BikerAl Across America 2018

Woke up to very cloudy skies and lots of humidity.  The sun finally broke through after 10am.  We had a headwind the last 10-12 miles.  Supposed to be 15 mph but I’m sure it was more.  Not too bad except we had chip seal also and the two together really made me work.  My knees feel it tonight. Sign in Elk City.

We are camped in the Sayer City Park and we have goatheads now to watch out for.  They are notorious for causing flats.  I carefully carried my bike and placed him against a fence so I could lock him and just hope and pray no goathead finds him.

47.9 miles today.   4909.7 Total

Fellow biker, Matt was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As a kid, he took things apart like radios which led to a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in electrical engineering.  He has worked for IBM for 40 years as an integrated circuit designer (computer chip designer).

He started in NY and worked there for 22 years.  Since he doesn’t particularly  like the cold, he never got into winter sports.  But he was attracted to coffee houses and the folk music which led him to an interest in dulcimers.   Since he didn’t like the cold, he needed a winter hobby.  He had tools from renovating a house he had bought so he decided to use these tools in a woodworking hobby and eventually started building dulcimers.  Over a 15 year period, he made two dozen dulcimers and gave all but two away as gifts.  He used pretty walnut wood for the body which was especially milled for musical instruments.  Later he built ukeleles and used KOA wood for those bodies.

He and his wife took summer vacations in Maui to wind surf.  The only place to do that in NY was on the Hudson River, not too warm.  He was lucky enough to get to move to Maui for the last 18 yr and work part time from home.

Before he left NY, he built a 10 ft cedar strip kayak, another woodworking hobby.

As a young boy, he was involved in the Boy Scouts and learned to love the outdoors, especially hiking, backpacking and camping.  Later in life he became interested in cycling.

In Maui, he has a non- profit called Friends of Haleakala National Park.  Their mission is to promote, protect and improve the park using volunteers.  You can visit his web page at Fhnp.org.  This is his passion outside of his wife and cycling.  Matt is a very talented person and I’m glad to have been able to meet him.

 

Had a very sleepless night in my big motel bed.  Too much room to roll around in, I guess.  Just not used to having so much room.  I have a small one man tent and with all my stuff in thete with me, I barely have room to turn over.  So I woke up very tired.

Did laundry and then interviewed Matt whose story and picture I will post tomorrow.

One of our tour leaders, Jared, put my new chain on yesterday so I rode to the library today to make sure all worked well.  It shifts better than it has in a long time.  Guess it really was time for a new chain.

Came back and read a book all afternoon before going to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Francis, Steve, Glynn, and Doug.  Very good dinner and a fun time with the guys.  Several others went out for Chinese which did not appeal to me at all.  Glynn ordered a ”Bomb’ which was huge but he ate the whole thing.

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5.4 miles today.  4861.8

The KOA we stayed in last nite was right behind the big gas station that was right off the interstate.  So noisy.  Don’t know how I ever fell asleep.  But I did and I didn’t wake up til 5:30 and boy was it noisy then.  Warmer than yesterday.  Probably close to 60 degrees.  Very pleasant morning ride until the fog rolled in.  It almost got kinda dark.  I stopped and put my bright yellow rain covers on my panniers so I’d be seen.

As I left camp this morning, I saw a huge mural on one of the buildings in the gas station complex.  Might not show up very well because it was barely daylight.

One of the first things of interest on the road was this somewhat narrow bridge that was .7 mile long and went across the Canadian River which must have forked because there were two channels, one on each end with a very low grassy area between them.  Impossible to get a picture of the bridge because looking down it, all you saw was the road.  And, of course, there was no shoulder on the road on either end.  But it was a cool bridge.

Lots of rolling hills today.  Long and gentle.  Some side wind but a nice day.  Tried to get a picture of the red fields.  Doesn’t show up very well because it is so far away but the soil in this area is bright red.

I took a picture of this old rte 66 building just because it is called Lucille’s, which is my mother’s name.  It was out in the middle of nowhere.

I was going to take a picture of the awful road patching I talked about yesterday and as soon as I decided to do that, the patching became more normal.  Go figure.  There was a smooth transition from road to patch.  I noticed that I had crossed a county line so maybe it is not the state’s fault, but a county’s fault.  At any rate, the ride was much smoother today so I’ll take back some of my complaining.

We have a much needed rest day tomorrow.  My knees started complaining yesterday.  They are just tired.  And next week, I was told we are riding nine days before another rest day.  I’m hoping they are kidding but probably not.

48.7 miles today . 4856.4 .total

 

 

 

 

We camped at a state park near Edmond last nite right next to a big lake.  Our tents were the wettest they have ever been.  It was a cool nite and sleeping was great but taking down that wet tent about did in my fingers.  They were cold for the first hour of riding.  In fact, my whole body was cold.  All my cold weather gear is buried in the van but I will be pulling out a few things thus weekend.  Alison was kind enough to let me stash all my cold gear in her bike bag that never comes out except on layover days.  That cold front really cooled things off.  Only 50 degrees when we left camp.  Once the sun came up, it warmed up nicely.  Probably the mid to upper 70’s.  Really pleasant from 9:00 on.

I was the first one out of camp and Francis and his three buddies met me just as I made the turn into town.  So I latched on to them for the next 25 miles and got through all the hairy navigating with those who have a Garmin (GPS).  I rode the last half by myself.

We went though Yukon today, home of Garth Brooks.  There was a major road named after him but I didn’t get any pictures.  Too much traffic and four lanes.  No easy way to do it so you’ll just have to believe me.

Yesterday, I had a big truck, small semi, run me off the road.  Boy did I let out a few expletives but he couldn’t hear me.  It was a two lane road with no shoulder and on a somewhat wide curve.  I had no where to go but off onto the grass.  What made me mad was he never slowed down a bit, the oncoming car didn’t slow down either and neither one of them moved over AND they could have done both.  Boy was I ticked and it really got my adrenalin going.  I’m just glad there wasn’t a deep ditch or who knows where I would have ended up.  Scary!

So in general, I have to say OK drivers are the most impatient so far.  Many don’t slow down, some don’t move over, lots of them step on the gas just as they get beside you (whew, I’m not impressed) and the thing that irritates me the most are the ones who honk right as they get on your tail.  Geez, impatient dorks.  We are over as far as we can go.  Really gripes my hide when they do that.  So riding here in OK is a little stressful compared to IL and MO.

I’m getting all this off my chest today since I have no pictures to show.  The OK highway department does a terrible job patching roads.  Most patches seem to be at the bottom of hills or just as you start up a hill.  That’s not their fault but the way they patch it is atrocious.  It looks like they dump a pile of asphalt in a hole and leave it.  There are two and three inch high blobs of asphalt that in no way whatsoever was smoothed out to gradually match the road.  It is dangerous and super rough.  And sometimes makes no sense in what they did.  Imagine an elliptical patch of asphalt.  Now take out a 5th or 6th of it on one side and leave a 2-3 high blob all around the outside edges, including in the middle where some was taken out.  How do you navigate something like that?  Not to mention it beats your butt to death.  It just makes it hard to enjoy a nice cruise when there is so much to watch out for.

Ok, I’m off my soap box for now.  I really am having fun.  This was our 7th riding day in a row so maybe I’m a little tired.  We ride a short day tomorrow and then get a rest day.  I’m ready.

One other thing today, I got hit by a small rock flung by a big truck.  Hit me right in the leg and, of course, I had to stop and put a bandaid on to stop the bleeding.  No biggy, but it did sting for a minute.  Will have a bruise, I’m sure.  Just glad it didn’t hit me in the face.

Camping at a KOA about 20 miles past El Reno in the boonies tonite.  Best showers we’ve had on the whole trip.

64.0 miles today.   4807.7 total

 

It rained hard during the night, even had some thunder and lightning.  A nice cold front moved in.  Boy does that feel good.  In the upper 50’s tbis morning and the highest I saw today was 61 degrees.  I was in heaven  Wore a jacket all day but I was super comfortable.

Supposed to have a four day warming trend starting tomorrow.  It could stay like this forever and I’d be happy.

We rode on old highway 66 through a little town that had this mural.  I’ve seen lots of murals so far but none grabbed like this one did.  Absolutely love it.

Later on I came across this round barn.  It was a museum and tourist trap so I didn’t go inside.  But I liked the outside.

I rode by myself today and absolutely loved it.  Found a post office finally after carrying things for four days.  In Teton Valley, ID, all the post offices are right on main street.  Either lots of these towns don’t have a post office or they are hidden on side streets.

It was a good day overall.  I’m on cooking detail tonite with Francis so gotta get to work.

Dinner was a success.  Time for bed.

61.7 miles today.  4743.7 total

Today was long and hot.  I asked Murray if I could ride with him since we had to go through Tulsa, a very big city.  So I rode with five others and really had to push myself a bit to keep up. Once we got through the city, I was really getting tired and my knees started to hurt.  So I backed off and rode by myself the last 20 miles.  Not worth hurting my knees.

One of the first things we saw today was the blue whale.  And at this tourist attraction, they had the neatest bathrooms.

You walked in this bathroom and it was made out of cement blocks with an outer covering of some sort of bamboo. Really cool!

Later in the day, we passed an old train.  They obviously keep it in great shape.

 

When we rode through town today, it said 89 degrees.  Supposed to cool off tonite with a high of 68 tomorrow.  Can’t wait.  It is so hot in my tent tonite that I am standing outside it trying to finish this.  Absolutely unbearable.  We have a nice breeze right now but my tent is faced the wrong direction.  Darn it.

70.3 miles today. 4682.0 total

This was a great riding day, cloudy until the last half hour when the sun started poking through.  Didn’t sweat until then.  Loved it.  But my morning was dampened by a flat tire, on the rear, of course.  Mark and Richard helped me change it.  Thank goodness.  We were on a busy four lane road and the shoulder was pretty dirty.  I had picked up one of those tire wires.  Fortunately, I made it the rest of the day without another flat because I only had one spare.  I tho’t I had been carrying two so that was a shock.

There was really nothing to take pictures of today.  So I took one of our phone and gadget charging table.  Lots of phones were being used so this is only some of the stuff that is usually plugged in.  Some have lights and garmins (GPS) and phones and iPad’s.  Unreal.  I only have a phone.

I’m tired tonite. Pushed a little harder this afternoon than I like to but I didn’t want to come into town alone and risk getting lost.

68.7miles today .  4611.7 miles total

Another nice day.  Saw a thermometer before noon that read 64 degrees.  At 12:30, it was only 74 degrees.  Such a change from the 90’s.   It was a gorgeous riding day again.  We rode the last 19 miles of MO, rode 14 miles through Kansas, and another 18 into OK.

You can see from the map that our route through KS was very short.  This was the first KS sign I saw.

I think because KS was so short, they went all out with route 66 promotions.  I took lots of pictures today.

About 500 feet before this sign, I found a wallet on the shoulder.  At first, I rode past and then I tho’t I should check it out. So I turned around and picked it up, and whoa, driver’s license, charge cards, social security card etc.  Then I felt compelled to find the owner.  No phone number anywhere.  Dang.  Now what was I gonna do.  Just so happened an older couple drove up to take a picture of the OK sign and I asked where they were from (turned out to be MN) and I asked them if they’d be willing to find a police station and turn it in.  Easier for them to drive around than me.   She was very receptive to doing that.  Tho’t it would give them a mission today.  Yeah!  So hopefully, all turned out well.

First town in OK was Quapaw, pronounced O-gah-pah.  How they get that I don’t know.

Got in early today and because there are no campgrounds for miles around, we are staying at an Econolodge.  Boy is this cushy.  We have our own fridge, lots of room, and a back door to a grassy area where we could dry out our dew wet tents.  Loving it.

We went through the home of Mickey Mantle in Commerce, OK just before Miami.  Couldn’t resist this sign.

 

49.5  miles today . 4543.0 .Total

What a glorious day.  57 degrees this morning with light rain.  It stopped by the time we left camp.  I was in heaven.  It was a perfect day and the temps reached 70 degrees for the high.  Wore a light jacket for an hour or two and then shed it for the rest of the day.  Such a difference from last week.  I had energy.  My bike issues had been fixed and I felt like I was flying down the road.  There were several rather steep hills right before this one town and if I had been riding two days ago, I would have had to walk up them.  Today, I climbed in my middle chain ring.  My bike really was sick.  But he is good now.

We had a tail wind most of the way.  Absolute heaven, the opposite of last week.

First item of interest was the ghost town of Plano.  This is all that’s left.

Down the road aways, we came to another ghost town, Spencer.  Really cool.

In between those two ghost towns was another town that was trying to hold on to the old times by making it a tourist attraction.  Hopefully, you can see the 15 cents gas.

We rode out in the country a lot today and I couldn’t resist this mailbox.  So ingenious.

So because we had a rather long stretch with absolutely no services, our tour leaders decided to have a water stop along the way.  Jared was our driver and brought everyone into the stop with his dance routine.  I only got a video so don’t know how this will show up.  He was pretty cool.

If this video runs constantly, I don’t know what my phone battery will do.  Hope it is ok.

Once we got to southern IL, we started seeing lots of possum road kill and as soon as we crossed into MO, the road kill became armadillos.  I didn’t know they were this far north.  But there were and still are a lot of them.  Ugly little creatures.

Also, many, many woolly caterpillars and now crickets.  Also, the walnuts and hedge apples (Osage orange) are falling so there is lots to look out for.

I feel like a new person today with my functioning bike and the low heat factor.  My gosh I was miserable on Thursday.

We are camped in Mi Casa Campground right outside of Carthage.  Nice grass, shade.  Couldn’t ask for more.

71.9 miles today. 4493.5 total

A great, much needed, rest Day.  I slept pretty well last nite in our KOA cabin.  I really didn’t want to get up but laundry was calling.  I came back, ate breakfast, and laid down for another hour and a half.  The bike shop called to say my bike was ready around 11:00 so almost all of us went to the bike shop.

We all bought stuff there but they didn’t charge any labor for my bike.  They put new bearings and cones in my front hub, trued my wheels, checked my brakes, and oiled my chain, which I did yesterday.  I was so impressed.

We ate lunch in town, I went to the ATM and we made a Wal-Mart run.. Busy day.

When we got back, Alison changed her second flat tire and then worked on repairing her shoes.

No one was really interested in going out for dinner after spending four hours in town, so we all ordered pizza and chicken wings from the KOA kitchen.  Was good.

We all had a good day.  Hopefully, rested enough for tomorrow.