Chillicothe, Missouri to Kirksville, Missouri

Yay!

I am back on the road already!

Against the well-intentioned advice of some (most) of the other riders, I set out with the group this morning from Chillicothe, Missouri. I was worried about how it would feel, and how I would do. It ended up being a good decision, and all went well. Really well. I am glad that I rode today.

My right shoulder is still sore, but I can safely put weight on the handlebars now, enabling use of my right hand. My right leg still is heavy to lift, due to right hip pain and residual swelling. That makes it very difficult to even get on and off of the bike. Once on the bike however, I am delighted to find that cycling is far easier than walking! It really is. This is great. I still walk with pain, and with a limp, but I feel that I can bike comfortably and reasonably normally. Hurray! I have to be careful though, as I know that I am mainly pedalling with my left leg. That's not such a good idea.

Anyway, I am glad that my recovery from my recent fall is going better, at least so far, than I had feared that it might.

A take-home lesson that I have learned from all of this is that falling off of a moving bicycle is not generally a good thing. It is best to avoid that.

We had thunderstorms last night in Chillicothe, those lingering until the early morning hours. We had a delayed departure this morning, enabling the worst of the storm to pass, and then we took off in ongoing rain.

Riding in rain is generally miserable. This does however serve to keep the temperature nicely down. I found that I really didn't mind it much today. I was even able to keep up, at least pretty well, with Stuart. (OK, he probably wasn't really pushing it hard today.)

Regardless, I am far from fully recovered from my fall of two days ago in St. Joseph, but I am on the road to recovery. I am certain that I won't be back to my normal self for some more days, but at least I can ride with the group again now. Everyone in the group was very supportive, and they all said that it was nice to see me back on the bike so soon. (Some of my friends on this trip implied that I was premature in returning to the bike today. They may be right, but I have done what I felt was best, and it has seemed to work out OK, at least so far.)

I am in Kirksville, Missouri, now. My bike is cleaned off fully, with a lightly re-lubricated chain also. (The bikes were unbelievably dirty and muddy at the end of today's long ride in the rain.)

Today was a 75 mile ride. Tomorrow is a 74 mile ride, and a new state also! We end up tomorrow in Illinois! No offense intended, but I will be glad to get out of Missouri. It has not been kind to me. We will cross the Mississippi River tomorrow at 70 miles into our ride, and we will then end up tomorrow, at 74 miles total, in Quincy, Illinois. Neat.

Tomorrow's ride, I am informed, will be mercifully less hilly than today's was. I do hope so.

With all of the rain today, I did not bring my camera with me on the ride. Tomorrow however, I hope to get some photos. I will definitely take my camera tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to get photos of the Mississippi River! Seeing the Mississippi River might even remind me of home.