Marthasville to Troy, MO

35 miles. This should have been an easy day, based on the low mileage. But for a number of reasons it was a tough day. First, we are both bruised and sore from the crash yesterday. We both bruised some ribs and tweaked a knee, in addition to having road rash. Second, we slept in our tent on the concrete slab of a covered pavilion, which was not horrible but not very restful - particularly because there were thunderstorms and heavy rain most of the night (we were very thankful we were under the covering; we stayed completely dry). We'd also forgotten how early in the morning the bird chatter begins, especially the jays who seem to live in a perpetual state of domestic turmoil. After a less than ideal breakfast at the Marthasville C-store (microwaved egg and sausage sandwiches and chocolate donuts), we then set out on a windy, cool day. And, of course, there was primarily a headwind most of the day. Fourth, we had to climb some very steep hills today as we worked our way out of the Missouri River valley and began to head north in a path roughly paralleling the Mississippi River. One rather long climb was so steep that we had to stop, get off and push the tandem and trailer to the top. We expected to have to do that at some point on this trip, but it would have been nice if it had occurred on a day when we were feeling better.

To top the day off, our rear tire just wore out about 5 miles from the end of the ride. The tread was so bare in two spots that the tube was actually bulging through the tread (we were amazed that the tube had not failed)! So once again we had to undertake the whole convoluted task of removing the rear tire. Fortunately, we had a spare tire with us, although once again a kind person stopped to ask if we needed help. (The sight of two people with all their luggage strewn on the roadside working on an upside-down tandem must be too pathetic for at least some people to ignore.) We got it fixed and finished the ride looking forward to a hot shower and a real bed to sleep in. Some days are diamonds and some are rust, and this was clearly one of the latter.

Old hardwar store in Troy

It's a very nice-looking town but I was too tired to take more pics.
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Missouri countryside

Between Marthasville and Wright City. This is typical of the scenery we saw all day, but the only photo I snapped during our ride.
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