Off again...

Having been home from my Arizona and San Diego trip for a month or so my feet started itching for the road that beckons so it's off again. This time my wife Sophie and I are headed east, bike (tandem) in tow, to do the Ride the Fault Line bicycle tour. Over a week's worth of riding we'll pedal almost 400 miles in four states (Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kentucky) along a route highlighting the New Madrid earthquake fault. I don't think California has a "Ride the San Andreas Fault" probably because they are still waiting on the 'big one' to hit. The New Madrid Fault is way ahead of the anxious dudes and dudettes out west as the midwest's 'big one' (actually a series of three quakes  - December 16, 1811, January 23, 1812, and January 23, 1812) happened more than a hundred years ago with magnitudes of 7.5 to 7.9 and they remain the most powerful quakes to hit the contiguous United States east of the Rocky Mountains in recorded history. They were named after the town of New Madrid which was close to the epicenter. New Madrid at the time was part of the Louisiana Purchase but now is in the great 'Show Me' state of Missouri. The quakes were felt over approximately 50,000 sq. miles while by comparison the 1906 San Francisco quake rumbled over about 6,200 sq. miles. Fortunately, since the Louisiana Purchase was still sparsely populated so few people were impacted. If the quakes had happened more recently, given the area's current population one can only imagine the damage they would do. Hopefully the folks at in Cali have to wait a long, long time for anything like them.

The Salina, KS KOA has aWizard of Oz theme

Of course to bike 400 miles over the course of 7 days we'll end up spending 6 days (3 coming, 3 going home) and driving almost 2,000 miles but for those of you who are cycling fanatics  you'd agree that was a fair exchange. We've been staying at KOA campgrounds, last night in Salina, KS and tonight in Springfield, MO. Both KOA's have been delightful but the Springfield campground is really, really nice and also far removed from the closest highway. As I'm writing this I'm sitting on a nice umbrella-covered patio by our cabin listening to birds chirp and flags flap. I'll take that any day compared to the roar of trucks rumbling down the road at 75 mph.

It doesn't get much more comfortable than this.... Wait, where's
The pool?

Tomorrow we'll be in Sikeston, MO where the ride begins and I'm looking forward to trading a car seat for a bike one. It's finally June which means 100 degree temps and almost equal humidity so this Colorado boy is going to be sweating like a pig. Several years ago we biked the Katy Trail which goes from Clinton, MO to St. Charles and I've never been so hot in all my days. Hopefully the Ride the Fault won't' outdo that but we'll soon find out!

Aah, that Midwest sense of humor... Cowabunga!