Day 5 - Tulsa, OK to Joplin, MO - 140.7 miles

Yesterday was a tough day.  I'm sure it was just the combination of getting back on the bike after two days off, then having a headwind most of the day, and finally the heat and humidity.  I'm not one to complain about heat, but it was pretty warm out there.

I got up early in the morning (6am), ate a couple bowls of Fruit Loops, finished packing up the bike and headed out just after 7 (I think).  Just a couple tenths of a mile from the hotel, I found the below Route 66 Route sign and had to take a picture.

(The route I'm following from Tulsa to Marshfield, MO more or less follows Route 66.)

After taking that picture, I got to the business of the day - riding my bicycle.  I knew it was going to be a long day.  I had about 130 miles ahead of me to get to Joplin, MO.

When I was almost out of Tulsa, I noticed some side to side play in my crank (the part that goes through the frame that the pedals attach to).  I pulled off into a used car / auto mechanic parking lot to see if there was anything I could do to fix it.  I wasn't able to. :(  In hindsight, I think the crank has had that play since before I left Dallas, I just never noticed it.

I figured there wasn't much I could do about it and decided to press onto Joplin where I knew there was a bike shop.  A couple miles up the road, I stopped at an O'Riley auto parts store to borrow some tools to see if maybe I could do something with some better tools, but, still, there wasn't anything I could do.  I was able to make sure the crank was bolted together tight and felt better about riding to Joplin after checking that.

So, with nothing else to do, I rode on.  I don't remember a whole lot about the day except riding and riding and riding.  But, there was some pretty scenery.  The terrain was about half flat and half rolling hills.

(You can see some of the rollers above.)

As I was crossing a bridge, I heard a noise and looked down to see this barge going down the river.

A little later, I heard a train behind some trees to the left.  It was pulling away from me for a little while then I was gaining on it.  Eventually, it stopped so another train could go by and then a little later still, I saw it come by me again.  I'm pretty sure there's a movie where cyclist races a train (Breaking Away maybe) and I thought about it for a second, but then came to my senses. :)

(I tried waving to him to see if they'd blow their horn, but nope.)

Somewhere down the road, I caught a glimpse of these old trucks.  As I found today, there's a lot of neat things on Route 66.

Most of the route today was along a 4 lane highway (2 lanes in each direction).  There was almost always a good size shoulder, so it wasn't too too terrible.  Still, I would have preferred something different.

(Even along the highway, it was pretty.)

I've seen a number of barns on the roads and my friend Jon likes to photograph them, so I did my best to snap a picture of one as I rode by.

Here's a couple videos of me riding down the highway / road.  Don't you wish you were out here? :) :D

Eventually, I got to Miami... Missouri, not Florida and was greeted with this.  And here I thought I was already on Route 66.

The route took me through Kansas for a little bit.  Kansas always has a special place in my heart as I spent many years there and even graduated from High School in Junction City.

Eventually, after a lot of miles, I made it to Missouri.  That's four States now - TX, OK, KS, and MO.  Three more to go. :)

When I finally got to Joplin, I made a bee-line to the bike shop - Bike Specialists on the North side of town.  When I was 60 miles out, I had called them, told them what was happening, and that I would be heading their way.  When I walked in, Debbie was waiting for me and said, "You're the guy with the loose crank aren't you?"

The folks there at Bike Specialists - Debbie, her husband, and Cage - were great!  I explained what was happening and the 3 of us (Debbie, her husband, and I) got to work on the bike.  Before long, it was fixed.  I could go into the specifics, but the long and short of it was we put a couple spacers in there and now there's no play and the crank still moves smoothly.

While we were working on the bike, I met a really nice guy who is walking across the country pulling a trailer raising money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.  He was at the bike shop getting a disk brake setup custom installed on his trailer.  He left Mississippi three months ago and was walking West.  When I asked him about his route, he said he's just heading Westerly going wherever people suggest would be a neat place to go.  Once he gets to California, he'll winter there before heading North through Oregon and Washington before turning East and walking home via Montana, Wyoming, and so forth.  He's planning for his trip to take 3 years.  I really enjoyed talking with him and learning about his trip.

Before I left, Debbie and I got to talking.  She's always wanted to ride across the country, but couldn't because she couldn't be away from the store.  We laughed about the fact that whenever you work for a bike shop you can't ride as much as you want.  It's something Erin and I've talked about with her job.

As I was telling her my girlfriend has the same problem and where she worked, Debbie's face lit up like she knew Richardson Bike Mart.  As it turns out she knows a former employee at RBM - Theresa.  We talked a little more before I left.  She even offered to drive me to the hotel I was staying at on the other side of town, but I told her I could ride there.

So, I rode the 7.8 miles back across town to the La Quinta where I spent the night.  After a shower, some food at Olive Garden and the looks and disbelief over the idea that I was riding across the country and then talking with Erin, I hit the sack.  I had another long day ahead of me.