need, nay beg, to be told.

Last night at our daily planning meeting, Tom D. (CO), who is Tracy's "Chief of Staff" for the CrossRoads crew, explained the personal significance of St. Joseph, MO to the rest of us.  In 2005, Tom, who is also an excellent cyclist, was literally in the middle of riding the Crossroads tour.  He had been fighting alternating numbness and pain in one of his hands.  By the time he arrived in St. Joe's, he could no longer use the hand for shifting or braking and the pain was excruciating.  With the greatest reluctance, he dropped out of the tour 30 minutes before the riders departed from St. Joe's that morning.  After achieving a somewhat amazing recovery, Tom resumed the tour in 2006 at St. Joe's and successfully completed the tour to Boston.  He rides today pain free.

There is another St. Joseph story.  Barry C. and his wife, Wendy (Calgary, BC), were also on that 2005 tour.  Barry pulled out of St. Joe's on the same morning that Tom dropped out, not knowing what lay in store for him 4 miles down the road.  Barry was traveling downhill on the shoulder, at a good rate of speed, and the surface was getting progressively rougher.  In an attempt to jump back on the roadway, he encountered an unexpected ashphalt ridge, causing him to lose control and resulting in a terrible crash.  He was rushed to the hospital with several broken bones, including his clavicle, and a lot of torn up skin.  End of tour for Barry and Wendy.

Fast forward to 2012.  Barry still wanted to complete his dream, the Ride Across America (Wendy, maybe less so).  However, in Barry's mind, resuming from St. Joe's would not do.  He said that would break it into two parts and, lord knows, that would make it ridiculously easy. 

During the nearly 4 weeks that it took for us to get here, nobody talked to Barry about any of this.  I likened it to not talking about a no hitter while it's in progress.  Barry and Wendy set out this morning and when they reached the exact spot of the 2005 accident, they laid a little flower in remembrance.  I told you this story needed to be told.

Closure and moving on: Wendy and Barry

One more story about Barry just so you know it's not all a bed of roses for him in 2012.  He had a wheel failure back in NM.  Of course, the bicycle shop could only sell him a front/rear set of wheels, which left him about $908 lighter.  Coincidentally, Barry rides a Cannondale 613, just like mine, and also has Mavic Ksyrium wheels, also just like mine.  I've become much more vigilant watching for potholes. 

OK, here's how today played out.

Morning departure from St. Joseph, MO

Crossing the Grand River; note all the birds

Crossing the Platte River

What I can't capture with a photo or video is the lovely scent emanating from the wildflowers everywhere.  I'm sure that my next door neighbor, Linda S., who is an IT wizard, could come up with some type of aroma recognition software.

Thompson River.  Note the rock canyon walls; this must be a "newer" river.

This is a monument in the little town of Lock Spring to Jerry Litton, a U.S. Congressman, who perished in a small plane crash along with his wife and two children. 

The inscription on the right poignantly resonates with all of us riders.

There was the usual dose of heavy climbing today.  As a special treat, today we encountered the big hills (10 - 12%) after the 70 mile mark.

Up, up and away

The little town of Chillicothe has a 2010 Census population of  9,515.  Chillicothe is Shawnee for "big town" (no joke).  Here is another interesting tidbit about Chillicothe:

Yep, that's right.  The Chillicothe Baking Company cranked out the world's first commercially available loaf of sliced bread on July 7, 1928.  They used the Rohwedder Bread Slicer, patented by Otto Rohwedder from Iowa.  I couldn't possibly make this stuff up.

Finally, a big thank you to my friend, Richard S. who is selflessly "sympathy eating" an additional 800-1000 calories per day in a show of support.  It kind of chokes me up.

Total Miles:  86 miles           Total Vertical Climb:   4900 ft.