Day 2 (Sat Jun 18, 2016)
Today’s Miles: 55 Total Trip Miles: 108
Marthasville, MO to Tebbetts, MO: Taking too long to smell the roses.
The Marthasville Community Center is a kickin’ place. It was about 12:30am before everyone left. Even then, the bar down the block and the convenience/liquor store still had a lot of action. It was too hot to sleep in my tent anyway. But, once all the action settled down, I opened up the tent except for the outer mesh doors. It wasn’t long before I felt the cool night air seeping into the tent. It was very peaceful and relaxing, a good night of sleep was on the way.
The morning sunlight and the cackling crows woke me up fairly early, but I was too comfortable to get up. Concerned that people might start arriving for baseball practice, I thought I had better start moving. Plus, I wanted to get a much better start this morning, than I did yesterday.
It was not easy to determine where to get something to eat. Often the town business areas were really a distance away from the trail. I didn’t know where I could find a diner in Marthasville, so I took the easy way out and got some pastries and milk at the convenience/liquor store that was within sight.
Soon, I was off and running with a much better start than yesterday. I felt I could relax and proceed at a more even pace. The KATY trail was surprisingly shady. It was almost like riding underneath a canopy of trees. This was great because it was a hot day, and the trees shielded me from the sun. But, the trees also obstructed the views of the river to the left, and the views of the bluffs to the right.
Much of the scenery was the same as yesterday, the river, the bluffs, and the old bridges. There were a few interesting and pretty plants along the way.
I was getting hungry, and could not find a place to eat. I asked some riders at the McKittrick station if there was anywhere to eat nearby. Their answer surprised me. They said Rhineland was having a big festival with a lot of food. It was only five miles down the trail. Sounded good to me! I found the festival with no problems, but I was really starting to feel the effects of heat and hunger. I took some time to rest, but I was interrupted by this big pork steak dinner that was calling my name.
The festival was in honor of a young man who died in a head on car accident. His family and friends have been throwing this festival in his honor. There was sand volleyball, frisbee, and horseshoe activities.
It was becoming clear that the heat was having an effect on me, causing me to take longer and longer rest stops. I was starting to have some physical difficulties as my hands and legs were cramping up. By the time I left the festival, I realized that I was going to have difficulty arriving at my destination before nightfall. I had been taking too much time to smell the roses.
There were some interesting landmarks along the way.
Kayaking on the Missouri.
Daylight was burning away, but I wanted to get some Gatorade to help combat my muscle cramps. My last chance was the Mokane market. I was afraid it would already be closed. Thankfully, it was still open, so I got to woof down some Gatorade before my late evening push to Tebbetts.
I do not know where the time went. I got a much earlier start, but was struggling to complete a similar number of miles that were completed yesterday. So, for the second straight night I was racing in almost darkness to arrive at my destination. I was exhausted, hungry, and saddle sore. I had reservations to stay at the Turner Shelter, with instructions to find the hidden key. During my frantic ride, I had this fear that I would not be able to find the key. Once I finally arrived, I immediately looked for the key. And, guess what? The key was not to be found. I was almost desperate, and did not know what to do.
Previously, there was no place to eat in Tebbetts, but recently a restaurant, the Pub and Grub, opened up next to the shelter. I took a chance and asked if they had a key to shelter. For the second night in a row, I was saved, they had a key!
I was so exhausted I did not want to eat at the Pub and Grub, I just took a shower at the shelter and started to prepare some of my emergency food. I then discovered that there was quite a bit of food in the shelter. Different bicyclists, as they visited, would often donate their leftover food. There were cans of soup, instant noodles, crackers, etc. The soup hit the spot and nicely complemented my food. The window air conditioners were finally cooling the place down, and I drifted off to sleep.