Meramec to St Francois State Park

Ride Stats: 
Distance:  50 mi
Avg Speed:  9.2 mph
Climbed:  4210 ft!
Weather:  60 to 70, Overcast, Afternoon Showers, No Wind

Wow, these hills are getting more and more intense.  Grades of 10% and over are the norm, and the worst was 16%.  I had to walk that one.  I'm naming these hills, Sierra Nevada's East.  The rainy weather system seems stuck over us.  It's a nice temperature for riding, but it would be nice to see the sun again.  After all, I'm carrying sunscreen.

Early in my ride today I was charged by a full size pit bull.  He had a good angle on me and clearly meant business.  He wasn't wasting any energy on barking, and had those "dead eyes" of a killer. I hit him in the face with pepper spray from about 10 ft away, and used his hesitation to accelerate away from him. The adrenalin was flowing after that and I needed it for the hills ahead.

Other than on the Katy Trail, I've had run-ins with dogs several times a day.  The one I call "The Handoff" was one where I snuck up on a house with a porch full of dogs and raced by before they could get a good chase angle.  They chased anyway, with lots of barking, and alerted a house 1/2 mile down the road with another porch full of bigger dogs that were ready and waiting for me.  Had to use pepper spray on the lead dog to slow him down.  The one I call "The Sleeper" was a big black dog laying in the middle of the road at the bottom of a steep hill.  I had to ring my bell to alert him because I didn't want to startle him into running into me as I passed him.  He jumped up when he heard my bell and positioned himself at the side of road barking and prepared to lunge, but I yelled in my most threatening voice and made a hand motion like I was throwing something as I got next to him.  He hesitated just long enough for me to breeze by, and couldn't catch up.  The bad news is, I hear Kentucky's worse.

A great old Jaguar Sedan for $4500.  May need some work.

Masonic Cemetery, circa 1908, on a quiet country road.

Good looking campsite.

 

Pasta and homemade Marinara, with Italian sausage.  Should keep me going tomorrow.

As long as I don't spend too much time at the campfire tonight.