Day 20 Farmington-Cuba Mo. - John's Half -N- Half Adventure - CycleBlaze

September 9, 2018

Day 20 Farmington-Cuba Mo.

On my way to Rt 66 with some hills thrown in

Today was a lot cooler than it's been. I got a later start today, I was dreading the amount of Hills that might be on tap today. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm not on the Trans Am anymore so Matt and Camilla and I said our goodbyes, hugs all around.They'll stay on the Trans-Am until Pueblo,Co. then take the western Express route to San Francisco. Great couple to travel with we had a blast. Since I'm off the Trans Am, I was bushwhacking with Google Maps. I stopped at McDonald's for a senior coffee and sausage burritos. Then it was time to clock in and go to work, Google had me go on left and right and up and down. I finally really looked at the road I was so going to be on. State Route 8 which is what I was on coming out of Farmington. State Route 8 in Farmington was a two-lane road with a 10-foot shoulder, my personal bike lane. Google had me on Old State Route 8, it wasn't a bad road, but the road went up one Hill and down the other. Finally I said when I get close to the new State Route 8 I'm going to take a look at it. I turned towards State Route 8 was only about a hundred yards from old State Route 8. The new State Route 8 had a good size shoulder, and most importantly the hills were much more gradual. So way I went on the new State Route 8. I figured if the shoulder disappeared I can always go back to the old State Route 8. The shoulder didn't disappear. I got my second flat of the trip in Potosi, MO. Actually if you're going to have a flat, the place was perfect. A gas station with an out-of-the-way Corner which no one drove in, so I didn't have to be in anyone's way. Patched the Old Tube since I had room to work, and packed that one away. Put the new tube in, put the bike back together and then I was off again. After Potosi the shoulder was less generous, but doable. I took my mid-afternoon break at a roadside table rest area, something you don't see too much on secondary roads anymore. Rock walls around it we're quite unique. About 10 miles before a Cuba, The town of Steelville had a cool twist for their downtown decorations, they had half canoes painted by local artists.At Steelville Google tried to get me again by sending me on this side street with a mountain of a hill, it could have been used as a runaway truck Hill, it was that Steep and abrupt. I outsmarted Google and stayed on US Route 19 it had a shoulder with a rumble strip right in the middle, not ideal, but less steep hills.I made it to Cuba, the Mural City. Can't wait to check that out tomorrow.

Oh boy, another Hill Day
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My own personal bike lane
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Flat number 2
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Potosi, where's all the BMW Riders?
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Oh wait that's next month.There is a big BMW rally here in October.
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Cool rock wall at the rest stop
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Every Town's got to have a niche
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Theirs are canoes
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Down and up again
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Darn, my bike lane has a rumble strip in the middle of it
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Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 1,105 miles (1,778 km)

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