The morning of Friday, July 21st we woke up in unusually comfortable lodging in the Kappa Delta House at Mizzou. Always a nice change of pace when we get nice beds to sleep in! On top of that, Cara Stuckel was kind enough to arrange for the house chefs to make breakfast for us. Now anything other than one of Big Momma’s bagels is a nice surprise for us, but they really went above and beyond for us with breakfast sandwiches and pancakes.
Following breakfast we hit the road for Union, Missouri. The ride was tough for the cyclists as the heat index hit 100 only an hour into the ride. On top of that, Missouri surprised us all with some serious rolling hills. Everyone made it into the lunch stop tired and hungry where the Valentine family had graciously sponsored a Subway lunch. Unfortunately, the ride ended there for the day with the heat index hitting 120 degrees. It was a tough call but safety is always our number one priority.
We rode the rest of the way into Union where we were being hosted at the local high school. After a quick nap, we all headed to IMO’s pizza–a pizza place owned by Craig Mueller, a fellow brother. While there we were treated to more St. Louis style pizza than we could eat (the barbecue chicken was a fan favorite). After dinner we headed back to lodging for a quick team meeting discussion the last 3 weeks of our trip. Crazy to think arrival is only a few weeks away!
Finally, I just wanted to give thanks again to our sponsors for the day. It is always a good day when all of our meals are sponsored!
Author: Brendan Cafferky, Crew (Delta Alpha Chapter, Virginia Tech)