Saturday, June 21 — Windsor to Boonville
Woke up early this morning, packed up and left the church at 5:59 AM & went across the street to the donut shop; it was just too darn close not to. Got our coffee & donut to go and drove back Southeast about 18 miles to the Windsor Trail Head, where we had ended our ride yesterday.
It was 78 degrees and sunny when Mary Ann & I started riding toward the Green Ridge Trail Head, just 8.8 miles, a good distance to start the day. Half-way down the path, we saw a sign that said “High Point-922’, elevation”.
We met Liz at Green Ridge, re-grouped and continued riding to Sedalia, 12.1miles.
A bit of info about Sedalia. It is about 30 miles South of the Missouri River, at the intersection of US Hwy 50 and US Hwy 65. US Hwy 50 stretches all the way across the USA, from Ocean City MD to West Sacramento CA (Marie lives 1/2 mile North of Hwy. 50 in Grand Junction CO.)
According to local lore, Sedalia was founded in 1856 first as “Sedville” (named after his daughter Sarah’s nickname of “Sed”) but then changed to “Sedalia”, which sounded better. It was an important railhead for cattle drives in the late 1800’s. The Missouri State Fair is held there every August. It is also where the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival is held. You may remember the “Maple Leaf Rag” which was popularized a few years ago.
My bike odometer hadn’t been working, so we found a bike shop in Sedalia, Pro-Velo Cycle Sport. The owner of the shop, Ebby, fixed it for free & told us to “Get out there and ride!” Thank you Ebby!!
We returned to the trail and continued driving to the Clifton City Trail Head, 11.7 miles away. We visited with a couple who knows a family affected by Huntington’s Disease and then a group of three women who were in need of water. We filled all their water bottles and they were extremely thankful. We gave HD flyers to both groups. We all wished each other safe travels and we headed toward Pilot Grove. This section was uphill, all 12.1 miles, save one or two level spots. We took a nice long break in Pilot Grove before finishing the ride into Boonville, an 11.5 mile ride. Thankfully it was mostly downhill. The KATY Trail crosses over the I-70 Interstate just South of Boonville.
Boonville was founded in 1810 by Nathan and Morgan Boone, sons of frontier pioneer Daniel Boone. They established a salt business there, delivering their product to St. Louis. Boonville is very near New Franklin which is the Eastern terminus of what is considered the original start of the Santa Fe Trail. Early in the Civil War, Union forces defeated the Missouri State Guard in the first Battle of Boonville.
We went to the hotel, checked in, unloaded and immediately took showers…aaaahhhh! I called Don Meyers (he and his late wife Sharon had hosted Bike for the Cure about 3 times in the past, coincidentally on our first BFTC and last BFTC rides.) Don had arranged for a hotel stay for us. We made arrangements to meet for coffee in the morning.
We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, delicious food and good/friendly service! Back to the room and off to bed.
All for today from the trail,
Sherri