Hermann to Meramec State Park

Ride Stats:
Distance:  57 mi
Avg Speed:  10.3 mph
Climbed:  3620 ft
Weather:  58 to 68, Overcast, Occasional Light Rain

After a big breakfast at Lindy's, a favorite local restaurant that opens at 6am;  I hit the road again, experiencing a mixture of State Highways, and both paved and unpaved County Roads.  Luckily the rain didn't start until I was done with the gravel roads.  The hills are hard enough to maintain traction on when they're dry. 

I must be cutting across some foothills of the Ozark Mountains because the terrain is getting more and more steep.  It's like a roller coaster ride, with painfully steep uphills and breathtakingly fast downhill stretches.  For the most part the pavement is good and the traffic is light enough to "let it rip."  I'm getting a lot of practice with the shifting mechanisms, and have already had to adjust the tension on the rear shifting cable.  I brought extra brake pads, just in case.

Seriously, you've never seen a bicyclist before?

Typical steep unpaved road.  Scenic, but challenging.

Clancy's Deli in Rosebud, MO makes a really good smoked turkey sandwich.  Half for lunch and half for the last hour.  I'm trying to keep my energy level high the whole ride, and avoid the "last hour misery" of last year's rides.

Really beautiful rivers in this part of the country.