Day 36 - Teamwork makes the dream work

Last time we blogged we spoke about crossing Missouri. And now, only 6 days later we answer from Pittsburg, Kansas! Days really went by quickly and we progressed well. Last sunday we met Finley, a retired school teacher from Arkansas, and Benjamin, an art student from Leipzig. We met them at Al's place in Farmington, MO, a real paradise for cyclists. It is almost like a hotel, but only for TransAm cyclists. The next morning Finley and Benjamin started earlier than we did, but after one hour of riding we catched up with them. We stayed together the whole day and talked a lot. We decided to stay together the next days because we really enjoyed the company of these two guys. When you ride in a group you are able to do more miles than expected, and thanks to the group ride we did 95 KM (59 miles) plus this week. Finley left us and went south to Arkansas yesterday. We hope he can enjoy all the comforts of being home again. It was a pleasure to meet you! :)

The weather last week was very contrary. One day we had three thunderstorms and lots of rain, and the other day we had 30 degrees celcius (86 degrees farenheit) and it was very humid. But in total we were very lucky with the weather because we only cycled on the edges of the huge thunderstorms...

As we entered Missouri on sunday we thought the worst mountainous part is over now. But then all of a sudden we had to cross the Ozarks. We had no idea that there are "mountains" between the appalachian and the rocky mountains. So once again we had to deal with steep climbs and downhill parts. But the further we went, the better it got. It is getting better and better (flatter and flatter) and the hills nearly dissapeared so we could increase speed. Yesterday for example, we had a nice sidewind from south and it only took us about two and a half hours to do our last 50KM (33 miles) of the day. It was a good preparation for Kansas by the way, because we had to cycle one single road. This is going to be normal in Kansas...

We met some cyclist going east and they all talked about heay headwinds in Kansas. So we might be lucky and have tailwinds on some days. Kansas here we come!

Hints for cyclists:
- Al's place in Farmington, MO (probably the best accomondation on the entire TransAm route!)
- Barham house, Ash Grove, MO (ask local police officer)
- Cooky's Cafe, Golden City, MO (Delicious burgers and pies!)

Total mileage so far: 2643Km (1642 miles)

Follow Finley on 》http://www.yakfishonabike.com/blog
Follow Benjamin on 》https://cyclingusa.wordpress.com

Day 2

Well, we expected first hard days on the route, but the very first day nearly knocked us out. 86 farenheit, heavy traffic, mountainous roads and a fully packed bike. And we couldn't find our campground for the night. We asked a lot of people but no one could help us. So we decided to put our tent in the woods next to a lonely street. The next day everything was better. We had a lot of sun, but it was not too hot, the roads were getting smaller and we had not that much traffic like the day before. So when we reached Fredericksburg we searched for the campground we saw on the map, but actually this campgound never existed. So we asked some people again and this is how we met Bob and Kathy. They invited us to sleep in their backyard, invited us for dinner and we even had bacon and eggs for breakfast! This couple saved our day! So Bob and Kathy, if you read this: thank you so much again!

Now we are trying to get to Charlottesville, but now it is almost 12 and we didn't even start cause we had to stop at a bike shop. Marian had problems changing gears, we guess everything needed an adjustment after the long flight for the bike.

So here we go again!

Last days...

Yesterday Lukas as our navigator found a super "short" way on foot to the arlington cemetery. We discovered all these impressive memorials like "the tomb of the unknown soldier" and the grave of JFK. It its a very huge cemetery but there were thousands of tourists like us, so it was very crowded and after an hour we decided to continue. We walked all the way back trough the city and found an art street market by fluke.

Later that day our hosts David and Sarah organized a living room concert with Ronstadt Generations and Serenity Fisher. They invited friends and family members to come over so it was a great and cozy concert. Thank you for the awesome night!

Today we visited the lincoln memorial and the white house again. We thought it wont be that crowded as the days before, but we were proofed wrong. Is monday even a working day in the united states?

Later on we packed our things and threw all unnecessary things away. So now we enjoy our last night in our really good bed, shower, internet, electricity and all these things we have to give up tomorrow. And due to our jetlag and the very hot weather (almost 30 degrees) we expect some hard first days on our bikes...

Bands: Ronstadtgenerations.com | serenityfisher.com

Ready stady go!

Sitting waiting wishing! We're so excited we just can't hide it... lalalalala!