Day 27, Mile 2212: West Plains, Missouri

Today: 103 miles (the whole way!), 9265 feet of climbing! saddle time 7:39, 13.3 mph, 8000 kcal
Cumulative: 23 biking days, 1685 miles, 83000 feet.

Today we continued on from Branson through the Ozarks.  It was a beautiful day, but it was hill after hill after hill.  So we did over 9000 feet of climbing, a similar amount of descending for a total elevation gain of only 49 feet!  But I like the short hills and now I'm quite a bit faster on them.  I'm very pleased with my 13 mph.  But my legs are jelly.  And tomorrow is another century in similar hilly terrain.  (In fact, the next three days are 109, 102, and 98 miles.)  Well, I hope I can make it.  My knee was feeling much better today, better than the two previous biking days and so I didn't have any trouble finishing the whole day (aside from the usual exhaustion, etc.).

Branson was a trip.  They call it the Las Vegas of the east, but that's gotta be a joke. The place is really tacky. They do have a half size replica of the Titanic including a fake iceberg (not kidding) with tidy-bowl-blue water spraying up the bow to mimic a wake. Oh, and there are no casinos, not even a cheesy floating one which I was expecting.  You have to go back to Indian lands in Oklahoma for any gambling. Our group also brought the average age of the people in Branson down a few years and the average weight down dramatically.  Tim is planning on opening a bike shop back in New York when he returns so has been visiting bike shops across America.  Needless to say, the one in Branson wasn't doing so well.

It was freezing cold and pouring rain on the rest day.  This gave me the excuse to stay in the hotel all day and watch movies--actually pretty pleasant aside from the hangover.  On Thursday when we arrived, I started drinking early.  I haven't had anything to drink except an occasional glass of wine for a month now, so I thought it was high time.  Bet gave me a beer from the cooler to start, then I went searching out a decent martini, then I had to have a margarita at the Mexican dinner and of course sample some of Chris' excellent private label wine that he has made for himself, and a couple of Irish whiskeys with Mike and a few others, and...  At least I didn't do anything foolish except fall asleep without calling my girlfriend because I was too drunk to figure out how to charge my phone.  Now she's not talking to me...

Today's route was up and down along the and across the ridges of the gorgeous mountains here.  There were lots of cows and general bucolic bliss with cold, cold fog in the morning, but with the sun breaking out by afternoon.  We lunched in a beautiful spot in Theodosia by the Bull Shoals Lake (dammed up White River).  My only real complaint was the scary plethora of 'full gospel' churches and gun shops along the route.  The hills were incredible.  I swear I must have shifted gears more times today than across the entire state of Oklahoma.

Oh, by the way, a cheery note: Dave "Big Wave" is doing much better.  He's hobbling around with only a single crutch and looking quite chipper--very little pain.  Says he'll be back on a bike by Nashville.  Bicyclists are such bad patients...

Oh, and I am buying my wonderful bike.  It's a Madone 6.5, red/white, and was brand new at the beginning of this trip.  I'm getting a great deal.  They aren't offering the regular Madone 5s that most everyone else is using, but something about not being many 6.5s and the dealers not caring...I didn't quite follow Dan's logic but am happy to be bringing home this fast little treasure.  Hope I don't crash it before Charleston :).

Happy biking!