Day 32 - Thursday, June 11

Start - Eminence, MO
End - Houston, MO
Miles (on the route) - 42.0

Miles (total) - 49.05
Avg Spd - ?
Max Spd - 38.0mph
Total Ride Time - ?
So feeling relaxed and with little mileage underneath my belt the last few days, I woke up and was ready to roll by nine and looking for a big day. I had a great conversation with a local guy at the convenience store who noticed the bike and had some questions. Turns out he is a big rider too and has a Surly bicycle himself. He was a pretty cool guy and we chatted about riding, and beer when I noticed he was wearing a Surly Brewing shirt. Miss the Surly Furious!

I was again told that the next section would be the roughest section of rollercoaster hills. The humidity was still up there and sure enough, it was up and down, up and down. I got about 3 or 4 miles out when I realized I left my riding gloves sitting on the back of my bike. They were gone at this point so I turned around to find them. I couldn't just leave them behind, they a sort of keepsake from the trip after I'm finished. One glove turned up right away, but the other was 4 miles back at the convenience store. I didn't care to repeat several miles of hills, but it needed to be done.
So I left Eminence again. Going over the same hills and by the same houses for the third time, I was ready for a little dachshund that chased me twice already. We'll call him Donny, Donny the dachshund. As I approached his yard, I slowed to a crawl hoping to disinterest him in the chase, but at the last moment he saw me and steamed out into the street. And as I've been fearing, a pickup came around the bend and Donny never saw it coming. He missed the wheels but came up with an open side, right in front of his leg. He yelped and chased the wound in a circle for a few seconds, barking, before running underneath a pickup in front of the yard. I informed the owner who initially dismissed the whole incident because Donny was only a stray who had been staying there for a few months. When I explained he wasn't dead and needed treatment, she sighed and said she knew a veterinarian. I don't think Donny made it. The owner didn't seem too interested in Donny's well being and I figure the vet will take the cheapest end. As much as many of these dogs have angered me, I didn't want to see something like this happen, especially to a harmless little dachshund. The whole thing angered me, but it's the owners I hold responsible.
So that killed my mood. I've been stuck in a rut and this didn't help. I climbed the hills and they slowly started to mellow a bit as I moved closer to Houston. Arriving there I was split between keeping the bike rolling or calling it a day. I succumbed to my still negative mood and headed for town to find the library and the park. It was early retirement for the day, but I really just wanted to relax and hope for a better start to the next day. I phoned a few friends and watched the sunset while some locals played tennis in the park.