Day 40 - Joplin to Springfield MO

Lesley was a fantastic warmshowers host and her dogs were fun too. 

It was 32°F again as I headed off.

The roads this morning were mostly empty.

Passed some great big purple clover fields.

There was no shoulder here but also very little traffic and some nice houses.

My route took me past the Ruby Jack Rail Trail. This trail looked very bumpy so I was happy to see it and not ride it.

Opposite some very nice rural homes there was lots of trash on the shoulder. We need to do more to eliminate such waste.

There were lots of rolling hills today but at least I had another tail wind!

Also encountered lots of spring flowers.

Later my route did take me down about 8 miles of the Ruby-Jack Trail.

It was a bit slow and bumpy and gravelly...

...but lots of beautiful trees...

....no motorized vehicles...

... and lots of scenery.

And a nice underpass.

After 7 miles of not seeing a soul, I met a local walking her friendly dogs.

Finally reached the end of the trail...

...and rejoined Route 66.

Some pretty yellow flowers on bushes highlighted these mailboxes.

Shortly thereafter I visited an Andrew Carnegie library in Carthage right along Route 66.

It was built in 1904.

Deborah and Laurel were very helpful.

I also talked to Julie, the library director, and Ben, one of the librarians.

There is a beautiful courthouse in Carthage.

Right across from it is a classic hardware store.

After this short tour of Carthage, I hopped back on Route 66 where it had wide smooth shoulders and many more rolling hills.

...whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap. Couldn't agree more. Dump plastic, get plastic back in your food. Dump CO2 and our world dumps climate change back at you.

The road shoulders got much narrower...

...and then got rumble strips smack dab in the middle making the shoulder unrideable and forcing me to take the lane on a 65mph road.

Upon reaching Springfield, I was happy to see share the road sings.

Went by some very cool shops in a revitalized portion of northern Springfield.

Thankfully this road I needed to traverse was closed to cars but open to bicyclists :-)

Springfield has some nice and very well labeled bicycle routes.

The informative labels also show up on the pavemen.

At the end of the day my cousin Roger and his wife Bonnie welcomed me with a big delicious home cooked meal! Although it was a long 80 mile day, it went by quickly thanks to good tail winds.