Topeka to St. Joseph MO 88.4 miles - 2,181.9 miles cum

We are not in Kansas anymore Toto!! Another state down. The day started out cloudy and overcast but the weather channel said no rain and the radar was clear, no problem. Just as I got on the bike and was ready to leave, it started to pour. As usual all my nice rain gear was in my luggage and the luggage was on the van. I went back into the motel to wait for it to stop along with Meiri. About 10 minutes later, the rain slowed to a drizzle so we started out. The rain stopped completely after about 10 more minutes. We rode through downtown Topeka and past the State Capital building. It was a Sunday morning so the streets were deserted, a nice ride. We headed out of the city and headed north into a headwind. What else is new? We caught up with Bob, Marilyn and Carol as we left the city. The sun came out and we rolled into the first Sag stop but not before I had a rear tire flat. Bob stayed behind while I fixed it. There were rolling hills throughout the last 57 miles in Kansas but not too difficult. Meiri, Carole and I stopped at a Dairy Queen for lunch in Atchison KS just before the state line. We crossed a narrow brige over the Missouri river and we were in Missouri. The hills began to get steeper as we entered Missouri. I still do not have a good front derailleur so I am still in my top ring. I am putting a picture of my derailleur in the blog because I realized some of you folks would not know what I was talking about. As we got to the last Sag stop at mile 70, the hills were so steep I could not climb in my big chain ring. The rubber bands would not pull the derailleur down to the 2ND ring but I found out that I could kick it and it would go down. Hurray! Carol was tired and decided to sag into the hotel so Meiri and I pushed on to St. Joe's. The last 5 or 6 miles was through the city including a 3 mile ride through a city park. I got my second flat of the day in the park. This one was on the front and was caused by a tiny wire which had worked it's way into the tire. This was my 7Th flat of the ride. Meiri has not had any flats! It doesn't seem fair! We finally got into the motel just in time to get a quick shower and go to dinner. After dinner, I was laying in bed trying to catch up on the e-mail etc., and fell asleep which is why this blog is a day late!!!