Golden City, MO

The Welcoming Committee

We woke up to rain this morning. Secretly, for me, this was the best thing that could happen. I don’t want to leave. I want to stay with the goats and the dogs and the hens and the peacefulness forever. But the sun came out and the clouds disappeared and so Melissa and I packed up our bikes and said good-bye. Molly, one of the great pyrenees didn’t want us to leave, and followed us down the drive. She stared at is for a while as we biked down the highway, then chased after us. It broke my heart. I have dreams of coming back to Harmony Hill. Kidding is in the winter . . . possibly a great break from the bike tour?

Our destination for the day was Golden City, Missouri, 40 miles away. The riding was fairly easy. The hills also disappeared and we got our first taste of the plains. I’m in love with the flat roads. At one point, I got in the drops of my bike and rode as if I was in a time trail. Seeing a speed over 11 mph was like seeing heaven. I’m pretty sure I went fast enough to get last place in a race. And I loved it.

We reached Golden City fairly quickly. We found Cooky’s, a bikers oasis, and ate the pie we have been hearing about forever. It was early in the day, but the heat index was around 110, so we decided to call it quits. We went to the library, we went to the grocery store and we went to the bar. And when the sun finally started to go down, we headed to the town park.

At the park, we were welcomed by the Golden City Welcoming Committee. The Golden City Welcoming Committee consisted of two 11-year-olds. They came blazing into the park, the girl on a bmx bike, the boy standing on the pegs behind her. The boy jumped off the bike, took a wide legged stance, threw on his sunglasses and said, “Where you guys headed?” Nodding his head, saying “Yep, yep.” He followed up with, “How was the riding today? Hot?” He was 11 going on 25.

They helped us put up our tent, gave us some directions and let us know where we should eat in town (they suggested the mac and cheese pizza at the local gas station). I asked if they were brother and sister. They said no. I asked if they were neighboors and the boy replied, “You could say that. You could say we are boyfriend and girlfriend, too.” To which the girl screamed, “You could not!”

They were awesome. After they left, a 15-year-old boy came and talked to us and then a woman who was out walking her dogs stopped and chatted. Golden City . . . it really lives up to its name.

Brooke