Cyclists Rule: May 12, 2009

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Farm family and friends we stayed with

Pilot Grove, MO.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Clinton to Pilot Grove, MO

66 miles. Today was the first of several on the Katy Trail, which runs on the former roadbed of the Katy Railroad. It was a wonderful experience - no need to be on the alert for vehicular traffic, just enjoy the scenery, the sounds and the smells (other than the plentiful dead animal smells in the nearby trees and bushes). As you can see from the pictures, this section of the trail is almost completely enclosed by trees - which in many places form a canopy overhead. So most of the scenery is ahead of and behind you, which is a little strange at first. There was almost no one on the trail today, so 99% of the time we were completely alone again. For that matter we saw a grand total of 4 other cyclists today and they were obviously out for a day ride. We have now traveled over 800 miles and have yet to see anyone else doing a long-distance bike trip. We're beginning to think we are in an old Twilight Zone episode where the rest of the cyclists on earth have disappeared.
The surface of the trail is crushed limestone on top of packed dirt. It is superbly maintained by the state parks department, but we found it just soft enough in many places to require us to expend significantly more energy than if we were on a paved surface. So by the time we rolled to a stop today in Pilot Grove (population 733)we were pretty tired.

We had intended to stay at a B&B here but found out that it is currently closed. However, the family that owns the place (Vergil and Dolores) has a home outside of town on a farm and they invited us to stay with them. They came into town and picked us up at the trailhead and took us to the farm, where Dolores put on this huge spread for dinner (I ate 3 platefuls, it was that good and I was so hungry). They had several guests over for dinner and we had all had great time sitting around the table after the wonderful meal telling stories and laughing. Vergil and Dolores also had family visiting from California using the guest room, so they put Penny and I in the master bedroom while they slept somewhere else (I was embarrassed to ask where). In the morning they will make us breakfast and take us back to the trailhead. It continues to amaze us (and uplift us) how generous and kind people can be, particularly in small towns.