Today: 73 miles (of 73!), 1421 feet of climbing, strong cross winds, 15.3 mph.
Cumulative: 20 biking days, 1492 miles, 70000 climbing feet.
So I made a decision. I'm going to bike every mile from here, Ponca City, to the end in Charleston. Then I won't have to make the horrible decision every day of when/if to get in the van. Hopefully, I'll be less discouraged. And...
Today was a great day! First off, it was short--one of those 'rolling recovery' days. In 2007, the first year Trek Travel did this trip, it was much more arduous. Larry and Kelli did it the first year, as did Dave, the head guide, and Tara the message therapist, so I've gotten plenty of opportunity to quiz them all on the differences between 2007 and 2009. It was a much harder trip in 2007. At the suggestion of those bikers, they added five days to the trip, including a rest day at Grand Canyon instead of Parker and an additional rest day in Branson, Missouri. Also, four of the longest and hardest days they each split into two rolling recovery days: Parker to Kingman (now is Parker to Lake Havasu, then Kingman), Cortez to Pagosa Springs (now is Cortez to Durango, then Pagosa), Enid to Bartlesville (now Enid to Ponca, then Bartlesville), and Townsend, Tenn. to Asheville (now Townsend to Cherokee, then Asheville). Really, I can't begin to imagine finishing the 2007 version! Larry and Kelli did every mile, though. But they told me it took them months to recover from the trip and Kelli even had some over-use injuries by the end. My goal is to finish the trip stronger and happier than when I started!
Not only was it a short day, but the wind wasn't a head wind, I ended up riding with various groups and by myself at times, and the scenery and road were wonderful, especially in the afternoon. And the sun even came out!
We lunched in this lovely little town, Pawhuska, home of the first Boy Scout troop in the US. (Photo is the oldest building in Pawhuska, dating from 1871, which is old for the west, that was built by the Osage Indians to lure a blacksmith/farrier from Kansas to live and work there.) Greg, great sport that he is, went and recruited a mom and her two home-schooled kids to come over and give us an 'interview' and tell us about the town. They were really nice and she told us all about the boy scout troop, the Indians, etc. The kids were thrilled to see all of us bikers, even though the mom wouldn't allow them to accept cookies or sodas from us.
After lunch, we got off the main highway US 60 and meandered along on county roads, primarily Okesa Road. There was a group of seven leaving lunch together and we combined and split up, racing and chatting, in such an enjoyable way. The rural scenery was gorgeous, even the cows looked up as we rolled by delightedly. The road was well-paved, devoid of traffic, and full of little hills and turns and even an old one-lane bridge. This was exactly what we all had fantasized that the trip would be like every day, every mile. Wonderful.
I had a great burst of energy going up the last big rollers (hills) before Bartlesville and blasted, virtually standing up in my biggest gear all the way of the last five or six miles into the hotel. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time that I forgot to look out for Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper, Price Tower, which is here in Bartlesville. Maybe I can convince a few to make the trek over in the van to look at it after dinner.
Tomorrow is our last day in Oklahoma--112 miles to Neosho, Missouri. What an endless state.
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