Day 1 Complete - 700 miles

I guess I'm a bit of an overachiever :) I tallied up the miles at each fill-up today, as well as the trip meter on the current tank, and it came to exactly 700 miles. I must say, it has a much more satisfying ring to it than, say 683 miles. This is the quickie update, to be edited and added to shortly, but for the sake of those back home, I'm in safe and sound in Wentzville, MO. More to follow.

*edit*
Now for the long version..(reminder, you can click on the pics for a larger view)

Counting down the last things to do yesterday, I realized I hadn't printed out any maps. I google mapped the route, but I wanted something a little simpler. I pulled out an atlas, took a look, and the results are pictured in my map pocket on the tank bag.

I did manage to get in bed last night by about 10:30 and only woke up once around 2:30, but then went back to sleep. I even hit the snooze once at 6:15 this morning! Although I didn't have a set departure time in mind, I knew I didn't want to leave later than 8 a.m. Got up, did the last minute things, watered the yard one more time (click on the pic...each of the pink flags represents something planted in the past eight weeks...I really don't want anything to die!). Loaded up the bike and checked the tire pressure: front was 29, back was 28. My first stop was then to be the gas station up the road where I'd get them to 30 and 32, respectively. It was kind of fun and daunting to think when I swung my leg over that seat, this was it! I've been counting down for 22 weeks, and now I was about to see it through! I started the bike (in neutral) and once everything felt good, balanced right, and traffic was clear on the street, I started rolling forward to begin the journey. Gave it throttle, but the bike didn't respond. Looked down and saw the green 'neutral' indicator still lit up. Now that's an auspicious beginning!

Weather-wise, the clouds were piled up a little as I was heading in NC, and it was getting cooler as I got past Hendersonville, NC, so I stopped off to put on a fleece vest that was a last minute addition to the luggage. This pic is a shot from the rest area on I-26 before the Asheville airport. Definite win for the fleece in the packing category. As I was riding through the NC mountains, I was loving my fleece (probably even said something to that effect inside my helmet). Layers are good, so when I had my first stop for gas, I shed that and rolled on. The clouds only looked gloomy, but never lasted long, and by the time I was 20 miles into TN, it was blue skies and sunshine.

I like to eat at Cracker Barrel when I travel, and my goal for lunch was to get to Lebanon, TN. I'm sure I was an odd juxtaposition walking in the door with my helmet, gloves, biker gear...and netbook computer. It was pretty cool. I was able to get two hours of wifi access for $3.29 (I think courtesy of the city of Lebanon), which is how I did my midday update. As mentioned then, here is the sign from the Executive Inn next door. Thanks, guys!

Back on the road, and my baseline goal was to get to Okawville, IL for the night. That's almost exactly halfway between Greenville, SC and Orange City, IA (my destination for tomorrow). If I didn't make it that far, I was probably going to have to make some adjustments and only go as far as Fremont, NE, on Friday and stay with family there, completing the push to Orange City on Saturday morning. If, however, I got as far as Okawville and felt pretty good, I thought I might push on to see how far I could go (within reason and sanity). If I was going to pass Okawville, that pretty much meant I'd have to get past St. Louis.

I stopped for supper about 15 miles shy of Okawville and was pretty beat, but that was probably due to riding four hours since lunch, and 187 miles since my last fillup. I had a decent salad for supper with some iced tea that was stronger 'n bear's breath, and thus fortified, I forged on (after getting a picture of the quaint church across the highway). St. Louis was only about 60 miles away at that point, and it was smooth sailing until about three miles outside of the city when it suddenly became a slow and go arena. My left hand got a super workout using the clutch and friction point to surge forward and coast. Since things weren't really moving, I pulled up into a median area and got a nice picture of the arch...later was able to get a couple of good ones with the river as well. The slow and go continued for about 25 minutes, and when I finally got into the regular part of I-70 and could go faster than 12 mph, the evaporative cooling of my sweat was one of the best sensations...someone finally turned on the a/c!

Once I was in St. Louis, I wanted to be all the way out of it before I stopped for the night. I toyed with the idea of going as far as Columbia, MO, but once I got to St. Charles, it was still another 97 miles to Columbia. I figured I could do it if I needed to, but I didn't need to. Didn't particularly want to, either. The next exit, at Wentzville, had a Super8 motel, which was what I was looking for. There's not a Cracker Barrel for breakfast, but there is a Bob Evans, so I know how my day will begin tomorrow!

How've I fared for 700 miles? Pretty well overall. I wore biker shorts (not padded) under my Olympia Air Glide pants, and my knees looks a little raw from where the armor in the pants is. The only other parts that're sore are my 'sitting' bones (for lack of the anatomical name). By the end (no pun), it felt like the pressure points of where I sat were on the green scratchy side of one of those kitchen sponges. I did get sunburned on the top of my wrists where the jacket and the gloves didn't meet. The sunburned strip is wider on my left hand, probably due to my having the right hand angled more with the throttle (LOVE my throttle rocker...made life much easier). Got a couple of sore spots at the base of my fingers, palm side. Other than that, I'm good.

Tomorrow is a stop in Kansas City, KS, to see some folks I know, and then up to Orange City, IA, for the night. Total mileage for the day will probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 527 miles. Cakewalk!

And, oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll sleep well tonight.