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Missouri Tour Day 17 – Augusta to St. Charles

04 Saturday Jul 2026

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We’re in St. Charles today! The end of the trail, at least as far as we are concerned. Got here around 1:00.  It was only 30 miles. We met Thierry and Jeff today, rode over 20 miles with them. We all had lunch at the Bike Stop Cafe just 1 mile past our hotel. They still had 45 miles to go after we separated. We had 1 mile to go. I didn’t feel guilty, although I think they may have slowed down a bit for me.  Fun fact: Thierry and Jeff met at a hostel on a trail in Oregon on their way across the country. 

Our average speed today was 11 mph. I think it’s because I had people to talk to. Or maybe because I had people to chase. Or because my computer broke, so I wasn’t focusing on numbers. Or because I knew it was only 30 miles. I am a very psychological athlete.

4:00 PM

We are sitting in a park on the river, watching people on the trail. We’ve seen a lot more locals than bike tourists, which is great. Because we’ve seen maybe 10 other tourists. 

St. Charles is an old, historic French town. And I’m going to spend a little more time here tomorrow, because… Dana is going to ride to St. Louis tomorrow without me, and without his panniers and front pack. So he gets some Carolyn-free time, and I get some ass-not-on-a-bike-seat time. I’ll pack and move everything and check out.

It’s a win-win. Okay, maybe I’m winning just a little bit more. 

5:15 PM

We’re sitting on Main St. in St. Charles, drinking malteds. If we are still hungry later we will have dinner. This may not be good for us, but we think we deserve it.

6:30

Ok, we’re having dinner. But it’s tapas, so we can go slow.

I may not write any more of these, at least not every day, unless something really good or really bad happens. We’ll be on I-70 tomorrow, so you never know. And a big THANKS to anyone who’s read any of my ramblings and observations.

Missouri Tour Day 14 – Rain Delay

04 Saturday Jul 2026

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7:30 AM

The weather forecast is for rain and thunderstorms all day. Dana just emailed the next B&B, hopefully we can move our reservation out one day. 🤞🤞🤞

Twelve years ago, if I’d suggested not riding in thunderstorms, Dana might have called me a meandering wimp. Now he said “great idea”. Getting older isn’t all bad 

7:35 AM

All set. Phew. Happy Anniversary to us. 35 years. We celebrated our 23rd on our ride to Florida with pizza delivery in a motel room, with sodas from the machine. And now I’m having the last slice of prison pizza for breakfast. I’ve been thinking about it since 3 AM. I really should have eaten dinner. 

My advice, to anyone thinking of doing anything like this, is to have enough time and money to pivot when necessary. Otherwise, I suggest being younger. Because I REALLY didn’t want to ride 40 BLEEPING miles in wet chat without the button. 

1:30 PM

We Ubered into town, had breakfast, bought Gatorade, considered going to a museum, then Ubered back to the hotel. The vote for the museum was 0 to >0. Sometimes 0’s gotta win. 

It is bright and sunny now. Of course it is.

I’m sorry if this is TMI, but I am (almost) completely slathered in Benadryl. I think one of the bites in my right neck cluster has a bite of its own. All of Dana’s bites have calmed down, and his knee is scabbing over nicely.

He worked harder the first half of this ride, I’m working harder the second half. But it’s no longer a competition. We will take a lot of rest breaks, learn a lot of history, and see a lot more of the Missouri River. Tomorrow’s destination is The Doll House B&B. We will stop at mile 30ish for a meal at Holzhauser’s Bar and Grill. Looks like there are no services within 10 miles of the dollhouse. 

Missouri Tour Day 13 – Rest Day in Jefferson City

04 Saturday Jul 2026

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The problem with taking a rest day on a bike tour is that you are still on a BLEEPING bicycle.

Ok, only 5 miles today. Breakfast at First Watch, them a trip to CVS. I got bug repellent and Benadryl gel, Dana bought new sexy nerd reading glasses.

We rode here on a local bikway, and what did we see (and hear) but pickleball! We watched for a few minutes, that was enough. As for breakfast, Dana had candied bacon, and a pancake bigger than his head. I’m not trying to kill him, but First Watch seems to be. (If I kill him, it will have to be after this trip, because, alone, I could get lost on a bike trail.)

We went to the Missouri State Penitentiary, which is now a tourist attraction. We got a tour of the surviving buildings, with a warning to NOT close any of the cell doors because sometimes they will NOT open. I know they make these rules for people like me, so I was very careful. We saw Pretty Boy Floyd’s cell, and James Earl Ray’s. Dana thought I was nuts wanting to go there, but I think he enjoyed it, too. 

After lunch at Prison Brews – their restrooms are called Gas Chambers, we went to the Penitentiary Museum, also fascinating. But after a while, Dana found a chair in the AC more fascinating. So we Ubered back to our hotel (1.7m). We Ubered this morning too, because it’s hot, and why sweat on our day off. Now we are sitting in our air conditioned hotel room, doing absolutely nothing, and loving it 

So we both just looked at our phones and said “yeah, 7:15 is bedtime”. We are worn out. Dana had left over Prison Brews pizza for dinner. I’m not hungry. I’m looking forward to a lot of Gatorade tomorrow, even if it’s heavy and bad for me. 

So right now the only thing I’m really unhappy about is all of my BLEEPING bug bites. And when I showed them to Dana, he said “yeah, I have those”, and then we competed over it for a few seconds. Tomorrow we will use the bug repellent, and keep the Benadryl handy.

And it’s going to rain tomorrow! 😂 But at least I’m not worried about it killing my button.