C2C Leg#3 Day 8 Watkins Mill to Lexington & the towns that weren’t

7/4/21
Day 8: Watkins Mill State Park to Lexington, Missouri

Miles: 59.7 (including the putting around)
Total Miles: 413.8
MYZone MEPs: 842

We are up at 5:40am on road before 7am.  A rather dry breakfast of bananas and granola.

No surprise, there were more rolling hills into Lawson - no grocery! But a VFW selling fireworks and snacks.  So we bought gatorades, cookies, an a little banana-chocolate chip loaf. The commander of the FVW (for 20 years) was very proud to tell us about the mural recently painted on the side of the building.

Ride on rolling.  Sun in face, getting hot.

Next town, Wood Heights - nothing there!
Find some shade, put out the tarp, and enjoy our gatorades and a bar. 

On to Steep climbs - on one loooong 9%er, I had to put a foot down.  That’s not normal for me, so I know I must be more tired than I think.

Finally a bit downhill into Missouri River Valley and into Orreck  - nothing!  (Convenience store) PB & J in what feels like a ghost town.

We then turn east, stayed in river valley, flat corn quiet roads.

The town of Henrietta - nothing!  Stop at old building shade, gators and cookies from VFW - gave Doug a gut ache.

On to Highway 13, 4 lane divided 70 mph but with great shoulder. 

9 mostly flat miles to a gentle rise into Lexington - cute but nothing seems open but McDonalds.  So we do it, get a Greasy 1/4 pounder, and its pretty darned good.

Then, on the way out, we find the “Spotted Pig” big ol tavern - we’ll come back for dinner.

Ride 2 miles out to hotel Lexihill, a motel dive off the freeway.  Big enough room to bring our bikes in.    

The 75 miles from yesterday and 60 today plus the heat have taken a toll.  It’s a good thing that we are wearing our heart rate monitors - knowing what is normal for your heart helps to tell you when you need more recovery.  And we both do. We decide that we need another rest day, and that means we can stay up to enjoy the fireworks tonight.

Go for groceries (1 mile away), bring them back to the room, rest and relax a bit, then ride back to town for dinner at the Spotted Pig.  

Doug and I are ready for a “Real Meal”.  I order the recommended tenderloin which is (was it really?) meat pounded into a flat disk and deep fried.  The brown gravy is the only thing that saved it, sort of. Doug’s Pork chop was good.

We ride 2 miles to the FVW and settle down to watch the fireworks set up.  Just hoping that they’ve connected the wires correctly - since they don’t look to sure....

And yes, it was just right.  Happy 4th of July!