Rubber side down: Day 17

                                                                              Day 17
                                                           Topeka, KS to Cameron, MO
                                                               125 miles, avg 18.1 MPH
     It's been a good day. The lethargy that I had been feeling for the past two days, seemed to have faded and I felt stronger today. The heat and the hills were the issue for all of us. There would be about 6000 feet of climbing today and temps were expected in the mid 90's. We started at 6:45 and navigated our way through the streets of Topeka and soon we were out in the countryside. We had a nice paceline going amongst five of us at a reasonable speed when all of a sudden Simon in a moment of temporary insanity, jumped to the front and started pushing the speeds to the 25+ MPH range. One by one the group fell apart, but I was able to stay on his wheel for the next 5 miles. We then traded pulls for awhile and then he fell back, the victim of having lit all his matches at once, and now his fire was out. I on the other hand had plenty of energy left, having conserved it for the five miles I was able to stay on his wheel, so I used it to catch up to the group ahead of me. Simon, is a great guy. He's from Northern Ireland but works in England as an air traffic controller for testing airplanes for the Brittish defense industry. He knows everything Rock and Roll, has been to hundreds of concerts, and except for the briefest moment of insanity today, is a strong and reliable rider.
     By mile 56 we were headed over the Missouri River. On our Cue Sheet, (the sheet of paper that is clipped to our handlebars with all of the directions), in regards to this bridge states, "CAUTION: Bridge is narrow, grates, rough-Busy" This was an understatement. This bridge was literally falling apart. Next to this bridge there is a new one being built that unfortunately won't be ready until next year. Although I didn't think it was likely that my bike and I were going to suddenly plunge to the Missouri river below, the concern I had was that my skinny front tire was going to slip through the grate. Although we were assured that this wasn't going to happen, the sight of the water below made this an eerie crossing. Once safe on the other side, we posed for pictures at the Missouri state line.
     The rest of the day was just beautiful. We got to ride on the quietest backroad sections we've been on yet. There were trees lining this road at times, along with pristine farmhouses, cows, horses, and did I mention, hills. Lots and lots of hills. These weren't long hills, just constant rollers, some as steep as 12 degrees by one rider's account, and unrelenting. However, as the day went on, I really felt like I was getting stronger. I rode some of that time with UK Bob. His moniker, UK Bob is to distinguish him from Buckeye Bob. UK Bob is from the UK and Buckeye is from Ohio. Bob is notable for a few things. For one is that he worked in "security" in Iraq for the past 7 years and his next job is going to be doing "security" for ships that are potential targets for pirates off the Somalia coast. The man knows his way around an AK-47. The next is that he weaves the word, "Fuck" into most every sentence that comes out of his mouth. Finally, he has bladder control issues. Thus it's not uncommon to hear him suddenly yell out, "Fuck, I need a piss break. Piss break!" We all then politely stop, and wait for him to do his business at the side of the road. This will then repeat itself in 5-10 miles. You need a certain amount of patience to ride with UK Bob but in spite of this, he's a good guy and I like him.
   Tomorrow there is talk of thunderstorms. We've yet to deal with any rain yet on this trip, but our luck may have run out. I'll keep you posted.

-Grinner