Day 42 CCR: Six weeks on the Road

Six weeks ago Steve and I pulled out of my driveway in Maggie Valley. Since then, I’ve ridden more than 11,000 miles. I’m down to two more riding days and about 700 more miles before the CCR of 2022 is complete. These final riding day blogs will be short. The day I get home or the day after, I’ll do a longer, reflective summary of this year’s adventure.

Today Jaylene and I were supposed to meet with my junior high/high school best friend for brunch and reminiscing. But at 7:00 a.m. he called to say he couldn’t make it. He’s been having physical problems lately and last night was particularly bad. He didn’t get any sleep and didn’t feel like he could or should go out, so my much anticipated reunion with my old friend was cancelled. The ravages of age take their toll.

Jaylene and I tried unsuccessfully to fix a problem with her storm door, then went to have brunch by ourselves. On the way home from the restaurant, we stopped at a home repair store to pick up several bags of rock that I spread in her front garden when we returned. That was the extent of my helpfulness at Jaylene’s. I delayed leaving our dear friend as long as I could, but about 1:30 I gathered my stuff, packed my bags, and loaded the bike for the 42nd time. At 2:00 p.m. we said our goodbyes, for now, and I rode away from her house, headed for Columbia, Missouri. A relatively uneventful and not too hot ride (at least it wasn’t triple digits) brought me to the home city of the University of Missouri Tigers by 5:30 and I checked into a beat-up and disappointing Suburban Extended Stay. You buy cheap, you get cheap. Oh well.

I’ll leave Columbia in the morning with temperatures in the low 80s, but will arrive in Clarksville, TN, tomorrow afternoon with the thermometer approaching 100 and a heat index at about 110. I’m glad I decided not to try to ride 500-600 miles per day on the final leg home. The Canadian rains which plagued the early weeks of the CCR may actually look inviting tomorrow.