Extreme Tandem Ride to Ash Grove
Wow! It just doesn’t get any better than today! The high temperature couldn’t have gotten above 82 degrees. It was the kind of day you just don’t want to come indoors – and it’s the latter part of July in Missouri!
We met Joe and Sue, Cecil and Naomi, and Gary and Deborah out at Cecil and Naomi’s house this morning for a 4 tandem ride to Ash Grove and back.
We kind of like riding in that area, but it’s so far across town that we don’t go over there very often. Because of that, it’s always kind of nice riding out there in spite of the fact that the route is usually tougher than you think it will be.
We enjoyed a pleasant, if not kind of spirited ride out to Ash Grove, and made our way through town to a convenience store.
As we pulled up, we noticed a couple of loaded touring bikes parked outside. Ash Grove is right on Adventure Cycling Association’s Transamerica Route, so it’s not uncommon at all to see cross country cyclists there. As I paid for a couple of candy bars, Pam and Joe chatted up one of the cyclists. It was pretty interesting, but from talking to the guy it was hard to tell how enthusiastic he was about the ride. You could sort of tell he was tired.
Outside, we paused to laugh about the coin operated water dispenser and wondered what would have happened had we tried to fill out bottles inside.
Just as we were mounting up to leave, another cross country rider pulls into the parking lot. Believe it or not, he takes one look at us and says “I was on that ride. It was a great one, wasn’t it?”. He was looking at our Great Illinois River Ride jerseys. After talking a few minutes, we figured out that he had done the Chicago to Springfield version with us the year before last. Talk about a small world! What are the odds that we’re going to be standing in the parking lot in Ash Grove just at the time someone riding across country pulls in and that guy has also been on a ride with us? Pam said she thought the guy looked familiar when he pulled in, and the longer we talked to him, the more I thought I remembered him as well.
On the way home, we passed within just a couple blocks of where Extreme Makeover Home Addition is building a house out near Bois D’arc. We couldn’t get close, and even had to back track a little bit because they had our road blocked off, but it was interesting to be that close. On the way back, Pam and I decided we would drive back out and see what there was to see from the Spectator viewing area later.
We got back to Cecil and Naomi’s house with 43 miles on the bike, and everybody agreed that it was a great day to be on the road. Joe and Sue decided they would go back out with us, so we drove over to Willard to grab a bite to eat, then we drove on out to Bois D’arc and parked at one of the church’s before heading out the to the Extreme Makeover spectator parking.
It was only a little over 2.5 miles out there, and we rode our bikes right into the field where they were parking cars and walked the short distance to where we could see what was going on. There was a lot of construction activity, but no celebrities to be seen. We heard that the celebrities had gone to another site, but would be back tomorrow.
As we stood there looking, we ran into Wayne and Shirleen G., whom we knew from our years at Evergreen Church. Very sweet people!
Then, Pam looked over and saw her three sisters standing about ten feet away! Talk about a small world today!
By the time we got back to the Jeep, we had exactly 50 miles on the bike. It was a great day!
God bless….
TW
Explore posts in the same categories: Ash Grove, bicycle, Cycling, Extreme Makeover, tandem, weekendTags: Ash Grove, Cycling, Extreme Makeover, Fitness, tandem, weekend
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