June 25-26th - Hartville, MO to Ash Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS

Mileage: 76 miles, 70 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 90 degrees, 95 degrees
Wow, I am finding this very hard to write as it is hard for me to exactly remember yesterday as all the days are running together. So in Hartville, MO I woke up in my tent in front of the court house. We started riding and just cruising along. The hills were starting to flatten out and we were starting to like it!! First stop was in Marshfield, MO where we ate at a breakfast. I had this delicious stuffed French toast with strawberries on top. Best French toast EVER!! We then road on and had our second water stop of the day at about mile 50 and then kept moving on. For some reason toward the end of the ride there were some really steep hills coming into Ash Grove, MO and I think most of us were pretty tired by this time and well, not expecting them. Finally, we got into Ash Grove and were very excited that we were staying right by a pool as it was very hot out!! We all decided to cool off in the pool and then get showers. The church had a small hall/house (empty) right by the pool/park where they were having a BBQ dinner that they invited all of us to eat with them. So that we did. Once the dinner was over, they allowed us to sleep on the floor in the house which we were very thankful of as it was air conditioned and there were no bugs!! Slept well and woke up this morning well rested.
Got up and on the road at about 7:45 am and were informed previously that in Pittsburg, KS that there was a pizza place that was going to serve us lunch for free at 2:00 pm so we had to watch the clock and keep moving. We got on the road and things were getting even flatter so we were able to make good time. About 4 miles out from our first rest stop we made a turn heading north and well the wind was from the south so this was a very quick fast rolling 4 miles. However, about two miles out myself and one of the other girls that I was riding with saw 3 of the guys that are in our group sitting in the ditch and asked if they needed anything and they had said that they called the van so we figured everything was okay and kept rolling on. Once we got to the rest stop we had found out that the three of them were riding a pace line and for those of you that don’t know what this is, it is when you ride very close behind the person in front of you to get a draft off of them. Well with the tailwind they were going about 30+ mph and the second person hit the wheel of the person in front and he went down. The person in the back managed to avoid the wreck. This really can happen to anyone in a pace line and it is kind of one of those things that is like “at your own risk.” He was pretty shook up, so they took him to the ER and it turns out that all that he had as a lot of road rash. This person is actually one of the route leaders so he only gets to ride every other day and will be taking a few days off now.
After about 35 miles came to our first rest stop in some little town where a small restaurant had great pie!! Our leader Pepper had eaten here last year and had told us about it so I had to try some. By this time I was quite hungry so I decided to have a piece of peach and a piece of banana pie as well and he was correct, they were delicious!! Waited here for about 1.5 hours as we had thought a storm was rolling in. This was setting us back. Finally got word that it was going to pass and it was okay to ride on. The last 33 miles went by fairly fast as well. There were some cross winds that slowed us down a bit however, not too much. Finally, about 3 miles out from Pittsburg, KS we came to the Kansas border and had to stop to take some pictures with the Kansas sign!! Many of the riders were there and we were informed that there were some waiting at an intersection in town for the rest of us as there was news media at this pizza place that was giving us lunch. So we all road in together. The pizza was wonderful and we all socialized with everyone and some people with MS as well. There is a lady that they know from town here named Gina who has MS who arranged all of this for us. She also arranged for us to go a few blocks down the street then to a different place who gave us frozen custard for free. It was good as well!! And so much more she did for us. There was a pool hall in this same area that allowed us to play pool in the late afternoon for free, so some of us went there to hang out and stay cool in the air conditioning. We then rode about a mile or two to the high school and got showers and then Gina had arranged for dinner for us as well. It was so kind of her and also for us to stay in the gym, where there is air conditioning!! She is just so appreciative because she knows that without the money for research for medication she would not have medication to take for her MS. She also arranged for a woman to speak who has MS as well. The woman did a wonderful job speaking and spoke about her experience with MS. She stated that she was 57 years old was diagnosed at 21 years old and how she had lost vision at one time, hearing and is now deaf, couldn’t walk, couldn’t smell, couldn’t taste or even move. She stated how medication has turned her life around and now she is just thankful that she can stand. She still has many symptoms and has had to have many surgeries on her back. She stated how she used to be a nurse manager on a unit and how MS affected her career. It was wonderful to hear her speak because it really made all of us remember why we are doing this and why we raised the funds. She stated that many people today who are diagnosed with MS will not have to go through what she has gone through due to testing and research which evolves from the funds raised. It was very inspirational and we have truly had the opportunity to meet some really great people along the way!! So it has been a very busy and eventful day!! At this time it is 11:00 pm and I am surprised that almost everyone is still up, but its wayyyyyyyyyy past my bedtime. Good thing we have hopefully what will be a short and easy day of 60ish flat miles, that is if the wind decides to cooperate with us!!