Days 26-29; Mon.-Thu., 7/21-24, Things Come in 3's?

Post date: Jul 24, 2014 11:34:13 PM

Today was a good day as far as riding, we covered about 75 miles because of a small tailwind. Yes, because we're riding east to west we've pretty much had a headwing every day so this was a welcome change. On a bike you are much more in tune with the terrain. You notice little hills and big. This was a rollercoaster day. Knowing from my physics classes that energy is conserved, when I see rollers ahead and my eyes can tell that the farthest hill is about the same elevation as the one I'm one and start planning. If I give a little energy, to overcome friction and wind resistance, the latter playing the bigger role, I pedal both down and up, hoping my momentum takes me right to the top. As such I find myself constant running through all 24 gears, something I rarely do in the suburbs. This little game is exciting and exhausting.

We are now exiting our 3rd set of mountains, the Ozarks. Geologists believe this to be the oldest mountain range in the US. Still, last Tue. our up, down, up, down riding took us through 5800 ft. of elevation gain. It was exhausting. I've also visited a 3rd bike shop to get a shifter adjusted and am once again thankful for the great service found in Farmington, MO.

Other thoughts from the last few days; blessed to have great weather still, had & fixed a flat front tire, still feel good health-wise. (I'm curious about my weight but hopefully have dropped a few pounds. Finally tonight, did you know there are Armadillos in Missouri? Apparently they've been making their way north over the last few decades and have no natural predators except automobiles, a fight they lose. Doug broke into some song, "I want to go home to the armadillo . . . Amarillo" when I shared the preceding factlet with him and he also saved another turtle today.