The weather outlook for the day was warm and sunny. H and I knew that if we were going to do big miles this would be the day. We decided to go south down to Alton
We went down 106 west and then picked up SR E going south. At 60 we jogged over a bit and then went down 99 opposite the way we had come earlier in the week. M was struggling with the hills so I drifted back to keep an eye on him. M is a strong rider but not a very fast climber. While waiting at one of the intersections I "mooed" at some cows standing near by. I don't know why we do this. While passing any sort of livestock someone always "moos", "whinneys", or "oinks" depending on which animals we are passing. Much to my surprise the whole herd of cows (there were about 30 or so spread out over the field) literally came running over to the fence and watched me. I mooed again and some of them mooed back eagerly. I'm not sure what I was saying but apparently the cows found it very interesting. For the remainder of the trip I was the king of cows.
At the end of 99 we picked up 160. 160 had butter smooth pavement and we flew over it's surface - averaging 25 MPH over 10 miles of gently rolling hills. We stopped at a gas station in Alton and refueled, enduring the stares and double takes of the locals - we were getting used to this by now. From 160 we picked up 19 and headed north back to Eminence. The route south of 60 was hilly and heavily forested - absolutely beautiful but very challenging. It seemed like a lot of hills came in threes with each one getting larger so you couldn't use momentum to roller coaster through all of them
Originally we were going to take 19 straight in to Eminence but at the last moment we decided to head up SR H just outside of Winona to add a few more miles to the trip. We stopped at a gas station and as we were getting ready to head up SR H, E pulled up. We suggested that E head to Eminence, pick up the car and go get M as he was having a tough day in the hills
H and I headed up SR H - yet another hilly heavily forested road. The scenery along SR H was some of the best yet alternating between deep forest and meadows opening up to scenic farms and ranches. From H we went west on 106 and landed back in Eminence after some fairly significant climbing. Locals had warned us that 106 was one of the hilliest roads in the area. They weren't exaggerating
When we got back to the cabins we found E and M waiting. M had made it in under his own power. He's not the fastest guy on the hills but I give him an A for persistence and effort - he always pulls through unless he gets hit with an injury. He'd be an Ironman for sure if he could run distance
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