32.41 miles (Total: 536.17) Average Speed: 11.2mph Max Speed: 37.2mph

Cooper had to be up for an appointment he had made to get his painful ankle checked out at the doctors, so I strolled round Damascus looking for breakfast and wifi. I didn’t get the wifi but did get some nice pancakes with maple syrup. We eventually got our stuff together and left Damascus not realising we had already missed the route turn coming into the town so were heading the wrong way from the off. We soon realised and spotted a road that would connect us back. Having bought the pepper spray I was on lookout for any dog that fancied charging me today.

Today would involve one huge climb of around 2000ft up clinch mountain, a sheer wall of vertical road to the heavens. I was moaning early in the ride about my sore knees and dreading the climb, then we came across Allen. He has Spinocerebellar Ataxia and was riding a hand bike from St Louis, we talked about what was ahead and asked him questions about his bike. After the meeting we both felt inspired to defeat this mountain so ploughed on up the steepest grades of the trip so far. The sweat was pouring of my face as flies hover around but you can only continue crawling up.

After finally making it to the top we stopped to celebrate, there was a county line where the road bends and goes downhill and it was just as fun as the Damascus downhill. After reaching the church in Rosedale where we were going to camp we find the Adventure cycling group setup too. They invite me and Cooper to eat with them and in return we washed some dishes. They also sold beer for $1 a can which has become a must after a hard day in the saddle. All is good.