Fall of 2013 I went with my Bike Friday folding bicycle to Missouri, attending a class reunion in Salem and visiting in Columbia.

Home to Fort Leonard Wood to Salem (9/26-9/29)

Early Thursday morning I left San Francisco airport and flew to Missouri.  The last leg of the flight from St Louis to Fort Leonard Wood was on a Cessna 404, with 9 passengers and a pilot.  I sat behind the pilot and talked with him as he identified the cities we flew over.  After landing I unfolded the bicycle, packed my camping gear in the trailer and rode from the airport around midnight.  The night was balmy so I wore a T-shirt.  The barracks and buildings were quiet.  I passed a vacant guard station, walked the bicycle around a fence blocking the road, and crossed the Big Piney River which I could hear beneath the road.  I heard deer communicating and a coyote crossed the road.  I found a nice place along a stream, set up the tent, and slept.

Friday morning before getting on the road I stepped back to get a picture of the bicycle and became covered with what I later learned was “beggar lice”, small seeds which stick to everything.  I removed the ones necessary for riding.  The roads were like ribbons laid on rolling ground and very nice for biking.  I used the range of gears, including walking.  Traffic was light but when a vehicle needed to pass with a hill or traffic ahead, I got off the road.  I went through the towns of Flat, Edgar Springs, and Lenox before arriving in Salem.  I rode to the city park where I once spent a lot of time at the pool, for a class picnic.  I was low on water and glad to be hydrated.  I enjoyed the picnic with hot dogs and s’mores.  I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for the weekend.  In addition to beggar lice I also had a healthy case of poison ivy, and was glad to have a break from the outdoors.

Class activities included a brunch at Montauk State Park, where I enjoyed camping and fishing as a child, an open house at classmates’ home, dinner where several of us enjoyed recounting our experiences growing up, and a float trip on the Current River, which was beautiful and wild as I remembered it.

Salem to Columbia to home (9/30-10/5)

Monday I pedaled around town and visited a few people, then headed north.  I met a friend from St. Louis and we rode the last part of Hwy 68 to Maramec Spring Park.  I planned to stay there but we stopped to see classmates at their home and they invited us to stay for supper and I stayed overnight.  I left in the morning and stopped in St. James for groceries and lunch.  In the evening, after going through Belle, I found a nice place to camp.  I kept a tube of Cortisone 10 nearby as the itching from poison oak spread and I didn’t want to assist it.

Tuesday morning I continued going north.  At his invitation, I stopped at Carl Rhoads Farm Toy Store and bought tractors for my grandchildren.  I continued north through Linn and into Jefferson City.  The wide shoulder along the highway came to an abrupt end over a street, so I walked the bike down the embankment to the cross street.  I crossed a very nice bicycle walkway over the Missouri River and then on the Katy Trail heading west.  I camped in Hartsburg.

Wednesday I awoke to rain and considered moving the tent to a nearby gazebo but it was already wet.  After breakfast at Dotty’s Cafe I continued on the Katy Trail along the Missouri River bottoms through Wilton, Easley, Providence, and McBaine.  Years ago I enjoyed motorcycling and bicycling in this area, and remembered how it would often flood.   From McBaine I took the MKT Trail to Columbia.

I stayed with friends in Columbia and enjoyed visiting, exchanging stories, 4-wheeling, watching dog agility training, and visiting houses where I lived.  Saturday I planned to bicycle to the airport, but was thankful for a ride during through a thunderstorm.  Unfortunately coach was not available through frequent flier miles so I flew first class back to San Jose, a contrast with camping, but I handled it okay.

The poison ivy is mostly gone but good memories persist.

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Map of Route