Day 17 - Victory over Missouri!

I've concluded only half jokingly that Missouri is a sentient and malevolent force trying to destroy me. The people were great, and I had fun experiences with them, but the weather and roads have really been after me!

I ended up getting a hotel room last night and spent a dry night, then took off the next morning. I was making good time until "Pop!" There was my second flat of the trip, both of them from Missouri. Looking at my tire, it was pretty chewed up in general, so I decided to switch to my spare tire which, while a softer, weaker design was still in perfect condition. Thus began a long series of flats for the day. I've never had much luck with changing tires, often accidentally pinching them, but in this case, some of the flats just seemed to be excessive bad luck. Each flat required me to remove all of my gear, remove the tire, change the inner tube and put everything back together (getting the tire on while being careful is killer on your thumbs!)

I was up to my third or fourth flat of the day when the weather ahead looked threatening (thunderstorms were supposed to hit in the morning, NOT the evening!). This time I took shelter under an overpass and stayed there until I was sure the rain was gone. Another hour or so burned up, but that's how it goes in Missouri, it seems. Off I went again, getting another two or three flats/failed patches. Still, I was close and at this point VERY determined to get across the border into Kansas (not Texas, as I accidentally typed in my last post :)). After patching the last flat I've had so far today, I hit the road, went around a turn that was about 100 meters from where I'd been doing my repairs, and there it was - THE BORDER!!! Joys! Since then I haven't had a flat. It looks like there's a bicycle shop about 30 miles from here, so I'll be visiting it tomorrow to get a new, heavy duty tire to replace the old one.

All of the flats did let me meet more people, which was one good thing about the whole set of incidents. On the third flat, a woman stopped her car to make sure I was alright and to see if I needed anything. A gas station later, while I was cleaning up the grime I'd gotten on me during the repairs, I got to chatting with a man about my trip and life in general and got to hear about his son who is almost finished getting his commercial pilots license. While I was checking to find something to eat, the man also apparently paid for the drink I'd already got, without mentioning it - a nice treat to make the flats a little less stressful. Several other people stopped to chat with me today, including some boy scout leaders who were at the McDonald's I'm posting from and had seen me a few miles back. Good times! Despite all the flats, I managed to get in 70 miles so far today. Not the best, but a lot better than some of the days I've had lately. A bit further and I'll find somewhere to camp out, then get the bicycle fixed up with new tires tomorrow, and be off again! Good weather expected for the next few days, so hopefully I'll get on a roll again. I'd like to get through tornado alley quickly if I can!