Daily Page 6

It was starting to rain. The clouds were ominous. Doppler showed showers in Kansas City heading toward Marshall so we hit the road in a hurry and managed to stay ahead of it!

We rolled up and down all those hills until noon but we were so happy to have 25 miles on my odometer by that time. Came upon a picturesque bed and breakfast and restaurant in Arrow Rock. A busy day for the tiny town as they have live theatre that was doing Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" for both matinee and evening performances. Actually, I thought it was quite amazing to find theatre in this tiny town with farms stretching out forever.

Gabriel caught us in early afternoon and then we went searching for the "Katy Trail." Tony and I were on the bridge above and over the trail--looking down and thinking we needed a parachute. After asking questions, we finally arrived at a starting point and pedaled the next 15 miles on the trail.

It was so gorgeous! It's the old railroad bed converted for bicycle usage. One great feature--no hills! There were some really rough spots caused by 17 inches of rain here a couple of weeks ago but we maneuvered through them. There were many small towns along the trail where you can come off to get something to eat or drink and view the train stations that were so meticulously painted. The exit at Roqueport was astounding! As I prepared to ride under the bridge through the tunnel, the entire path was covered with crunching fallen leaves but the surrounding foliage was deep green and "leaned into" the path itself. It was one of those mental photographs remembered forever.

After we left the trail we finished the rest of our 61 miles that had been our goal for the day. Gabriel actually climbed on Tony's bike and pedaled six of the miles with me. It was enough to confirm his earlier statement made in my book Angel on My Handlebars--"I still don't like that seat stuck up my ass!"

Total miles pedaled to date--301.3--only 1,098.7 to go! Love, Patricia