Stanton, Missouri to Sullivan, Missouri

Last night was the first time since I left Woodstock that I’ve camped overnight. I had a pretty good night’s sleep; the new sleeping pad I bought is longer, thicker, and much more comfortable than my old one. Definitely worth the investment.

Woke just after sunrise, made coffee, and checked the weather. It looked like I was in for rain and thunderstorms for the next two days and nights. So decided to ride as far as I could today before the weather turned to crap, find a hotel in one of the towns ahead, and take a day off tomorrow to enjoy a full day’s rest while the weather moved through. I hadn’t had a day off from riding in a week, and my legs were feeling it.

The weather radar showed a line of thunderstorms just off to the northwest, with a large area of rain behind. It looked like my route would be along the very southern edge of where it all was moving to. So figured I had maybe a few hours before I would ride into that mess. With any luck, I’d be able to get to Cuba 23 miles away before I needed to find shelter. At worse, I’d at least be able to get to Sullivan, and maybe a bit further to Bourbon. Both towns had motels I could duck into for the night.

I hadn’t had much of a breakfast (just a breakfast bar with my coffee) and by the time I reached Sullivan an hour away, I was pretty hungry. So ducked into the Cracker Barrel at the I-44 exit for a bite. Was inside for only a few minutes when the low black clouds of the first thunderstorm of the day appeared overhead. I sipped my coffee and figured Sullivan was probably as far as I’d going today. And I was right. For no sooner than after I paid my bill and stepped outside that the skies opened up. I waited under the roof of the restaurant’s long veranda for the rain to let up, then made a dash next door to the Comfort Inn. Where I’ve been watching it rain cats and dogs, and everything in between, all day. I did a load of laundry, cleaned up, took a nap, and am now settled for the next two nights while the slow-moving cold front pushing in behind this rain and severe weather moves through.

So far I’ve gone 463 miles in 14 days. After tomorrow, my average daily mileage will be 30.9 miles per day. I need to average 35 miles per day to finish on time. I can feel myself getting stronger and lighter, so should be able to get close to and sustain that sort of daily mileage once I get through the hills of Missouri and into the flatter miles of Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.