I woke up this morning to an incoming thunder and lightning storm. Looking at the radar it was time to sit and wait it out. Taking some extra time to rest and enjoying a quiet breakfast I watched the rain come down for several hours. Getting back out on the trail I missed the turn and ended up having to walk through a very muddy mess to get back to the trail. By the time I realized I missed a turn I was a mile down the road and I wasn’t backtracking. In hindsight I wish I did. I did the best I could to clean all the mud off the bike the shoes and everywhere else had stuck. The rain made the trail very soft and tough going for the first hour. I came upon the group from the Happy Apple about two hours into my ride. They were stopping at a trailside picnic table to eat while I use the water fountain to clean off my bike. Spent a few minutes talking with them and moved on. It was very humid this morning after the rain but the cloud cover helped keep the heat down until later in the afternoon. Again the trail was mainly quiet a handful of bikers heading east. I stopped to watch some construction workers putting up a new bridge over the Missouri. And a little later I came upon a great little campground right next to the river, where I sat and had some lunch and enjoyed a nice breeze. As the day moved on and I edged closer to my destination the heat once again was really taking its toll. I was looking forward to just cleaning off all of the trail grime and getting into some clean clothes. Arriving at my destination I ran into a large group of cyclists who were starting a 3 day tour tomorrow heading east. I took a walk into town and found a nice little bar restaurant where I sat and had dinner. I double checked my destination for tomorrow night and I know in the morning I don’t have to get a super early start. I think I’m gonna need to take a day off pretty quick I can feel the legs are starting to bark at me.
