So change of plans. Mike found a bike computer at a store in Springfield. They are harder to find than you would think but all bike stuff is in short supply now. Half the day I would ride the TransAmerica Route and switch to the Route 66 where the two come within 9 miles of each other. Route 66 goes through Springfield while TransAm goes about 15 miles north of it. The cross about 20 miles past Springfield with Route 66 heading to St Louis and Chicago; TransAm continues due east.
Small town USA is mostly boarded up. This is actually one of the more alive ones.
Route 66 should be easier for services as it follows Interstate corridors. More like the Interstates were build to follow the old Route 66.
Springfield was a bit of a pain as most roads for bikes didn't continue through to anywhere. I was doing a lot of turns. I just put the bike shop into Google Maps and let it take me there. Once off the busy roads it gave me nice tour of Springfield. Went down fraternity row and through downtown which had some things going on.
At the shop I got a fancy new Wahoo Elemnt (not a typo) Roam and a new rear tire.
Getting out of Springfield was less fun than coming in. By the time I got past the traffic I was also past the stores and I hadn't eaten anything in quite a few hours. Fortunately, I had a pound of green grapes I had gotten at a country grocery store much earlier in the day ... I also got apple and bananas. I ate the grapes in about 3 minutes at the side of the road ... they tasted mighty good!
It was getting pretty late and it was hot so I called it a day in Strafford. Finishing before 3pm I seem to have a lot more energy than finishing at 4. That one to two hours is pretty critical.
