Day 28 - Friday, June 8th - St Joseph to Chillicothe, MO

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Distance: 87.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 3800 ft. or 43.6 ft./mile
Net elevation change: -306 ft.

Click Here To Ride Along !!

Today’s ride was close to a repeat of yesterday in terms of distance but there was a lot more climbing, which is pretty ironic when you consider the ending elevation is about 300 feet lower than the starting elevation of just over 1,000 feet. Some of these hills qualified as rollers which made it a bit easier if you got your descending speed high enough to get up the next ascent, but most seemed to be spaced such that you lost too much speed in the flats between the two hills to be of any real benefit. It got warm real quick, but it wasn't as hot a yesterday and as we got closer to Chillicothe, the weather seemed to moderate a bit.

Leaving St. Joe we headed east on MO-6 for a bit over 12 miles and then turned north on MO-6/31 and reached Clarksdale at mile 16. Clarksdale is named after the original owner of the town site, John F. Clark and was laid out in 1885 when the railroad was built to this point. Today it is a town of about 270 people.

At mile 21 the road turned east and another ten miles got us to Maysville, a small town of about 1200 people founded in 1845 and the first SAG stop today.

Here are some pictures from the ride out of St. Joe to Maysville.





 


At mile 45 the road turned south before turning northeast a bit over a mile later. Shortly after that we reached Altamont at mile 47 which has a population of about 200 people and was founded in 1890. It was named on account of its lofty elevation of just over 1,000 feet. 

At mile 51 we turn east once again and reach Gallatin four miles down the road. The county seat of Daviess County, Gallatin has a population of nearly 1800. Founded in 1837, it was named for Albert Gallatin, the longest serving Secretary of the Treasury (1801-1814). Albert has quite an impressive political resume representing Pennsylvania and serving in various federal elective and appointed positions over nearly 40 years. Gallatin the city is also the site of the Gallatin Election Day Battle on August 6, 1838 when about 200 people tried to forcibly prevent Mormons from voting in the county’s first election. In October of 1838 a group of Mormon troops burned and looted most of the city along with Millport and Grindstone Fork as part of the 1838 Mormon War. It seems that Gallatin is important to the Mormon religion because nearby there is a site that is believed to be where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden.

I only have pictures of town signs as there really wasn't much else of note.



At about mile 60 we left MO-6 and turned south on State road V and then at mile 68 we went south on MO-190. Between mile 70 and 71 we go through the village of Lock Springs with a population of about 60 and the site of our second SAG stop. In the early 1900's it had a population of over 300 and boasted two hotels, a blacksmith, a lumber yard, drug store, drygoods store, grocery and a newspaper among other businesses. Three springs ran out of a hillside at the edge of the Grand River. In 1839 John D Lock received a grant of 320 acres which contained these three springs. Early settlers identified the area as “Mr Lock’s springs” where women came by wagon to wash wool fleece while making cloth. Thus, the town’s name.




At mile 80 we crossed the Thompson River and entered the outskirts of Chillicothe. Here are some pictures from ride between Lock Haven and Chillicothe.










Imagine my surprise today at mile 43 when I saw this sign below.


To think my daughter, son-in-law and their two girls are only 150 miles away...oh wait...they are in California for a wedding. July 17th in Sea Isle City can't come soon enough !!

Sneak Peek at Tomorrow

75 miles to Kirksville, MO with over 3,000 feet of climbing.  Looks like another day of rolling hill repeats.

Kirksville is a city of over 17,000 and the county seat of Adair County. The city was first laid out in 1841 and incorporated in 1857. There are some colorful stories on how the city was named. One story claims that the first postmaster, Jesse Kirk, agreed to share a dinner of turkey and whiskey with surveyors working in the area if they named the town after him. Another version states that the grandson of Jesse claims the town was named after his Jesse’s son John Kirk, who supposedly killed two deer with a single shot. Like I said….colorful.
Location: Chillicothe, MO 64601, USA

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