In Mark Twain's boyhood hometown

After yesterday's long ride, the order of the day was to take today easy for the most part. This was particularly the case after one of the riders was sick all night and morning and worshipped the white porcelain object in the bathroom. Not sure if it was food poisoning or lingering heat exhaustion and electrolyte imbalances. Better safe than sorry though as our immune systems are undoubtedly taxed by the riding, heat, and humidity.

Our ride for today was once again rerouted. Apparently the road we were supposed to go on was destroyed in a big rainstorm a few years ago and has not been repaired. The road just slid down the hillside. This is another sign of the fiscal problems that governments face: too few dollars chasing too many needs. The new route was on pleasant enough rural roads for the most part. We were on Highway 61 for 3+ miles and it was much busier than in the South. It reminded me of the interstate riding with many semis booming by.

Our SAG was in front of the Ralls County Courthouse in the town of New London. The town newspaper was across the street and a reporter came out to take our picture. The county assessor came out to greet us and give us a little history of the town. I chatted with him about his job and my background with Colorado's county assessors. His problems are no different than for assessors in Colorado.

Lots of rolling hills today. One of the pictures shows four rollers over the next 1 1/4 miles. This road was roughly surfaced so we were reluctant to gather speed down the hills. The rollers after the SAG were on smooth roads so we could let it go down those hills. There were 4 sections that had been freshly oiled and chipped sealed. The first one came up abruptly and we were scrambling to slow down and not hit each other as we found our way through it.

We are in Hannibal, MO tonight. As it was just a short ride of 41 miles, we had plenty of time to explore the area where Mark Twain grew up and had the experiences that led to the publication of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Staff kindly provided shuttle rides to the area about 2 miles distant from our lodging for the night.

This place of rest for the evening almost makes last night's stay look like a four-star hotel. We were notified at the SAG that the planned hotel was in a remodelling phase and could not accomodate us. The tour company's worldwide headquarters made apparent last-minute arrangements for this bombed-out looking place and would not upgrade us to a nationally- branded motel across the street. Of course, perhaps they could not accomodate us for the evening.

Highlight of the day: Blasting down rollers and steaming up the other side for as long as possible.

Day's stats: 41.4 miles; 14.1 mph; 2017 feet climbing.

Pictures: Group picture L-R Tom, Bill, John, Pixie, and Keith; Tom in front of Tom Sawyer's white-washed picket fence; rollers.