We are back. Took a break from riding from July 16th through the 29th. Stored our bikes in Eureka, Kansas, a small town in the middle of nowhere; hitched a ride to the next big town, took a greyhound to St Louis, MO where we spent two days sightseeing, dancing salsa and eating thai food’ then flew out to hot, and sticky, fast-paced, New York City where we spent 10 days before we headed back to Kansas.

Since our return we have left the cornfields of Kansas and moved into the Steep MIssouri Hills also known as the Ozarks. I must say this is possibly one of the most challenging parts of this trip for me. Physically the Ozarks are kicking my butt. Unlike the Rockies which can range from 6%-7% for the duration of anywhere between 5-20 miles of steady climbing to the top; the Ozarks are steep little hills of about 2-3 miles long (at most) but with a drastic steepness of 12%-14% (or so we’ve heard the locals say). A few days ago the hill was so steep that i actually considered getting off my bike and walking it; but after a little bit of reflection i realized that “this too shall pass” and i just continued on in the heat of the Missouri afternoon.

Today was our day off. Cesar did our laundry while i uploaded pictures to our site (YES! NEW PICTURES ARE UPLOADED....FINALLY!!!)....and then we had a “check-in” in the afternoon, these are times that we set aside once a week to write out weekly goals; things we want to accomplish in life, in the next month, in the next year, and how each week puts us a step closer to reaching those goals. It all started one afternoon when i was telling him that my BFF and i were accountability partners for a long time. We would meet every friday and set goals for the week, then we would check in over the phone every day and make sure we were holding eachother accountable for our goals as well as encourage each other to succeed....well Cesar thought it was a good idea and we’ve started doing it...it feels so great and it puts us in such a positive frame of mind....we did our monthly goals for August and then our weekly goals for this next week...to give you an idea...one of my goals is to drink at least 1 gallon of water a day; to talk to my family every other day this week and to finish reading 2 audiobooks in this next month. So they are simple goals pertaining to self/career/family/health/friends/love/spiritual, etc....its fun!

After our “check-in” we went out on a date that Cesar had planned....we rode our bikes around town; he gave me a night tour of Houston and then we went to a really nice restaurant that had delicious fresh Tilapia and now we are settling in to watch a movie in our hotel room....

I willt ry to Blog more often, though the truth is that since we’re trying to ride over 60 miles per day; by the time we get to a town all we want to do is eat, set up our tent and sleep....so not realistic for us to write everyday; but the good news is that we’ve both committed to writing blogs at least once per week for the next month we have out on the road...so if our check-ins are successful, our friends and family will be able to read more blogs and see more pictures when they visit our page!

sending you all love from the City of Houston, in the County of Texas, in the State of Missouri!

the pedaling poet