Some Words From Missouri

We decided to take a third rest day here in Farmington because we really like it here and we want to let Todd’s knee build back up as much as possible. Our Couchsurfing hosts Kelsey and Sara have been super friendly, hospitable, and accommodating. They opened up their home to us, fed us amazing vegan food (including cookies!), let us clean and rest up, and introduced us to good friends and conversations. We pushed it too hard to get here in 5 days and covered over 400 miles with Todd’s injured knee. We cut our speed in half and took frequent breaks, but we still were doing 70-90 miles a day. Hardly taking it “easy”. However, it has been much more rewarding to rest up here than in a tent being bothered by weather, animals, camping fees, and questionable comfort/cleanliness. We need to be well-rested and ready to ride with the Ozark Mountain range looming just about 30 miles away from here. I will not take Todd into our first mountain range until his knee is able to handle it. Having a long term knee injury due to trying to rush through recovery is not something we can afford. That being said, his knee is doing well. It is amazing what 3 days off the bike can do.

We plan on getting back on the bikes just as the sun rises tomorrow morning to begin our journey through the Ozark Mountain Range. This will be the first of three mountain ranges that we cross through on our journey. Covering over 40,000 square miles, the Ozarks are the only mountain range between the Appalachian and Rocky mountains. The elevation gets up around 1,700 feet, with many steep grades. It will be good training for the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains. -K