Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Holt to Lexington, MO

Thursday, September 2, 2004
Distance Cycled: 50 miles
Average Speed: 12.8 mph

Today we did not have any good place to eat breakfast near the motel. The only breakfast place was in a BP gas station, where we had egg sandwiches which did not taste very good. It felt like you were eating glue. Well, after that great breakfast we headed out to Lexington and as usual for the state of Missouri, we went up and down hills. After 11 miles we stopped in the town of Lawson, MO for a real breakfast. The hills were not bad until we reached a county road between Wood Heights, and Orrick. Suddenly the hills were 10 and 12 % grades. If you happened to miss a shift going up one of these monsters, you had to walk. It was a very tiring 12 miles even though the last 4 or 5 miles were very flat. The rest of the route was very flat until we came to the bridge over the Missouri River into Lexington. The bridge was very narrow, the bridge surface was very rough and the bridge was a good mile long. As soon as you got off the bridge the road turned left and you climbed a hill for about ¾ of a mile into the town of Lexington. We arrived around noon. So the first stop was a pub for lunch, followed by a stop at an ice-cream shop. We were then ready to visit the local museum. The local museum covered the Civil War Lexington battle, pony express, and local history. The museum was in an old Presbyterian Church, was interesting, but not as well presented as some we have visited.

We then rode the extra couple of miles out to the intersection of two highways to find our motel. Once again we had to wait for our room to be cleaned. That is what happens on a short day. This motel has laundry and Ken is doing the honors. We ate supper in the restaurant attached to the motel, then each to our rooms to watch TV and prepare for tomorrow.