June 5, 2003 Today our job was to get ourselves from Mehlville, MO to Jefferson City, MO. Jefferson City is the capital of Missouri. We had gone several days without any mechanical problems, so we should have expected what happened to us. We were within sight of our hotel when we flatted the back tire. Unfortunately, it happened in a freeway setting, so it was very stressful. We fixed it in good time. The Team is very tired, and you will see why below. We will be fine, but it was a tough day. Mehlville is south of ST. Louis, and we had not planned to be so far from the beginning of the KATY Trail to begin the ride. This made for our biggest day in terms of time on the road, time in the saddle and miles ridden. We were on the road for 12.5 hours, rode just over 10 hours and accumulated 142 miles in the process. The first 30 or so miles were urban riding getting from Mehlville to St. Charles where the KATY Trail starts. This took place mostly on four-lane streets with little in the way of shoulder. After we got to St. Charles, all that chaos went away as we entered a rails-to-trails projected named after the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, called the KT or KATY. It is a trail made of crushed limestone, and is fine to ride on. However, it is a little soft, so you have to keep the power on. We worked hard to average 13.7 mph. This trail is loaded with history, and the little towns along the way are interesting. They look much the same, and the people are much the same. The services are spotty, but we were able to get by. We just had to work a little harder to find our water and Mountain Dew. The trail changes in appearance all the time. You will be riding along in wide open territory, and all of a sudden will be in a jungle-like canopy setting where it is dark. Then you will run into a small town, and then another open space. The variety made it interesting to ride. We saw some wildlife in the form of a deer, some field mice and salamanders. We were making so much noise that we were surprised to see anything. We rode about 104 miles on this trail. We were really focused on riding today, so didn't pay as much attention to the scenery as we usually do. We did see the Missouri River several times, and it really seemed to be sluggish. However, we all know how strongly the water flows in that river, so the appearance is deceiving. The weather was really good today. We had sun most of the day, and we out of warmers early. Ron