I arrived here at 1 pm, tired after battling headwinds for 83 km.  Overcast sky, wind SE at 25-30 kph and temps 7-11 degrees Celsius.  I was up late last night watching tv with Julie.  We had Skype picturephone on our laptops as we both watched Saturday Night Live.  I still got an early start to beat the rain coming later in the day, lasting until midday tomorrow.  I’m just 16 km from Missouri; having crossed Iowa in three days.  Clarinda is the birthplace of Glenn Miller and also where 4H started.

Spencer Klaassen

I waited until the 11 am check-out time to leave this rainy morning; then removed my rain gear an hour later at the Missouri border.  I turned off US Hwy 71 and found nice back roads through rolling hills to historic and hilly St Joe.  I’m staying with the family of Spencer and Angie Klaassen.  Spencer is an avid cyclist I met through the Warmshowers website for touring cyclists.  From 6 pm last Friday to 6 pm Saturday he cycled a 24 hour randonneur.  He has also completed the Arrowhead 135, an ultramarathon in International Falls, MN in winter.

Budding Redbud tree & Missouri bridge

Spencer was up at 5:30 to do a club ride, then saw me off at 8:30 as he biked to work.  He pointed out some blooming Redbud, Magnolia, and Dogwood trees; the first I’ve seen this trip.  I crossed the Missouri river to Atchison, KS and cycled through rolling hills with a slight tailwind to De Soto; on the Kansas river west of Kansas City.  I added ensolite padding to the seat pad and back rest, to relieve my sore butt and back.  The kickstand bent and will not hold the bike upright.  The day was sunny and 16 degrees Celsius here;  while it was 18C in St Paul.  My cheeks are sunburned.

Sunburned Shins

My first day in shorts and I’m sunburned again.  To save weight I carry a travel-sized tube of sunscreen and used it sparingly on my knees and above. That is where the sun hits on a regular bike, but on a recumbent your shins face up.  So now my shins are burnt.  I saw a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher;  whose forked tail is longer than it’s body, and bright Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Some other notable birds I’ve seen: Bald eagles & Pileated Woodpeckers in MN;  Meadowlarks singing on fenceposts, Ring-necked Pheasants, and many hawks in the Hawkeye state of IA;  in MO, Turkey Vultures.  One vulture, reluctant to abandon a carcass in the ditch until I was next to it, hovered curiously over me as I passed. Do bike helmets offer protection from talons?

I’m camping for the first time tonight, at the Richland Grange hall, with freshly mowed grounds, water pump, and a brick shithouse.  There are no houses nearby in a rural setting by a stream.  As I hung my hammock a Barred Owl asked “Hoo, who cooks for you?”  I’m eating an uncooked meal of trail mix tonight.  As the sun set the cacophony began.  Coyotes howling and yipping, other owls hooting, cattle mooing and dogs barking. I hope no one drives in and tells me to leave.  I wake up to repeated loud “Huffs”,  from a large creature sounding angry and defiant; issuing me a challenge.  After yelling “Shoo”, I figure it must be a buck snorting.

Pump & Brick Shithouse

Richland Grange Hall

Kansas Dawn

I woke at 5:15 am, struck camp in an hour and was on the road before dawn with my lights on.  An opossum scampered up the opposite side at 6:30.  With the early start I arrived here at 2 pm and considered going further.  The sun came out and the wind shifted from a SE headwind to an easterly crosswind.  But I am too tired and my knees are complaining.  I planned to camp at a city campground here, but there are no restrooms.  It is just an RV parking lot. So this is my 6th night in a motel at an average cost of $55.55 per night, with an AARP discount.

Hennessey Hammock

I entered the western edge of the Ozarks in SE Kansas on one of my flattest days yet.  I followed Historic Route 66 through Baxter Springs, KS where Jesse James robbed a bank and fled into Indian Territory before it became the state of Oklahoma.  While waiting for the tourist office to open in Miami, OK; I toured the opulent Coleman Theatre with a Louis XV interior. Built in 1929, with the wealth from local lead and zinc mining to attract top national talent, it is being fully restored.
Dogwoods and Redbuds bloom white and red in the woods’ understory as I descend to the shore of the Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.  I’m taking my first rest day here at the lake home of Kristin Danielson Bender, AHS Class of ’76, an hour’s drive from Jim & Kristin’s home in Tulsa.  I cycled through spotty rain drops the last 5 km, with more rain coming this weekend.

Kristin Danielson Bender & reCyclist

Coleman Theatre Miami, OK

Wisteria & Dogwood in The Coves at Bird island

A fox trots down Mockingbird Lane at dawn and deer pose as lawn ornaments in The Coves at Bird Island.  After visiting Larry at the guard shack of this gated community I continue cycling through the Oklahoma Ozarks with a cool tailwind on winding low traffic roads.  Valleys are 100m deep and I cross a 15 cm deep stream on the way to Clear Creek Lavender farm.  My Warmshowers hosts Chris & Denise share a delicious vegetarian quiches dinner in their new house with guests Mike & Emily of Three Springs Farm, a CSA.  Read about my visit on Denise’s blog.

Denise & Chris at Clear Creek Lavender

Fording a stream in the OK Ozarks

The Clear Creek Monastery

After breakfast and a visit to the neighboring Clear Creek Monastery, I continue skirting the western edge of the Ozarks. I’m still on twisty back roads but some hills are much steeper around Fort Gibson Lake. I haven’t gotten off to push yet, but almost lost traction with this front-wheel drive recumbent bike. As the grade get steeper there is less weight on the front wheel.  Today’s 27 degrees C ( 82F) is the hottest yet and the NW tailwind shifted to a SW headwind.  I wasn’t sure where I’d camp until I saw this town campground on the Arkansas River. I’ll leave the Ozarks when I cross over and head away from the Arkansas River.  The term Ozark is derived from the French. Trappers shortened the phrase “aux Arkansas”, meaning “going toward Arkansas”, to “aux Arks”.

Sardis Lake, OK

I was up and over the Arkansas river bridge in a cool dawn. I updated my last entry at a McDonalds from 8-10 am for $2.95.  I had a very pleasant ride through flatter terrain, then 2-3 km gradual inclines through the Sansbois mountains. Logging trucks passed in this piney woods;  site of the infamous Robbers Cave, now a state park.  That Jesse James left his mark all over the place, from Northfield, MN to here.  While going downhill my rear wheel froze up and I skidded to a halt, rubber burning.  Expecting a major mechanical headache; I found that my wool socks, drying in a net bag, got wedged between tire and frame. A sock brake. The socks are still wearable.  Later on, my hammock unstrapped itself from under the seat and the rear wheel ran it over.  That’s happened before and I’ve now added a fail-safe strap.  I’m seeing Black Vultures and Armadillo roadkill.  I got in late to a beautiful campsite on Sardis Lake.  The host waived the $15 fee and it has showers!

Hennessey Hammock

The Paris Texas Cowboy Eiffel Tower.

Ahh, there’s nothing like April in Paris.  I pushed hard to get here today just so I could write that opening line. I’ve been gooping up with sunscreen mornings and putting on leggings and long sleeves in the afternoon. My sunburnt shins are starting to blister.  I fought heat exhaustion as I crawled the last 25 km to Paris against 30 kph headwinds and a record high of 30 degrees Celsius (86F).

Let this be a warning to all coyotes.