Misery loves company.

Missouri, yet another state to impress beyond all expectation.  Maybe the fault lies in those who expect.  Every westbound cyclist we encountered, from eastern Utah to western Missouri, warned us about the Ozarks.  Though these steep hills don't reach the heavens like the summits of the Rockies or the Sierra Nevadas, there may be just as much climbing; only it's not sustained, but instead in consistent intervals. Moving over this steep terrain, momentum can only help so much.  The residual speed gained from riding downhill is quickly absorbed by the immediate transition uphill.  Once all the leftovers from the inertia are gone, each hill seemed just long enough to find a pace, which was interrupted by the following descent.  Rolling hills on a bicycle.

Although physically demanding, the stretch of road across southern Missouri is significantly more stimulating than the terrain in all of Kansas.  We managed the distance from Joplin to Cape Girardeau in six days.  The sweatiest six days of my life due to the high Missouri humidity.  Our direction happened to take us onto a stretch of the famed Adventure Cycling Association TransAmerica route.  Coincidentally at the same time many westbound travelers were crossing Missouri on their way to Astoria, or other parts of the west coast. It's great to see so many people attempting such a feat, many of them existing within different demographics from the three of us.  The obvious exception being an interest in bicycles.

At the end of our trip through the show me state, we were extremely lucky to have made a connection in Cape Girardeau.  Our new friends Matt, Valerie, Ally, and Zac shared their wonderful abode with us for two nights, fed us, loaned us a car (to manage an emergency bike repair), and let us hoard their TV to catch a few stages of the tour.  We can't express enough gratitude for reaching out and opening their home to us.  Also, a big thanks to Brad for getting the ball rolling. I'm constantly amazed by the support many people have extended to us over the course of this adventure.  Friends are subjected to obligatory benevolence when we come through town.  By nature, friends help friends; it's the basic mutual understanding built into most relationships.  What has amazed me is the voluntary kindness from strangers to three smelly, potentially homeless young men.  From cold water to way finding to open houses.  Friends or strangers, all the people who have helped us along the way are showing me the potential for generosity we Americans have.  One good deed leads to another, and so on.

As we steer towards Louisville, I'd like to share a thought from Mark Twain on the topic of exploring, which seems appropriate for the topics of Missouri and traveling.  

"If you are of any account, stay at home and make your way by faithful diligence; but if you are "no account," go away from home, and then you will have to work, whether you want to or not.  Thus you become a blessing to your friends by ceasing to be a nuisance to them--if the people you go among suffer by the operation."