DAY 32

ROUTE:Chillicothe,MO to Kirksville,MO	DISTANCE:82 miles	WINDS:Fairly calm
WEATHER:82 degrees and beautiful!	TERRAIN:Missouri farmland	CLIMBING:Grrr! Up and down and up and down....

Wednesday, July 7th. Hills, hills, hills. That's all we saw all day long. We get to the top of one and see the next one waiting for us at the bottom. Honestly, we did nothing but climb and coast all day until about the last five miles, and I was totally sick of it by mile 60! :) It was still fun, though. We started out the day with French toast at the Country Kitchen, and since my table was the last one served, I started out at the back of the pack. I rode with Joyce for most of the morning (Andy called us "Team Estrogen"), and we picked up Michael D. not too long into the ride. The scenery today was really nice....lush fields of soybeans or corn, pastures with mares and foals, beautiful green land. I saw lots of stuff on the way UP the hills, but didn't see anything on the way down because I was riding too fast! Some of the hills were the kind that start right back up and you can use your momentum to shoot you all the way to the top. Way too many of the hills today flattened out too much at the bottom to do that, and we did a little suffering as we cranked our way up. Still, days like this give you a real sense of accomplishment. After all, ABB says that anyone can ride a bike in nice weather, on flat roads, and with tailwinds. The challenge is to ride in all sorts of conditions. Some of the roads we were on today were V, K, KK, BB, B, and C. No lie. Think maybe the road-namers ran out of creativity? The most excitement today was watching John Paquet being ambushed and chased by a really sneaky dog....we watched all of this from the bottom of a hill about a quarter mile away. Since he didn't get caught by the dog, it's okay to laugh about it! There was no place to eat lunch today, so we survived on SAG stop fare of bananas, Oreos, Goldfish, energy bars, and Gatorade until we got to the hotel at 1:30. At route rap tonight, Tom returned the Chicken with a rope (string) around its neck. He claimed that the chicken had hanged himself, but Mason revived it with some quick CPR (C stands for chicken) and then passed it to Ken from Connecticut. At dinner, Michael D. sat at a table with Cliff, our new rider who just happens to be a psychiatrist...we're hoping Cliff can help, but he told me that he didn't think he had enough time! :) We give Michael a hard time, but he's a great sport. Tomorrow we head 97 miles to Quincy,Illinois...another state behind us! We'll cross the Mississippi River by ferry, and the climbing tomorrow will be minimal. Should be a great day! Check back in!

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