We began day three at Cooper’s Landing and enjoyed a coffee and some oatmeal while cleaning our bikes. At this point on the trail, the path regularly followed the Missouri River. My metabolism is typically a bit high, but I was eating constantly on this trip! After starting each day with oatmeal, I ate snacks of nuts, packaged tuna/salmon, spam, dried fruit, and an occasional gel packet. We stopped in Jefferson City on Wednesday for lunch at a downtown BBQ. (Eddie’s YouTube video for day three)
The trails were very clear the week we were there. This was the only obstruction the entire week!
We kept the practice of stopping at each one of these train stations. They typically had a restroom and a water refill station.
I made a huge mistake at the Jeff City train station. We wanted to go into the city to get supplies and eat, but I didn’t want to leave my GPS on to tell me where to turn. I was trying to conserve the battery. We passed the spur we needed, began chatting, and ended up 5 miles down the trail! We had to bike back the 5 miles on the hottest day! Eddie found his cappuccino in Jeff City and told the lady, “I think I’ll take a latte.” I said, “Nope! I’ve been listening to you talk non-stop about a cappuccino, you’re getting a cappuccino!!” Haha!
Along the way we met some really fun people. The older man in the orange is from Florida and spent most of his life in Eastern Kentucky. He biked the MKT, planned to take 3 days off, and was headed out west to bike a week with his daughter. The shirtless gent biked with Busch Light’s strapped to his bike and we quickly learned his catch phrase: “See you at the next bar!”
We stopped at Standing Rock and read a little about the history of the Lewis and Clark tour. My favorite book on Lewis and Clark is Undaunted Courage! Just above my head is the flood line from 1904, I think.
On day three, we stayed at the River Edge Campground (4 tent sites and a few RV hook-ups) for $15. We ate at the bar and grill (the town’s only restaurant) and learned that it was an eatery and the town’s community center!
We biked 47 miles plus 10 round-trip mistake miles and several more to get to and from Jefferson City.
Toby DeHay 