19 June 2012

Eminence to Houston MO 46 miles (TransAm 1,410)

Gina keeps telling me how much the Ozarks look like Australia. On the surface that statement sounds like it might be an indication that all of the hours and days and weeks of pedaling under the blistering sun are finally going to her head. This could also possibly explain why she drank a Coors Light yesterday.

But then today there was an off-the-bike climb, one of Gina’s other favorite pastimes, which, as we’ve discussed before, leaves no church steeple, medieval tower, fire lookout, or lofty tree untouched. No matter the altitude, no matter the degree of claustrophobia-inducing conditions, no matter the safety. Steps, rungs, rebar, the girl must reach the top (corporate ladders excluded).

Which brings us back to what she’s been telling me so I ask you to decide: are the Ozarks truly distinguishable from Southwest Australia?

When Gina wasn’t climbing today she was either grubbing (second breakfast at the Hungry Moose), grousing (front derailleur troubles and logging trucks) or grabbing photos of other picturesque people and places.