Wildwood, Missouri to Pacific, Missouri

Woke and checked the weather radar. An area of light to moderate rain would be moving through the area until mid-afternoon. Which left me with a decision. Should I wear my rain gear? Or shouldn’t I?

When it’s warm out like this morning and I’m wearing my raincoat while riding, all the sweaty moist air inside the coat builds up and usually leaves me mostly hot and sort of wet. On the other hand, not wearing rain gear will definitely leave me wet, and possibly chilled all day if the sun doesn’t come out to dry the shirt and shorts I’m wearing. In situations like this, I usually decide whether to wear my gear or not depending on how heavy the rain is. If it’s a light rain, then no rain gear. If it’s a moderate rain, then I wear rain gear. (Oh by the way, depending on how fast I’m riding, a light rain can feel like a moderate one.) Anyway, I decided to put on my rain gear. I figured I could remove it later if I got too hot or if the rain let up.

Took a pass on the free continental breakfast the hotel was offering and checked out. There was a breakfast cafe less than two blocks away, so opted instead for the cafe and something more substantial for breakfast. A couple pancakes, two eggs, sausages, and hash browns and I was all fueled up and ready for another forty-plus mile ride to a campground in the Meramec Caverns area. The vertical profile on the map showed that, in addition to generally rolling terrain enroute, there were a couple steep climbs (with associated fast descents on the other side.)

As soon as I started up the long, low grade leaving town, I knew it was going to be tough day. There just wasn’t any juice in my legs. They were dead. Three long rides in three days will do that, I guess. But what are you going to do? I pushed on. So, I hiked the bike up hills when I had to and rode it down the fast descents when I could. By the time I reached Pacific just over 13 miles into the ride, I knew I had no chance of reaching the campground today. It was just past 11 AM, I had been riding for almost 3 hours, and I still had 30 miles to go. Plus, a thunderstorm that had been booming in the distance appeared to have reached Pacific at just about the same time as I did.

As I was riding past the Quality Inn just off Interstate 44, I stopped and did some quick calculations. There were no motels or places to camp between Pacific and the Meramec Campground. I wasn’t all that enthused about riding in a thunderstorm. And I needed to rest my weary leg muscles. So, I decided to call it. I was done riding for the day.

The motel manager found a room for me (nearby Six Flags had just opened for the season, so rooms in the area were hard to come by) and checked me in early. I took a two hour nap, watched some golf on the television, and got a couple slices of pizza for dinner from the convenience store next door.

Tomorrow I’ll head for the Meramec Campground. It’s only 30 miles away, so should be doable weather, terrain, and traffic permitting.

Despite the rain, I manage to take a few photos today.