I was a little apprehensive about our ride today… I had taken a look at the elevation map and seen an abundance of spiky peaks and I knew we were hoping to cover a fair distance too. The Ozarks have been on my mind ever since we started planning this trip. I had heard they were steep and tough. I’m pleased to say that – so far – although they’ve certainly been challenging, I’ve really enjoyed all the riding. I guess the climbs in the Appalachian Range prepped me for what lay ahead…
Anyway, onto today’s news…
We got out of jail free!
In fact, not only were we out, but we were on our way after a great night’s sleep and a good breakfast. As we retrieved our bikes from the parking area under the house, we noticed an old wheel that had been discarded after a very hard life of touring – note the stretched spoke holes (and missing spokes!)
We were enjoying the cool bright morning, cycling along very pretty streets still damp from an early morning downpour.
We had about 18 miles to cover before our second breakfast stop. It was beautiful riding.
It being Memorial Weekend, almost everyone seemed to have taken to the hills for some camping (and almost all the campers seemed to have taken their ATV with them too). We found a diner that was very busy with the local campers and squeezed into a booth before squeezing down a couple of stacks of particularly good pancakes.
The day was warming up nicely as we got back on the bikes. We started with a gentle climb, then onto some fantastic undulating, well-surfaced road that allowed us to whip along at 18 mph or so. The scenery was even better than the early part of the ride.
After another 15 miles, we reached Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park. The Shut-In refers to a type of rock formation that the river flows over – as the rock is worn away, the river forms large pools. It was great to look at, and after a hot morning on the bikes, even better to get in.
There were some much tougher climbs ahead of us after we left the park, and as the route swung to the south, we started to notice a headwind that would have us pedaling even on the downhills to keep forward momentum.
By three o’clock, we were in need of some more fuel. We spotted a diner and didn’t hesitate to stop. Jan had the BBQ pork sandwich, I had the special: fried chicken with mash potato and green beans.
It was a good job we stopped, there were plenty more hills to contend with, and the headwind seemed to have got stronger once we got back on the bikes.
Nearing 5.30pm we saw the final descent into Ellington. We were even more excited to find an open supermarket with a decent veg section. They even had avocados.
We checked into the only motel in town. We thought about camping in the city park but the possibility of no shower after a particularly strenuous day helped us narrow down the accommodation options! The shower was amazing: I think I sloughed of a few extra layers of dirt, sunscreen and sweat.
Then we hit the town. Actually, there was only one place open on a Sunday night so we headed there. It was a pizza place and the food was great. We even got a salad!
There are plenty of hills to contend with tomorrow, but with a shorter distance to cover, we’re planning to be off the road before the end-of-holiday rush.
