Arkansas back roads

Sue our Chef for lunch and Lon's wife.

OOpps, John and his puppy.  Couldn't resist this picture.

We have puppies to give away, see John and Susanna.

Paul Wilcox from New Jersey, and I rode together most of the day today.  This was a dam just outside of Arkadelphia.

Our legs were heavy, and not much good for anything, so its good we only had to go 87 miles and only 3500 feet of climbing.  I hurt the whole way.  Paul and I were the first ones to the motel today.  

Paul got a shot of me.  These Arkansas back roads were so scenic and clean.  We no longer had the road kill smell of Oklahoma.   If you didn't know you were in Arkansas, you would have thought you were in northern Wisconsin.  Except if you walk into the woods in Arkansas, you would find lizards and snakes and stuff.  Unlike the north woods.

Double pic, can't figure out how to delete it.

Paul & I hard at it.  Notice the same facial expression.  Something like, when is this going to end? :)

My bike looking up at me. As I go down the road.  I can still smile, but I do get alitte testy and moody.   So what I do is, I shorten my rest stops and lunch breaks, and ride on.  It helps me feel better, like I am going to get to the motel sooner, and get a break for my legs.   Right now, they feel like I can't flex them.  

We will walk to Cracker Barrel restaurant for dinner tonight, and walking is supposed to help them.  We walk every night to dinner, and so far, the walking effect is fair to poor.  I would just as soon have someone drive me.

Naaah really, its going just fine.  We're tired, and drawn, but hey, we are over 1800 miles into the trip, with a grand to go.

As my Dad always loved to say to me,  "When the go'in gets tough, the tough get go'in!"  So....I better keep moving on down the road.  One pedal stroke at a time.  

Other Tour Photos

This is what we look like every morning after breakfast, just prior to getting on our bikes.

We load our bags, and then hope on the bikes and ride for the rest of the day.   We get photographers and visitors who look on and watch also.

Bobby's birthday party. Bobbie is in the dark shirt in the front.  He turned 40.   This was a lunch stop a few days ago.

Serenaded by Meadowlarks/Climbing Talimena Parkway

  

As we left Weatherford, we were serenaded by western meadowlarks for over 30 miles.  I was so pleased to hear the translucent call of my favorite bird for much of your ride.

(Yes, I am behind in my blog)

Here we have Jerry trying to reset his computer.  He always seems to have trouble with it in the morning.

Steve and Jerry made the climb on the Talimena Parkway to the 72 mile mark and our lunch stop. They seem to think they are more efficient with these shaved heads.  I don't think so.  My hair is staying on.  :)  We climbed 8000 feet in the last 50 miles of this ride, and it seemed the mountains would never end.  Temperatures cooled off significantly at the top of the mountains.  The scenery was fantastic.  I can say that it was one of the toughest bike rides I have ever had.  We'll see if I can recover for a 90 mile short ride tomorrow (Tuesday).

Mike Birdsong and I couldn't help ourselves at one of the rest stops.  We both climbed into this WW2 tank.  It was really fun to actually be in the tank.  

Mike Birdsong.  Great guy from Boulder CO.  Fun to get to know.  Likes the white lip look like me.  

Oklahoma looked like WI

Today, the roads we traveled seemed as much like the back roads of Wisconsin as anywhere.

We traveled 112 miles with around 4500 feet of climbing at about 17 mph.  The roads ziged and zaged through Oklahoma farm and ranch country south of Oklahoma City.  For some reason the car on were less kind in Oklahoma than in previous states.  Maybe it was just a bad day for them.

This was a straight forward day of cycling.  We pulled into the rest stops every 25 or so miles and pulled right out.  No museums to view, today.  Temperatures hovered in the low 80's, and we had a slight head or cross wind.  Hard to tell sometimes.

Jerry and I enjoyed riding with Jim and Gerry.  Two of the older gentleman on the ride.  Very experienced cyclist, with years and years of wisdom.  Not to mention the legs and stamina to put us to shame on these long distance rides.   We hung with them though, and enjoyed the conversation about other transcontinental rides that they had done.

Steve picked up a flat tire, but we think it was a defect in the tube rather than a puncture through the tire itself.   So Steve has had two flats, I have had one, and Jerry none so far.

That is much better than many of the riders.  Some individuals have had greater than 15 flats already.

Tomorrow is a similar day, prior to Mondays grueling 10,000 foot day.  The most difficult 50 miles in the US, according to some PAC riders.

My pictures won't upload here because of the difficult Wi Fi.  Thanks for your prayer and support.  My legs are improving, and my bike is holding together, and we are over half way now!  

Texas/Oklahoma Pic

Free pie!

Jerry, Mike Birdsong, Steve Brown had their choice of free pie, for a donation to the Catholic Church in this little town.

Sister Mary's sign and the crew going in.

Bobbie from Texas birthday party, he turned 40.

Jerry on old Rt. 66, looks kinda tough, but it was fun.  We rode about 106 miles today to Wetherford, OK.  We visited Brian and Deb LaVoy's old house in town, and Jerry will put that pic in his blog.

Jerry and Steve on Rt. 66, the Roubaix's really handle the bumps well !

Dad's first jet!  Brought back lots of memories of my Father, and his distinguished Air Force career.

Hodge Podge and catching up

Last stop in New Mexico, Steve and Rick in front of stagecoach before lunch.

Big Texan on Wednesday night.  Big steaks!

Hereford, Texas around lunch.  108 mile ride, with a tail wind.  We arrived at the Big Texan around 3:30 PM CST.

Lots of cattle in feed lots. Not much rotation grazing here!

Pool party in Clovis.  Mark halls is making G & T's for the boys.  All you need is a glass from your hotel room.   Rick brought the ice.

Steve overlooking the caprock outside of Amarillo.

Jerry caught in the ritual he and Rick have.  A quart of chocolate milk as they finish the ride.

Jerry  wants to head to Lubbock.

Steve wants to head to Amarillo.

2nd 100 mile rest day!

Entering New Mexico, we crossed the Rio Grande River and then climbed up a mountain range to the Continental 

Divide.  I remember doing the same climb with my Dad in 1965 on our way to Lubbock, Texas and a new Air Force 

Base.

                                                                                                                                                                             

Boy, did I need these past 2 days.  I would have never ever thought that you could actually rest your legs and your body while performing a century ride, but its true, you can.  I feel 50 % better than 

I felt 2 days ago when we pushed our bikes through 30 mph winds for 11 hours.   I was completely shot, and wondering if I could get my strength back while at the same time continuing to ride such long distances.  Our bodies are 'fearfully and wonderfully made", they adapt to this stuff.

The past 3 days we have traveled through New Mexico.  The scenery has gone from desert sand on the west, mountain pines in the central, and vast grasslands on the east.   Thankfully, the past 2 days we have had winds at our back, and we have been allowed to refresh our legs for future challenges.