day 18 - hannibal, mo to hannibal, mo - 20 miles

day 18 - hannibal, mo to hannibal, mo - 20 miles.

man its country out here. the library has a sign on the door which reads "no concealed firearms or weapons allowed." nice to know so many people are carrying weapons that a sign is necessary to remind them.

i had a leisurely morning since i was only supposed to ride 70 miles to moberley, mo. i ate at a local diner where someone asked if i am carrying a weapon on my trip. i told her i had a knife. she said she'd carry a revolver. the rest of the table agreed with her. seriously, do people think the world is that dangerous? i cant even imagine carrying a gun - freaks me out. i do have pepper spray for those pesky canines though. haven't had to use it yet.

careful who you take directions from. i found myself on a dirt roade. i thought to myself, 'i've taken dirt before and i can do it again.' big mistake. 10 minutes in i tore a hole in the sidewall of my tire - ruined. so, i knew i had to hitch it back to hannibal to buy a new tire. within minutes two fine gentleman picked me up. they probably had 3 teeth between the two of them and their thick country accents prevented me from understanding but only a few words, but they drove me directly to a bike shop. i even offered gas money but they refused.

i bought some new gear and fixed up. i decided to return to the mark twain cave complex where they let me stay another night. on the ride back i flattened another tire. this flat caused a small tear in the sidewall. i patched it up with some duct tape and put the new tire in - seemed to be fine.

back at the campground i met a traveling couple, andrew and evelina (sp?), from ontario. they were traveling in a camper van and taking a tour of the us. they invited me for dinner and wine where we spoke of travels. they even donated to the lrf.

i went over to restaurant where i had been nighy before for a little dessert. the owner came up to me, "you know the cops were out looking for you last nighy." i stared back like a curious pup. "couple of days ago we had a bearded man wearing a bandana come in here a cause a scene. he was yelling at people and smoking. a real ass." i still stared. "so when you came in here last night, the staff thought you were him" she explained.
a simple case of mistaken identity.
pretty sure if anyone was looking for me i could just turn sideways and disappear anyway.

i crashed out that night thinking 'ok, i'm only one day behind. i'll just need to pick it up tomorrow.'