We got up in Ellington thinking we had 70 miles in us for the day. Ate some oatmeal, drank some water, and headed off into the mountains. We had 30 miles before a resupply point, and we were traveling through the Ozark National Scenic Riverways area. It was gorgeous, but we were getting our butts kicked. We both bonked multiple times before making Eminence - the town at the 30 mile point. The think about seeing scenic rivers is that you climb a ridge, then descend to the river, then climb the next ridge. Continue that pattern for a while, and ya start getting a little tired. It was a warm day out, with less wind than we needed, and we worked pretty hard to get 45-50 miles to Summersville. There was one OJ stop that had 40 hummingbirds visiting something like 6 feeders on the porch. Twas insane, but awesome. I had my second mini-crash going up a hellacious hill from one of the rivers (by the town of Alley Spring), when I shifted and my gears didn't. The road was steeply banked, and I couldn't get my foot unclipped in time, so I fell over sideways going about 2mph to the amusement of a car coming my way and another a bit behind me. Just a few bruises, but since it was at the bottom of the hill, I got to push my loaded bike up a crazy steep hill. There was only one really good view of the mountains, but it was lovely and forrested. Just sad that we were struggling and bypassing so many canoe/tube rental spots on the birthday. I'll get over it soon. We did get plenty of catfish for lunch and dinner and got to sleep in a cozy little place in Summersville.
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