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Bridge across the Mississippi River near Chester
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Hello Missouri!
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The Ozark Mountains magically appeared shortly after crossing the Mississippi
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Alex had a broken spoke that day. We fixed his bike like the pros! I bought a spoke wrench a couple of days later:-)
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Missouri assigns letters to its secondary roads. I wanted to form an inappropriate word as a photo collage out of these, but some letter was always missing!
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The City of Farmington turned an old jail into a hostel for bicyclists! Maybe the best place that we have stayed at so far on the Transamerica Trail.
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Inside the bike hostel in Farmington
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While I didn’t have any real problems with dogs chasing me in Kentucky or anywhere in the South, this changed a bit in Missouri. I heard y’alls advice and decided to get some protection!
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This picture pretty much sums up biking in the Ozarks!
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We stayed at another little bike hostel in Ellington.
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It had everything we needed!
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And it was brand-new! I was the fifth person to sleep there.
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Alex and I named this the roller coaster.
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This was a nice downhill section. No wonder someone put a smiley face on that sign!
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We couldn’t resist climbing up the Flat Rock Fire Tower when we saw it.
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The view was far more spectacular in reality!
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Fun fact: Houston lies in Texas county. No, really!
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A massive thunderstorm came through the area after we had left Houston. Thanks to the advances in modern technology Alex and I found shelter under the roof of a church just in time.
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We used this opportunity to enjoy some hot coffee.
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Wall art in Marshfield, Missouri
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Marshfield, Missouri
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I stayed at the Ellis O. Jackson Park in Marshfield for the night.
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Downtown Ash Grove
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Ash Grove, MO
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I started setting up my tent in the city park in Ash Grove. Someone informed the police about it, so the sheriff came and gave me the keys to this house that the city of Ash Grove opens up to touring cyclists. Fair deal:)
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Perfectly straight road west of Ash Grove
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Stopped for lunch at Cooky’s Cafe in Golden City. Their coconut pie was pretty darn good!
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Pittsburg, Kansas
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I caught up with parts of the Adventure Cycling Association’s TransAm tour group in Pittsburg, KS. They were pretty excited about the ice cream truck.
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I spent a lot of time at the Tailwind Cyclists bike store in Pittsburg. My bike was in good hands though: Roger – the owner of the store – was the mechanic for a Race Across America winner!
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I rode around Pittsburg on this mean little machine while my bike was being repaired.
GPS-Tracks:
Chester, IL to Farmington, MO
Farmington to Ellington
Ellington to Houston
Houston to Marshfield
Marshfield to Ash Grove
Ash Grove to Pittsburg, KS