Oh yea another storm in the middle of the night, and what a beauty, thunder, lightning, loads of rain, wind that was ferocious and once again we had not put the tarp over the tent. Hey it looked great as we sat round the fire and looked at the stars, only hours earlier!! Jack and Felipe were the men, actually it was Jack who summonsed Felikpe to get up and out and help him with the tarp. Well done lads great job, although by now we were all awake and listening to the storm. The wind was pretty rough and I do remember thinking OK so where will we land as literally the tent rose from the ground – but it’s a great tent PJ and it clung to the ground. PJ Watson and family who had loaned us the tent for this epic journey, and we want to thank them, it’s kept us pretty safe and pretty dry in the two storms that we’ve been through. Holly in her own tent, was apparently praying to stay alive and make it back to the Bronx, all the way through the storm! The rain didn’t stop and it was belting down when we ventured out of the tent, pouring big cats and dogs. We took refuge in the last evenings Church service open barn hoping for some divine intervention! Now you have to understand that for the last 21 days we get up, pack up and get on the road to ride, so when Shrubb produces bacon and eggs this completely throws us! What - breakfast?!!! And yes he’s even going to cook it for us. Well divine intervention didn’t stop the rain, but manner from heaven – YES!! Thank you Shrubb a wonderful gesture and please do it again – he’s actually leaving tomorrow, sadly.
Breakfast in the rain, pack up in the rain, load the bikes in the rain - we had decided to drive the 12 miles into Rolla to the local bike repair shop, Route 66 Bikes, to get all the bikes repaired. Still raining on the way in, but as we get to the shop it stops and definitely starts to brighten up – whoopee! So the deal is Jack is going to stay with the bikes that need repaired and we will ride on, on the bikes that are good. My bike’s tyre has been repaired very quickly so I am able to ride too. The three ask about the route, and they unanimously decide to take the scenic route! Hey they are only here for two days so let’s keep them happy! Actually it’s a great route and really beautiful, have I described it before, rolling hills, open fields, trees for as far as the eye can see. Yes I think I have. But none the less a terrific ride. First 10 miles and guess what sod’s law – my new tyre punctures!! Jack’s a stalwart and drives back ot the bike shop and they repair it again! On we go into Jesse James country and Meramac caverns. These are where Jesse and the gang hid when being chased. Apparently these caverns are huge and spacious, where you can hide with your horses and literally anything. They stay pretty much at 60 degrees most of the time, which is more than can be said for the temp we were riding in – high 80s to low 90s. We sweated loads as you can imagine.
Some terrific old wagons on the side of the road, and off course signs that maybe suggest that maybe the English had been here before – St Albans!!
Angel gave me the low down on the Lewis and Clark trail, explorers who had crossed America trying to map out a route across this huge country. Angel told me that they had an Indian guide helping them, and this was one of the reasons that they could pass through Indian territory. He seems to know what he is talking about that’s for sure.
The three were doing well, Tim was on the charge, Shrubb was riding the Blue machine and doing well and Holly was keeping the pace. I think the camelback helped.
There was some confusion about half way through the day, when we all took off in different directions, much to Shrubbs amazement. Once we had all met up again, it was viewed as a miracle by Shrubb. For us it was the second miracle the first being breakfast! The third miracle was Andriy’s driving. He’d taken a “No through road” while driving ahead, and had stopped thinking that we would all take this! The bikers all stuck to the correct route, the old Route 66. He did figure it out and came back and made the correct turn – so you see miracles do happen!
The final part of the ride into St Louis was pretty easy, going through some very beautiful and expensive areas. To our hotel, the Marriott Springhill Suites in Chesterfield, St Louis, which had been donated to us and boy we were ready for a good night’s rest. Before this though, Michael Puertas the Director of Squash at the St Louis Downtown Club, had kindly found sponsors for a meal at the Pii – the best pizza restaurant in St Louis. President Obama had had pizza from here and had also flown the chef down to DC to make pizza at the White House – so really good pizza. Great to catch up with Mike I had not seen him for some time, and was actually the England BU19 Assistant National Coach way back when with Mike in the squad and he made the team too, quite a player.
So a good day, and now we had a rest day tomorrow In St Louis and a definite visit to the Arch.
We want to say thanks to all the help in St Louis that we got from Mike and all the donors who made sure that we were very comfortable in a real bed and enjoyed great pizza – Cheers St Louis.
BP
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