Half of today’s ride was a thrill.  It was also the launch of the enormous tandem recumbent yacht that brought Jim and Bill out, just in time for our hilliest day yet.  We climbed hills in near seclusion among the trees of the Mark Twain State Park and, though we lost Greg at one point, we all enjoyed the slight tailwind, great roads, near complete absence of cars and perfect temperature (and Greg got a nice long descent). 

What we didn’t like as much was the road after St Roberts, which became a carnival game of “Buzz the cyclists”. It got so troubling that we opted to jump in the van for the remaining trip into Lebanon, and just made it in time for our newspaper interview with the Lacleder Record.