Day Thirty-Four - Big Ozarks III.

Today was hopefully my last full day of hills before I get to the Rockies.

I was back to my lethargic starts today, but I managed to fit in a phonecall to home and a restaurant breakfast before 9:45. I set off into the mist, the weather today was like a hangover of the storm from last night, really poor visibility and rain like a mist.

I met a cyclist after about 17 miles who was headed eastbound. We chatted for a bit, and found out that he is pretty much the opposite to my routine, he likes to be on the road by FOUR in the morning so he can be done by 11. I couldn't imagine getting up that early to ride... I'm no stranger to having my photo taken by other cyclists for their blogs, but this time I featured in a short video interview, which caught me by surprise.

The rest of my day was largely uneventful, other than having to carry my bike over some roadworks, and spraying my first dog with my dog spray. That was HUGELY satisfying, it was as though I'd flipped a switch and it stopped. I think I need to be more trigger happy with that stuff..

I entertained the idea of going a further 20something miles to golden city further than my planned stop, but I was tiring when I rolled up to Everton and so stopped here. I'm at a hunting lodge, which is basically an out house (albeit a big one). I had the option of camping for $10, or staying inside for $20, with a stocked(ish) fridge. I have done very little this evening other than attempting to make nachos with the limited resources there are here. I'm hugely grateful for having somewhere inside to stay though.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Pittsburg, just over the state border into Kansas, and a map change. I'm not sure whether I should get my bike serviced or not. It hasn't had one since starting, but everything seems to be working find, so I don't know. Any tips appreciated.