Cyclists Rule: May 17, 2009

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Troy to Louisiana, MO

47.5 miles. The hilliest day we've experienced yet. The first 38 miles (Troy to Clarksville) were the toughest, as this part of the ride was mostly on county roads. They tend to have been built under looser (or nonexistent) grading standards, so some of the climbs were very steep although at least we did not have to get off and push the tandem up any hills today.

On the plus side, the scenery was beautiful and there was very little traffic. From Troy to Clarksville we saw classic farmsteads and beautiful wooded hills. At Clarksville, we reached the banks of the Mississippi and began riding northward on the western flank of the river. The river is high as you would expect this time of year, and we watched an amazing amount of debris float rapidly, including whole trees. A man at the riverfront park in Louisiana told us that boaters generally don't use the river at this time of year out of fear of fouling the engines of their boats. And then there is the metal boat ramp, completely submerged at the moment (they didn't bother to put up warning signs; I guess you are just supposed to know it is there). Hitting that in your boat might put a damper on your Memorial Day
picnic.

We are staying in Louisiana tonight, an old river town. It looks pretty beat up, but there are pockets of renovated buildings and homes that are encouraging to see. The place we are staying, for example, is an old bank building that an enterprising woman converted to a small restaurant and B&B. She not only did a beautiful job, but also took a leap of faith in putting serious $ into a business that may or may not make it. We admired both the decor of her place as well as her guts for taking such a financial risk.