Day 31
St. Louis MO, 0 miles (Rest Day 3)
”All you need to be assured of success in this life is ignorance and confidence.”
— Mark Twain
Preparedness helps too, but sometimes having the confidence to simply follow your nose reaps surprising rewards. I can’t count the number of times I have had no particular goal in mind and I ended up meeting an interesting person, being hosted by wonderful people, or simply having a pleasant conversation with a complete stranger. These are some of the things that make travel by bicycle such a pleasure. That, and the feeling of accomplishment you get at the end of each and every day…
As I was making my way to the west end of St. Louis on Tuesday, it was getting into late afternoon, I had been meandering very slowly. I decided to stop at a local watering hole situated on the edge of the Washington University campus. There was a fellow sitting alone outside the tavern, well dressed, we greeted one another and he invited me to join him. I went inside and grabbed a Busch Beer (I try to sample the “local” varieties as much as possible). After chatting for a few minutes I learned he was a retired attorney that had practiced law at a large firm in downtown St. Louis for almost 40 years. He probably was educated at WU, but we didn’t get into that. A bit later a Chef from the restaurant next door came by and sat down with us. The two were obviously friends. My new Chef friend lit up an eight inch cigar. I’m a bit sensitive to cigarette and cigar smoke but I didn’t say anything, the conversation was too entertaining. (Perhaps if wildfire smoke from Canada had been blowing into St. Louis, I might have moved further away.) The conversation progressed until the Chef asked me if I carried a gun for protection. I could tell my attorney friend suddenly became ever so slightly more interested in the conversation. There are many ways you can approach a question like that, but considering that I didn’t want to get into a long philosophical debate about guns, I just laughed and said, “No, they are way too heavy to carry when your riding a bicycle across the country.” My Chef friend seemed to understand that, he shook his head and took another long puff on his cigar, then he asked me, “well then, do you carry a knife?” I replied immediately, “You bet I do.” that ended the conversation… Something tells me a Swiss Army Knife was not exactly what he had in mind…
The reason for my diversion to St. Louis. That, and the opportunity to ride the Katy Trail.