September 3rd "Tunnels along the trail and other cool stuff" from Pilot Grove to Columbia, Missouri

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Saturday the 3rd was cracking up to be a great day. Jerry fed us biscuits and gravy, a fruit bowl, juice and coffee for breakfast. He is a one man band! He is kind, has lots of information for the tourists, entertaining and full of local lore. We said our goodbyes with a quick hug and were off!  Pete and Betsy decided to sag, so Lisa and I took off...in the right direction mind you, for our first town down the line: Boonville. As we flew down the trail, enjoying the serenity of nature and no car traffic (Amen!) we talked about everything under the sun. That is another benefit of trail riding: you can ride side by side and actually hear everything your riding partner says. You would think that after 1,700 miles, we would have covered about every topic on earth. But nope, we have plenty yet to discuss. Isn't that neat? I think Lisa and I make a great riding team. We communicate what's going on to each other like it was meant to be. I say "rider up!" and she goes back behind me until the biker passes. On the roadways, she says "car back!" to let me know a car is coming. Once the car has passed she yells "clear!" It's our way of keeping alert and keeping safe. Lisa's like that; safety minded and alert. Even on a trail without car traffic you want to bike with someone who pays attention. I'm glad I have had the opportunity to bike with savvy people like Lisa! And before you know it you have reached your destination! Safe and sound.

For example, rght about 2 miles from Boonville, Pete and Betsy came biking toward us...they were surprised that we were as far along as we were...well, we were so engrossed in conversation that the 18 miles just flew by! We found Boonville to be a cute town and there was a cute cafe there too! We were all in agreement that coffee would be nice....

then after coffee we tooled around town. I went to the post office, surprise! Lisa shopped for sandals, surprise! Pete and Betsy talked to the locals...surprise! We tooled around a bit more hoping to find a museum or visitor center that was open ( we were not in a hurry obviously)...but nothing was open.
Huh. With no other place to dawdle away the day at, we headed across the bridge to continue on our way. Our first bridge crossing (over an historic but defunct cross bridge) was not successful as it was closed off half way across. 
                                                                                                                 This is the first bridge we didn't get across...
             
Our second bridge crossing was better...and we were entertained by 4 young men in long sleeved dress shirts and ties biking at high speed in a peloton...not even kidding. That was interesting! Fashion statement? Incognito? Running from the law? Who knows! We all stepped aside to let them Zipp by.

Once we were back on the trail Lisa and I took off for destination #2: Rochefort another 18 miles. Again, Pete and Betsy sagged and we met them a couple of miles from the town. What a cute town! There were a few shops open plus a couple of stands where people were selling their wares. Betsy bought us fruit and vegetables, surprise! And after shopping around, we made sandwiches and ate at the public tables on the main drag. The weather was just right for a picnic.

We have noticed that the people in these little towns are really making an effort to do their best to welcome bikers.
The four of us are surely appreciative. In addition to that overall good neighborly feeling, the trail in today's section from Pilot Grove to Columbia was particularly pretty: tunnels all along the way,
Manitou Bluffs,
the Missouri River
and as for entertainment, there is even a winery a couple of miles out of Rochefort on the trail! Well...you actually have to walk three tenths of a mile to the top of the bluffs to get to the winery...but it is well worth it!

After imbibing and gawking at the gorgeous view, we headed back to our bikes and back to our goal: Columbia! Only 17 more miles. The 17 miles to finish our day just flew! We enjoyed every mile and every conversation along the way. Really cool trail!!

Our evening was super special as Pete found live music at a place called Coopers Landing right along the river. And spoiler alert: they had a food truck. The evening ended with good friends, good food and good music. Now THAT was a perfect day!
Bonne Nuit! A demain!

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