Saturday, April 19 - Springbike “Brevet Style” Challenge

Thanks to the 32 riders who participated in Springbike’s “Brevet Style” Challenge on Saturday.  We had a hot breakfast, but a chilly start with a brisk tailwind pushing us out to Marshfield.  Of course, the wind wasn’t so friendly on the way back! The sun was doing it’s best to break through the clouds all morning, but didn’t succeed until we pulled back in to the parking lot.  Nothing like an early metric century to remind us how long the winter has been!  Congratulations to all who rode.  Results: 

Ray’s Super Bowl '08 Mystery Ride - CAMP CORA CAVE

Super Bowl Sunday was cloudy and, seventy percent chance of rain. The sun seldom showed. Seventy or more brave bike riders dressed in their most outrageous suits showed. Two tall, handsome young fellows from KSPR were there. Their cameras were spinning faster than I can swim. They were doing a thing about promoting bike paths. Great! I was taking bets on Ely. No points given. No bets taken!!!

The TV guys asked where we were going. It is a mystery. How do we get there. Follow me. Monte Montgomery had volunteered to drive me to the Mystery location. Instructions were handed out and riders were told to followed the Nature Trail to the iron bridge and there-after the route was painted. Nuff said but Red Wing had other plans! She took the short cut and faster route by leading the pack down Lonesome Pole Cat Road. (Lone Pine). One of the ladies had blabbed that the trail had a very muddy crossing. Not so. I walked it this morning and NO MUD.

Many of he Hard Core riders were there. I told Monte that he’d have to step it up if we were to beat them to mystery point, which we did by about five minutes! I showed Monte the treacherous path to see the cave. Then looking north down this seldom traveled farm road came the pack of at least fifty riders and they were not about to stop on this flat barren country road to nowhere! I jumped out in front and forced a stop. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT IS THIS, WHY DID YOU STOP US? This is it, this is the mystery location, read the sign. CAMP CORA CAVE, YOU ARE TO FIND IT, THEN REMOVE SOCKS AND SHOES AND WADE 100 YARDS INTO THE CAVE TO EARN YOUR BIG RED ROOSTER AWARD. Strange expressions were on the face of the riders. Cracked me up! Most wimped out on venturing up and into the dark and damp cave. Most got the CHICKEN LITTLE AWARD! HA Can’t afford to get my bike shoes muddy was the song and dance!

Not one rider noticed the faded and dilapidated flower memorial like you often see along the highways. The flower arrangement was placed at the highest point to get to the entrance to the cave. Ugh There is a story here. Most riders stopped at Evelyn’s Coffee Pot Cafe for hot cider and cinnamon rolls. I had to drag the TV guys in for the delicious treat. Now those two guys did enjoy the treat. Ely won SS Bowl in the last two minutes of this game. Truly the most exciting football finish I’ve ever seen. And I turned to channel eight to view the showing of what the TV guys had taken of our bike ride. Interesting. What a day.

In the early thirties, the large family, of which I was apart, (9) lived on a farm which now is a large part of southeast Cox Hospital. While living there we would take our summer swims at the Camp Cora Cave on the river James. Dad lost the farm in the depression and was able to rent a small farm in Springfield at the southeast corner of Jefferson and Portland. During the summer months he would load up the touring car and we would visit Camp Cora on Sunday afternoons. These years were during the worst drought ever for this country. Days of the Oklahoma dust bowl area. Grasshoppers ate up every thing that farmers could grow in these dry years. The large flow of water from the cave never run dry. We would always take a water melon and cool it in the cold water from the cave. There was a huge log in the river directly in front of the cave. To the west of the log was an island as the river branched out in that direction. We were always told to never swim around that Island........snakes! I did the swim, several times. No snakes.

Camp Cora was a favorite spot on the River James and many people frequented the place. There was a circle parking place directly in front of the cave. About a quarter mile west of the cave is a flat platform on a bluff suitable for diving off into a deep part of the river. This, my older brother and sister and myself loved to do. One Sunday a family w/two kids were on a blanket on the other side of the river. Their little boy who appeared to be about five years old ventured out into the deep water. The family and those who were on the platform were unaware of what was taking place.......a drowning! I saw the little boy was in trouble. I swear, he was going down for the third time. Well, I was a pretty good swimmer at this time. I think that I was about eleven or twelve years old. But I got to this little guy in no time and got him to his parents. I think that they were never aware of the seriousness of this happening.

Funny thing, A person drowns, he/she usually don’t wave a hand and holler HELP. They can’t.

My dad told me one day why Camp Cora was called Camp Cora but I forget just why, but I think that it had something with the civil war and north or south troops had ammo stashed in the cave. But this I don’t know for sure.

Last spring I was taking regular bike rides late in the day to get in shape for the Missouri State Games. So one day I was thinking of these by-gone days spent at Camp Cora, so I took a bike ride down south past the old town of Kissick that is no longer there. The place was very hard to find do to the fact that so many things had changed. The county road was paved. There were no signs of the old time parking lot. Weeds, brush and large trees there now and there were no way to find the cave even though I had a pretty good idea of it's location and after much tramping the brush I found it. This cave has been very sheltered by City Utilities. CU has been very protective of this area and there have been no trespassing signs there for years. There are no signs there today. Before now, to enter the cave you would have to get a boat and float the river, but there is no place to launch a boat. Many of the old timers are deceased. I have found no one that had ever heard of Camp Cora. So this has been my secret. After discovering my favorite cave I would bike to the cave at least once a week, always late in the evening. Every time I'd go down to the cave there would be a nice looking, rather clean and well dressed elderly fellow setting at the top of the cave. He always seemed to be mentally distressed, He seemed so stressed with sadness. Every evening he was at the same location on top of the cave where he could watch the sunset and the evening sun rays glance off the waters of the River James. Surely, this gentleman must have a serious emotional problem.

One day I approached him and struck up a conversation. He was very interesting to talk to and quite willing to tell of his past employments. I deliberately avoided any personal talk and was hopeful that he might volunteer something of his serious personal problems which I suspected.

Of course, we all know the meaning of those flower arrangements found often beside the roads and we think of how sad it is to lose a loved one in a traffic accident as many people have had to face and to live with for the rest of their life. My wondering mine led me to think that perhaps his visible emotional distress was due to a busted love affair. Maybe he had done badly by one whom he felt strongly for and recognized his failure too late and she had committed suicide at this location which may account for the beautiful spray of flowers? On my last meeting with him, he did tell me a bit of his childhood. He told me that as a child, he lived west of the River James. That frequently his parents would bring him to the river, usually on a Sunday afternoon. Also, he told me of being rescued from drowning one afternoon when he was five years old.

You can bring up some information about Camp Cora on Google - Ray Wageman

New Year’s Day Ride '08

	...and here they are at the familiar stop in Strafford
Dave Julian, Dave Ritchey, Mark Grimm, John Bradley, Jason, Tom Reinbold, and Jim Jones

June 30, 2007 - The First Queen City Century

Things looked bad for the brave cyclists who turned out at Republic High School; rain was forecast and flood watches were posted. More of the story to come.

Two items lost (and found) at Turner's Station Rest Stop. One glove and one insulated water bottle. ID them and they're yours. email the webmaster.

Here are the pictures taken at the Turner's Station Rest Stop.

Saturday March 10, 2007 - The Chili Ride (Rescheduled from a very cold March 3rd)

The weather was much improved over the previous weekend when temperatures didn't get over 40 all day. The Chili ride was a tough reminder that we (at least some of us) should have eased up on all that pizza over the winter. Those hills seemed tougher and the dogs nastier. Here was the route.

	Warm chocolate chip cookies and coffee before the start.
The road warriors prepare the steeds for the hills of Farm Road 182.
	Bill Drummond and Pam Elsaesser check the snacks for the rest stops. A big Thank you for The Ozarks Multisport Club and Sunshine Bike Shop for manning the rest stops and to Greg Achterman and Sunshine Bike Shop for the sag support.