Friday, September 30, 2011

Hotels and Hillbillies

Day 15


Fuckall


Sat around in the hotel in Mena to give my knees another good day's rest after the mountain stage. Honestly, if you want to know what I did that day, check the schedule for the History Channel. Other than that, I read some, ate some, laid around some, and probably snored some. Bored. And expensive. Getting tired of staying in hotels because they're burning through my money...


Day 16


      38.46 miles @ an average of 11.6mph, 32.0 max

Total ride time of 3:18'41


Stayed up way too late in the hotel room, but made a cup of coffee before I left, which helped wake me up a bit. On the way out of town I stopped at a Ouchita State Park Ranger Station to chat with the rangers and ask about the upcoming parks. It's a good thing I did, because I found out that both of the parks I intended to stay at the next two days had been closed down, even though the official state maps all still showed the parks. The ranger did tell me about a small, privately-owned park south of Waldron, which I stopped at when I got to it about 20 miles down the road. When I pulled up the office was closed, so I sat down at a picnic table to eat my lunch, and as I did the owners pulled up in a grey pickup truck with some sort of machinery in the back. I walked over to ask them about fees and what-not, and asked if I could take a look at the campgrounds before I paid for them. They were amenable to this, and pointed me in the direction of the “campsites.” As I rode by them, I noticed that they weren't so much campsites as land that had been cleared years ago and left alone since. The grass was about as high as my thigh, and though they mentioned having fire rings, I wasn't able to locate a single one. This was around 2PM, so I told them that, because I had plenty of daylight left, I would look elsewhere. I thought I might ride past Waldron into a small patch of national forest where I might just hike off the road a bit to find a place to camp for the night, but as I reached Waldron I found it would be difficult to cover the next 10 or so miles to the stretch. Begrudgingly, I found another hotel and slept there for the night after consuming the entirety of a large pizza from Pizza Hut. Mmm, mm carbs. I would have made another blog post from this point, but found that, when I called the office for the network access code, the manager's cocaine supply had apparently run out, and he had passed out early. Have I mentioned before that hotel managers all seem to be on coke all the time? Anyway...


Day 17


      38.16 miles @ an average of 11mph, 37.5 max

      Total ride time of 3:16'07


This day's ride wasn't too difficult until the last 12 miles when I headed into the national forest to find a campground. The majority of the ride was actually quite nice and I was keeping an average speed around 13.5mph, but when I turned south to get into the woods it also meant heading up a small mountain. I had intended to reach Jack Creek and sleep there, but when I arrived, the campsites were laughable. The entire campsite was more like a giant picnic ground where you would expect someone to hold a low-cost birthday party on a weekend. There was also no one there. It was, however, quite beautiful. At the end of the loop in the road there was a small swimming/fishing hole set against a cliff of diagonally-slanted slate from which huge pines grew and reflected in the afternoon light. Despite the lack of other people and beauty, I decided that it would be for the best not to camp on top of a picnic table (none of the trees in the camping area were close enough to hang a hammock), and decided to head for the next campground which was only a couple more miles down the road. On the way back up the hill from Jack Creek I passed a couple of hillbillies riding an ATV with fishing poles slung across the front. I nodded to them and rode on to Knopper's Ford, the next campsite. The ride to this site was less strenuous, being nearly all downhill, but it was on a dirt and gravel road, which I believe I have mentioned before, my tires are not designed for. Still, I made it down the treacherous slopes and to the campsite only to find that there was no running water here, just as there had been none at Jack Creek. However beautiful Arkansas may be, their campgrounds are seriously lacking in amenities such as showers. To make up for it, there isn't a burn ban, so I began to walk around the campgrounds looking for fallen branches and trees. I noticed one other campsite was taken by a couple of trucks, though their owners were nowhere to be seen.

After a half-hour of gathering wood, however, the duo returned, riding an ATV. The same hillbillies I had seen entering Jack Creek as I was leaving! They called me over to ask how far I was riding, how far I had ridden, and other such questions I beginning to get used to, and I asked them if they had any extra water. They did, and offered it to me freely, as well as offering me some “vittles” they were cooking up, and I ended up staying with them and hanging out until about midnight. They told me good spots to check out while I'm touring, such as Mammoth Springs. They told me how to avoid being licked by a bear. And their jaws dropped when they found out I wasn't carrying a gun. They had six between them. The older, and fatter one, Jack, said, “Sheeit, boy! Don' you know you in hillbilly country? I mean some of us is nice, but I reckon most of 'em are mean as hell! I'm surprised you ain't had no one throwin' cans at you yet! I wouldn't go nowhere in this country without a gun.” One of the other man's guns, a small caliber pistol, had been sitting on the picnic table since before I walked up. I assured him that the majority of the people I've met on the trip have been nothing but perfectly cordial. Still, they remained in awe of my lack of armaments, and repeatedly returned to the topic. In fact, almost everything about me seemed to blow the two away, from my vegetarianism to my stove (on which I made them some hot cocoa) to my bike ride itself. By the end of the night Jack was offering me a ride to the main road in the morning in the bed of his truck so I wouldn't have to pedal on the dirt roads and risk a flat. I accepted graciously, and soon after the boys went to bed.

By this point, I still had not set up my hammock, so I found a campsite a bit down the road with trees close enough to accommodate it, and began to set it up, but not before building a campfire with the wood I had gathered earlier. I sat next to this until the wee hours and ended up sleeping in quite late.


Day 18


40.56 Miles @ an average of 10.8mph, 35.1 max

Total ride time of 3:44'03


Woke up too late for a ride. The hillbillies had gone, and too bad, because I discovered a flat on my front tire from a push pin or something like that which had worked its way into the tire and made a tiny hole in the tube. As I was fixing that an old man on an ATV (everyone rides those things out here) stopped by to chat and told me about his 50+ year old son who lives in Alaska who still does century rides. I thought, but didn't say, “yeah, on a light bike with no bags,” and after a while the old man realized I was more interested in fixing my tire than chatting with him, and drove off. Of course, the day started with that big hill on a dirt road that it ended with the day before, but it wasn't too bad. I can feel myself getting stronger and tackling hills more easily than I did even a week ago. I guess mountains will do that to you... Once I finally got to Booneville, about 12 miles from my start, I stopped to get some much-needed water, and then headed out toward Ozark. The ride there was not too terribly hilly, or anything, but a strong, persistent headwind kept my speeds down to a relatively low point, but I still managed to cross the Arkansas river and get a hotel room before sundown. Yes, another hotel room, but the next national park is still 10 miles away and up some steep hills. I'll be there tomorrow, and the next day, and probably the day after that, but for the foreseeable future, I'm in the forest in the mountains.

Anyway, as I walked up to my room, two couples from Wichita Falls were sitting outside their rooms, next to mine, smoking cigarettes. One of the guys said, “Man, I'm tired just looking at you!” And then offered me whiskey, which I gladly, and gratefully accepted. I chatted with them for a while (they were also amazed I don't carry a gun), and then bowed out to eat another large pizza (I saved a couple slices for breakfast), and get some stuff from the store. And now I'm about to go to bed. Sweet sleep, how I love you so.

Oh, and since I haven't had a quote or song lyrics for a while, here ya go:

"All the things I'm missin', good vittles, love and kissin', are waitin' at the end of my ride."

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Rest and test

Day 9

19.90 miles @ an average of 11.5mph, max of 29.7
Total ride time of 1:43'47

Felt better, so I took off from Broken Bow and headed north to Hochatown State Park by Broken Bow Lake, and stayed at the Steven's Gap portion of the park. As soon as I pulled into the camping area, I was amazed. It was absolutely beautiful. Half the ground was slate, while the other half was quartz, mostly rose. It was only about 14 miles to the campsite, but I rode another three back to the gas stations outside the park for supplies, and three back to the site. I arrived long before sundown so I spent a while swimming and skipping rocks around the site. I was continually blown away by the beauty of the place, and was wanting a friend or two to share it with. I guess that goes to show how lonely I've gotten from time to time on this trip.
As the sun began to set, I started reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card for about the fifth time. I absolutely love that book, and I think I finished about half of it that night before falling asleep.

Day 10

<6 miles, unknown time

I woke up late and decided to just stay still for a while since I knew that the next campsite to reach was quite a while away, and I really wanted to finish my book, which I did before sundown. Another reason I wanted to stay was the startling beauty of that campsite. I really think I will return to camp there again sometime in the future, as it really isn't far from Dallas, and I would love to share this place with friends. Anyway, after finishing my book, I rode back to the gas stations for more supplies, and as I got back, just before sundown, I was surprised to have neighbors drive up and begin to set up camp. Two good ol' boys from Dallas drove up in a truck hauling enough gear for a small army, as well as two bikes, and two skidoos. I walked up and started talking with them, and they introduced themselves as Arlyn and Scott. I was happy to have met someone else who wasn't afraid of camping without an RV, but even more delighted to have someone to talk to. They shared their beers and hung out with me until the wee hours, shooting the shit and tossing a frisbee around until Arlyn noted that it was around 2AM, at which point we all hit the sack.

Day 11

I checked the weather report when I woke up and found that thunderstorms were predicted for the area, and remembering my experience with the last storms I encountered, I decided it would be best to stay another day. I spent some time reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer until my neighbors returned, and then decided to spend time with them for a while. After an hour or so, the storms rolled in. It wasn't the same sort of brutal rain I experienced outside of Broken Bow city, but I am glad I stayed around the camp so I didn't end up riding in it.
Before the rains, Arlyn had set a fishing rod out in the hopes of catching a catfish, and when the rain hit, he was forced to leave it alone until the storms passed. When he went out to check the rod after the rain, he found a small type of perch had hooked itself through its side next to the bait that was already on the hook. After failing to remove the small fish, he went ahead and cast it to try to catch a larger fish using the smaller as bait. His first cast went short of where he wanted it, so he began reeling it in, and about three yards from the bank, a big smallmouth bass struck it and he pulled it in as the first catch of the day. After this, I started fishing with him, as the fish were still biting a lot after the heavy rain. He managed to catch another fish, a largemouth bass, while I caught two more bait fish, two small bass which wouldn't make a sandwich together. After that, I didn't find any more, but I did find some great pieces of rose and cloudy quartz to bring back with me to my friends back home.
We didn't stay up quite as late this night, but we had a good time, despite raccoons stealing food from the boys' bins, and were able to wake up early the next day.

Day 12

39.98 miles @ an average of 12.2mph, max of 33.3
Total ride time of 3:10'14

After I woke up and struck camp, the boys gave me a ride out of the park to a small diner next to the gas stations where we had a great, filling late breakfast, and then bid me farewell. Following so many days of real rest, I felt awesome, and made great time. For a long while, my average speed was over 13mph, and then I hit the mountains. I slowed down, and halfway up a very large climb I stopped at a dirt road that led off into the forest and found a couple of trees to hang my hammock between. This would be my first experience with real primitive camping: literally just a spot in the woods, never cleared for camping. Having heard of bears in the area, I was kind of spooked with no one around to keep me feeling safe, so I ended up wearing my bear bell while cooking dinner and setting up camp. I also kept my mace at my side, and constantly looked around for glowing eyes after the sun set. Still, I never saw anything come even close, but I still connected my bell to the top of my hammock so I could ring it every time I heard a twig snap, or a branch move. You could say I was kind of spooked. Still, I managed to get to sleep after some time, and woke up some time after sunrise.

Day 13

18.62 miles @ an average of 8.1mph, max of 42.6
Total ride time of 2:17'11

I awoke with my knee hurting again after riding so hard the day before. This day was nearly entirely uphill, and because of the pain in my knee, and the length and steepness of the hills, I ended up pushing my bike at some points, leading to my low average speed. About halfway through the day, though, I was treated to a great downhill section that was nearly four miles long. During this section I hit the max speed for the day, and for my trip so far. It was so exhilarating, I wanted to catch a ride back to the top, just to ride it again, but I pushed on, knowing that no one would want to give me a ride to the top. During the entire course of this ride, I didn't run across a single gas station or stopping point of any type, except for a rest stop which had running water I didn't trust. For this reason, I stopped there for a while to refill my water reservoirs and used iodine to purify the questionable water, which took longer than I thought it would. After this, were more climbs, which led me to the top of a mountain, where I stopped for the night an hour or so before sundown. I tried to get to sleep soon after sundown, but the wind kicked up to nearly 25mph and buffeted my hammock to the point that it was difficult to sleep due to the noise. I finally found a position where I could sleep without too much noise directly in my ear, and slept until sometime after sunrise, but still felt tired.

Day 14

31.16 miles @ an average of 9.7mph, max of 42.9
Total ride time of 3:11'05

Woke up with my knee feeling a little bit better, and ate a meager breakfast before setting off. I do think I'm allergic to something in these mountains, though, because my right eye was pretty much glued shut when I woke up, and I've been sneezing a lot today.
As I left my site, I saw a guy on a triathlon bike powering up the mountain. I said howdy, but didn't see him again as I was riding. Big surprise, he was riding a bike that weighed less than one of my bags. Anyway, the first few miles of riding were incredibly difficult, as they were all uphill, but after a while, I hit the ridge of the mountain, and from then on, the ride was mostly small rises which were more bearable. There were still a couple of hills I had to dismount and push up, but I'm getting stronger, both physically and mentally. I felt like the little engine that could at times, and was chanting to myself "can't stop, won't stop, can't stop, won't stop..." as a sort of mantra. I made it to the campsite I thought of staying at tonight without running into any places to buy water or Gatorade. I rested here for a while and ran into the biker I saw earlier in the day. We chatted for a while, and it turns out he's training for the Iron Man in Hawaii! No wonder he was able to pump up those hills. He found a tear in his tire, and had about 50 more miles to go, so I gave him a tire boot to get him back to his car, and he offered to pay me, but I refused. I figure it will come back to me in some way. Anyway, the campsite only accepted cash, so I went on ahead to Mena, the city a few miles on (14 miles, to be exact). This entailed a few more punishing climbs, but I was rewarded at the end with a five mile coast at 30-40 mph the whole time, all the way into town. Once in town, I found a hotel, got something to eat at a Chinese buffet (bad idea) and went to WalMart for more supplies, and bought more than was necessary. Still, I managed to squeeze it all into my bags, and I'm set to go to sleep and get started again tomorrow. I need to do some laundry at a laundromat if I can find one, but that shouldn't take me too long, and then I'll be back on the road. More camping and more mountains up ahead, but I'm getting stronger, and as long as my knee holds up, I should be making more and more miles every day!

'Til next time, wish me luck in my travels! Y'all be good now, y'hear? Oh, and be kind to cyclists!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Sitting Still

Day 8

Woke up with a fever and decided to stay in Broken Bow for the day to rest. This has been expensive, but worth it, I think. I checked out of the roach motel and went to the laundromat down the street to do some laundry. It's nice to have clean clothes, especially socks. I was running out of those. Then I checked into the hotel across the street from the laundromat which is twice as nice as the first motel, and cost five bucks less per night. Wish I had found this place the first night, but then again, last night I was getting hailed on and just wanted a place to dry off. This day also gave me time to dry out my shoes, which were still soaking wet when I woke up. After checking into the hotel, I rode to Wally World (Walmart) to buy some supplies, and picked up some more dry goods, camp fuel for my stove, and other stuff I was needing, including gallon ziploc bags to better waterproof everything what I wasn't certain about before. Now everything is packed into nice, neat bags, and essentially double water proofed, which is good, because they're forecasting more heavy storms come Wednesday. I also ended up reorganizing my bags to a limited extent, and somehow now everything fits better into the bags than it did yesterday. It kind of makes me wish I had left some stuff behind, and packed more into my rear bags than my front ones. Oh well, knowledge for the future. So, basically, I've ridden less than two miles today, and I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, but provided I feel better tomorrow, I'll be back on the road, though I probably won't ride more than twenty miles, as the park I plan to camp at tomorrow is only about 16 miles away. After that, I ride into the mountains, and into Arkansas. Wish me luck!

Until next time, this mustache is out.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Paris to Broken Bow

Day 3

18.11 miles @ an average of 10.6mph, max of 18.1
Total ride time of 1:42'00

The night after my last post I made the great decision to spend most of the night reading a book I bought recently called Those Across the River by Christopher Buelman (a.k.a. Christophe the Insultor) and therefore stayed up until about 5AM. Brilliant (the book, not staying up that late to finish it)! I also thought checkout time would be around 10AM and so I woke up around 9:30, went to the office, and discovered the actual checkout time was 11. So, I spent some time milling around, packing, and then went to a local coffee shop where I spent most of the day catching up with friends on Facebook and drinking half-decent coffee. I did run into a couple of guys who overheard me trying to find out where exactly to camp at Pat Mayse, and they suggested their own favorite campgrounds around the lake, which actually saved me quite a few miles on the road, and saved me time on the next day getting to Hugo lake in Oklahoma. Anyway, I left town around 6PM. Should have left earlier, but I was busy charging electronics. Lame excuse, I know, but I got to the campgrounds after dark regardless of what excuse I make. So here's an excuse as to why I went so slowly: the wind was to my face the whole time!

Anyway, I got to camp just after nightfall, and on the road into camp I ran into a pack of wild boar crossing the roadway. I know these animals can be extremely dangerous, so I was unsure what to do. I blasted my air horn which worked marvelously. I can still hear the scampering of cloven hooves on blacktop. Actually, I thought there were only one or two of the beasts until I blew the horn and heard nearly a dozen tearing ass off into the woods on either side of the road. Didn't know those things moved in packs, but there you go. Anyway, I got to the camp entrance safely and the rangers charged me $10 bucks for a campsite with no running water or electricity. What a sham. I didn't like the campsite that much anyway, because it was incredibly open, with no privacy to speak of. This didn't matter too much as it is no longer summer, and it was a weekday so there were very few other campers. Of the campers there were, a few were checking in at the same time I was, and one of their little boys was intrigued by my loaded bike. His father mentioned that I was fully-loaded, and the son said, "Fully-loaded? Naw, you need a wide-load sign on that!" Ahh, children...

As I cooked my dinner I could feel a cold-front coming in, and I was glad I picked up some warm gear before I left Dallas. However, it spoke to troubles I would have the following day.


Day 4

25.77 miles @ an average of 10.9mph, 21.2 max
Total ride time of 2:21'02

Woke up late around 2PM due to the beautifully cool weather. Struck camp and headed out around 4PM. Wind was to my face again, so I rode slowly, and stopped a few times for the crossing of the Red River and my entry into Oklahoma! Finally, a new state! Stopped a few miles into the state next to the Choctaw Casino at a gas station where I picked up a slice of pizza for some extra calories. I stayed there for a while, just watching people come through. Ran into some more rain, this time while riding, and after it stopped I got a flat on my back tire. By this time the temperature was dropping rapidly, and I was ready to get to camp, but the flat had set me back by some time, and I ended up getting to camp after dark. As I turned onto the road toward the camp, I stopped to investigate an annoying sound emanating from my front tire. I found that the sound was only the strap of my Camelbak rubbing on the tire, so I tightened the strap to pull it off the tire and stop the sound. After securing the strap I turn my head toward the field to the side of the road, and, reflected in my headlamp, I see three pairs of eyes looking straight at me, each about two-and-a-half feet off the ground, and about 25 or 30 yards out. They look like dog eyes, but there is no barking, as you would expect from a dog. The one in the center began to bound towards me through the tall grass, while the other two fan out. I realize I'm being hunted, probably by Coyotes. I throw my leg over the bike, clip in, and as quickly as possible get up to about 20 miles per hour. I keep looking behind me as I pedal, my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't see them, but it was dark, and I couldn't be sure, so I kept pedaling until I reached the lights at the entry of the park about two miles down the road. I slowed and looked behind, and there was nothing behind me. Finally, my heart slowed, and I pedaled slowly to the tent sites, and settled in for the night.

Feeling a bit homesick for San Marcos. Miss my friends there.


Day 5

15.47 miles @ an average of 10.6mph, max of 18.5
Forgot to take down my ride time. Do some math, foo.

The ride wasn't long this day, but it was arduous. The wind was directly in my face the entire ride, and I was getting sick of it. I kept stopping every few miles because the wind made the ride feel like it was all uphill. About three miles from camp I stopped in town for some Gatorade and a sit-down. As I rolled up a group of young girls in too much make-up and their boyfriends were gassing up their truck in preparation to go to a rodeo or horse show or something like that. One of the young girls commented that she liked my bike. Another young man travelling on a sort of ATV with his father asked if I had far to go to get home. When I responded that I wasn't headed home, and instead headed to Missouri, his jaw dropped. He said I was crazy. I said he might be right.

I stayed at that gas station for a while and just watched small town Oklahoma roll through. It was a small town, and at the two tables inside the gas station, a few local teens were relaxing. They looked at me oddly as I walked through the store in my bike gear. I picked up some canned fruit and a cup of hot chocolate, which I sipped on as I sat outside, watching the locals live their lives. Some of the locals fit the "redneck" description perfectly, while others attempted to differentiate themselves from their neighbors through dress and behavior. One young man pulled up in a pickup truck in which he had installed massive subs and pumped rap music with the windows down as he filled his tank. Almost everyone drove trucks.

After a while of this, I rode the last three miles to the campsite and settled in for the night.


Day 6

25.17 miles @ an average of 9.9mpg, max of 29.2
Total ride time of 2:32'22

I didn't even realize it was the weekend until I woke up and there was a family reunion going on down the hill from me. One guy walked his dog up the hill where I was to get away from the family, which he said he had married into. He chatted with me and promised to bring me leftovers, which he did just as I finished cooking my breakfast. He was yelling, "You shouldn't be doing that!" but the plate he brought me was almost entirely meat. There was chicken fried steak, sliced ham, pulled pork, spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans with bacon, and a salad. With ham chunks in it. And people wonder why Americans are so fat... Still, it was a nice thought, but I ended up throwing the food into the woods where I was sure the raccoons would finish it off the following night.

The park ranger rolled by a few times to check in on me and make sure I was going to pay for camping. When I went by the office with the intent to pay he said they didn't take credit/debit cards, and the camping was $10. I had only $4 in my wallet and he said I could mail them a check when I had the chance. He then told me the best route to take to the next campsite, which I immediately forgot, to my detriment. I followed Google's suggested route which took me over about 11 miles of dirt road, which I have mentioned earlier my bike is not made for. It ended up being one of the hardest rides of my trip so far. The dirt held me back on both the downhills and the uphills, and when I finally got off the dirt roads, I ended up getting into the foothills of the Oklahoma mountains. The last five miles of the trip to the campsite were incredibly hilly. In fact, they made me want to be back in the lesser hills of San Marcos. Here, I thought San Marcos would prepare me pretty well for mountain stages, and the foothills I hit wore me out. Still, I made it to camp before sundown for once, and was able to set up my hammock in daylight. Somehow, I set it up worse than any other time on the trip so far. I hung it too low, and my butt was almost scraping the ground as I laid down. This problem was made worse when I saw lightning in the distance and moved my gear under my rain fly, right next to me, so that whenever the wind blew the hammock to rocking, I would be butting up against the gear (no pun intended). The bugs at this camp were intense. I realized that I probably should have brought at least one lamp-type light so that all the light I shine around doesn't attract every bug in the vicinity. They were up my nose with nearly every other breath. With this in mind, I headed to bed earlier than I have any time on my entire trip. Of course, I wasn't able to get to sleep for a long time, so I ended up sleeping in until 11AM, which isn't the latest I've woken up, but it isn't the earliest...

Day 7
34.91 miles @ an average of 10.9mph, max of 29.8
Total ride time of 3:11'18

Woke up to the windiest day I've experienced so far on this trip. The wind almost blew away my stove's wind-block as I cooked breakfast, so I had to make a wind-block for the wind-block with all my gear and the picnic table at my site. Once that was cooked, I charged up my phone at another campsite which had electricity. I would have camped there, but the charge was $15 for those and only $10 for those without running water or electricity. That, and none of the sites with water/electricity had trees close enough together to hang my hammock. Either way, I got off the site without paying for camping anyway. So, once my phone was charged, I set off on the road, despite the fact that I had woken feeling lousy, and possibly with a fever.

To begin, I had to backtrack down the five miles of foothills I came in on because it was the only road leading to the campsite, which got me tired to start. I went another few arduous miles with massive hills and the wind once again to my face before I stopped at a tiny filling station owned and operated by an elderly man on crutches and his sister, who looked about 10 years older than him. As I sat outside to smoke and recoup, he joined me outside and immediately began talking about his life and asking me about mine. He told me that he's a conservative at heart, but that his father told him he always needed to vote with his pocketbook, and that morals go out the window when it comes to politics. "I can't afford to be a Republican," he told me. I couldn't agree more. He went on to say that he's a teacher at the local high school, and that he has been for so long that most of the kids in his class are the children of kids he's had in his class before. He said when he needs to discipline the kids he says, "Do I need to stop by the house tonight?" I laughed at this, and he enjoyed talking to me, so he went on for a while, asking what I graduated in, what I plan to do with it. All told he probably talked to me for a good half hour, just switching from subject to subject, but always returning to teaching, and how good and important it is for kids to get an education. As he talked he looked at me periodically with his piercing, milky blue eyes. I could tell that, despite his frail physical condition, the man was sharp as a tack, and had a spirit which would never easily be brought down. I wish I could have interviewed him with recording equipment. He was rather amazing, and I would have stayed with him longer, but I had another 30 or so miles to cover, and, just like him, the day wasn't getting younger.

I started off again, and pedaled as long as I could on those hills, stopping only periodically to buy more Gatorade, or to start a new podcast to keep me entertained. As the day went on, the sky darkened prematurely, and lightning began to flash in the black, black clouds that hung overhead. About four miles from town, the thunder roared, and the skies opened up in a horrendous downpour. For about half a mile I went on in this torrent, though I couldn't see but 20 yards ahead, until hail began to beat down on me. I'm more glad of my helmet today than I have been all trip. At first I didn't even realize it was hail, as the largest stones were only the size of peas, and didn't sting too much, but after a minute or so, they grew to the size of nickels, and some larger, beating down on me, stinging my skin, scraping my face and ears. Though I had on my rain jacket, the stones still stung through it. I tried to flag down a passing car or two, but they gave me a wider berth than they ever do while I'm actually riding. I turned back toward the last grove of trees I had seen and ran into it, leaving my bike at the edge, and hoping that the boughs would provide some cover for me. They did provide minimal cover, and the hail stones which hit me here in the grove stung less, though they still made a loud "pop" every time they would strike my helmet.

I was miserable.

The rain let up, and the hail stopped a few minutes later and I carried on down the road, only to find that there was a closed filling station with a roof only a hundred yards down the road from where I had turned back, which would have provided ample cover from the hail, had I been able to see it through the downpour. I slogged past it, and covered the last three miles into Broken Bow slowly in the rain.

As I reached the first stoplight in town I looked to my left and saw a motel. I went up to it immediately, and asked the price for a room. The man at the desk said he only had one room left and it was $45. I told him I would look around, and he said $40, with tax. In no mood to argue, I took the offer, and quickly found myself in the shittiest hotel room I have ever seen. If this town were big enough to have a red-light district, this would be the motel where you could rent rooms for cash by the hour. It's a roach motel. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Gregor Samsa were one of the other renters. Still, it's better than being out in the ferocious storm which continues to pour more water on this area than the soil can handle. And I still feel slightly feverish. But, I have the chance to update this blog with the motel's wi-fi, and I have a bed to sleep in, and I have a chance to do some laundry tomorrow. Won't clean clothes feel weird?

I feel like I could sleep forever.


'Til next time, I'll keep on pedaling, you keep reading!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Paris

Day 1

28.94 miles @ an average of 12.8mph, max of 25.7
Total ride time of 2:15'10

To begin with, I changed my plans a bit. I got a late start out of Dallas, so instead of having my Dad drop me off in Greenville, I had him drop me off in Commerce, about 10 more miles down the road, anticipating a lighter 20 mile ride, since the sun was already setting as I got out of the car. And then, I made a wrong turn. And another. And then missed a turn. Eventually, my nice, easy 20 miler turned into a 30 which included about four miles of dirt road, which my bike is not designed for. I got chased by dogs owned by rednecks with neither fences nor leashes to keep their dogs from assaulting innocent passers-by.
I need a bottle of Mace.
Still, the ride was beautiful, lit by the full moon straight ahead of me the whole way. As I started it hung huge and red over the horizon, and slowly rose, shrinking and yellowing. By the time the sun had fully set, it was small and white, and cast shadows as sharp as a spotlight. I kept thinking of the line from the Led Zeppelin song "Ramble On," "the autumn moon lights my way." Come to think of it, the whole song is very appropriate, except I'm not going to Mordor, probably won't meet a girl so fair, and if I do, I really hope that Gollum and the evil one won't slip away with her...
Anyway, I finally arrived at Cooper Lake State Park around 10:00PM, rode to the primitive camp sites, almost ran over an armadillo, set up camp, and began cooking my meal. The meal was bland. Extremely bland. I tried salt and pepper, but to no avail, and ended up trashing about half of the three-serving bag. Such a pity and a waste. Still, I sat down to read more of Those Across the River by Chrisopher Buelhman (a.k.a. Cristophe the Insultor) which, along with the howling of coyotes, kept me up 'til the wee hours. Even after I set the book down, and scared off the coyote that was rummaging around my campsite, I found it difficult to sleep. My mind kept tossing and turning in lieu of my body; it's difficult for a body to toss and turn in a hammock without risking a fall. I finally fell asleep around 4:00 or 4:30AM.

Day 2

So far: 39.74 miles @ an average of 10.0mph, max of 25.8
Total ride time 3:58'16

The sun rose above the trees enough to wake me around 10:00AM, and I awoke in a sweat. Even the morning was nearly unbearably hot, and I planned to ride around 50 miles today up to Pat Mayse Park north of Paris, Texas, but as soon as I mounted my bike, I found that my right knee ached terribly. After about 20 miles I took a sit down in the shade of a tree next to some Angus cows, who also found the sun to be more than bearable at 1:00PM. And the heat had not even reached its climax. It was only 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Google said it reached a good 105, but in the sun I'm sure it was nearly 110. Still, I popped some ibuprofen, and hopped back on my bike to reach Paris, another 20 miles down the road.
About five miles out of town, I drank the last drops of my water, which I had neglected to top off at the state park. Stupid, I know. I figured I ought to hit a filling station somewhere outside of town, and I was partly right. It was just inside the city limits, about 2.5 miles from the center of town where I had originally planned to wait out the heat of the day. Problem with this plan is that it was the heat of the day when I got there.
I bought a large Gatorade, and downed it. Too fast. I began to feel sick to my stomach from imbibing so much so quickly, yet I went back in and purchased another. This I have been sipping on since. At this filling station, I also rested for a good while, but it did nothing to help my still-aching knee, which by this point was the main thing keeping me from continuing on my "scheduled" route, aside from the now oppressive heat. Still, I rode to the town square (very much like San Marcos's square, only lined with antique stores instead of bars and coffee shops as I had hoped) and found a place to lunch and enjoy some A/C. The place I ended up was Subway. Gross. I ordered a sandwich anyway so they would let me stay for a period of time, and asked the check-out guy where a good coffee shop was. He directed me to one a couple miles away, and after a good period of rest, I headed in that direction.
On the way to the coffee shop, a car hit me. Not hard. But still hit me, which knocked my feet out of the clips, and almost knocked me over. I looked over my shoulder at the driver, who waved, and drove off. I yelled some profanities at the bastard and complained about hit and runs. A woman was walking with her child nearby, and saw the whole thing. She kindly stopped to ask if I was okay, which I was. Luckily, the car hit my bag with all my clothing in it, so there was no real damage, but still, the audacity some drivers have when it comes to hitting bike riders... it's like they don't consider hitting a person on a bike to be a real accident, despite the fact that they are more likely to kill the rider than another driver. Anyway, the girl who was with the nice woman yelled out to me as I rode away, "Be careful, people here are crazy!" I couldn't agree more.
So, my knee still hurts, and I'm not sure if I want to ride the 20 more miles to Pat Mayse State Park tonight. I may bite the bullet and find a cheap hotel here in town for the night, and take it easy tomorrow, going only as far as the park, and then relaxing with my book, which I would really like to finish reading.
Say what you like, I'm tired, I'm hot, I'm sweaty, and I'm in pain. Oh, and I've been gaining elevation all day. Every time I saw a long hill ahead of me I would look forward to the descent which surly awaited me on the other side, only to crest it, and find that I hadn't actually crested anything, only reached a slightly lighter ascent. I think I got to coast any reasonable distance three times today. Possibly four.
Yeah, I think I'm going to find that hotel for the night. I need a shower. And I could use a beer.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Leaving

So today's the day. The day that I leave Dallas.
My Dad is going to give me a ride out to Greenville, TX, and from there I'm riding to Cooper Lake State Park where I'll camp under the full moon by the lake.
What's the Plan from there?
Why do you expect me to have a plan? The point of this trip is to not have a plan.
Okay, you caught me, there's a minor plan. I plan to stop at state and national parks as often as possible so that my camping won't get me into trouble. I plan to average around 40 miles a day. I plan to have a good time. I plan to head through Oklahoma, into Arkansas, and up to Missouri. After that, the "plan" ends. From there I'll see how much time I have left, and pick a route. Who knows, I may throw a dart at a map or something.
I just want to go, to keep going, and to not stop until I have to. I want to sleep under the stars, enjoy a simple life, and, at least for the time being, forget about the troubles one meets in cities, under street lamps and the awnings of coffee shops. My lights will be the moon, the stars, and the few lights I bring with me. My awnings will be the close-knit boughs of whatever trees I stop by. My joys will not be derived from television, internet, or the company of good friends. Instead, I will ride, read, and think. I will be alone. It has been a while since I enjoyed true solitude, especially for any length of time. I'm sure I will meet wonderful people on the road with whom I may have wonderful conversations, but the majority of my time will be spent in silence.

I'm ready. I'm kind of scared, but I'm ready to face that fear.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

- Frank Herbert, Dune

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Beginnings

Alright, here's the deal: over the next two months I will be travelling by bicycle around the United States. That's the short version.

The seeds for this idea were planted when I was still a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. While living in town I began riding my bike everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. It got to the point that some of my close friends didn't even know I owned a vehicle. Then one of my cycling friends began preparing for a cross-country trip of his own, and I was fascinated by the idea. I have always loved travelling, and had done so with my parents as a child. The problem with travelling on a college-student budget is that there is no extra money once you account for rent, food, tuition, books, and beer. But I saw my friend preparing for a trip on a bicycle, and saw how little he was spending to get ready, and I thought, "I can do that!"

After a few conversations with him about his dreams, and how he planned to accomplish them, my mind was made up. This was somewhere around early March, 2011. I had already planned to ask my parents for the funds to purchase a new bicycle for my birthday in early April, but I had been looking at a "go-fast" bike to zip around town on. My plan quickly changed and I began researching touring bikes. I scoured the Internet for information on what to buy, and why. I searched galleries of pictures of bicycles loaded up for touring. I started thinking about where I would want to go, what I wanted to see, what the logistics of getting there were. I dreamed of travelling and being in the great outdoors, alone, with time to think.

Then I realized just how expensive this venture was going to be, and what I needed to do to afford it. I began to sell things. Everything. I sold two TVs, instruments, toys, clothing, speakers, video game systems. Everything. Finally, I had enough for my bike. Just my bike, mind you, I still had to purchase all the gear I would need on the road. I was a boy scout as a youth, and though I had some camping gear, it was all cheap, outdated, and often worn out or mildewed from storage from years of lethargy. I needed more money. So I sold more. And more. And I still haven't sold everything I've been trying to get rid of the last few months, yet by saving and budgeting, I've managed now to purchase nearly everything I need for a trip into the wilderness.

In the meantime, I continued my education, and eventually completed it, and graduated mid-August. Now I'm in Dallas where I plan to leave from, but, as usual, I don't have all my ducks in a row. There are still a few vital things I need for my trip, yet I plan to leave in a few days. Actually, I planned to leave today, but I still had things to do before heading off. So, my departure has been delayed. Not long, mind you, but I itch to leave this rotten city full of cars. I miss San Marcos and the cycling community there, not to mention my amazing friends, yet I know it is time for me to carry on before I allow myself to stagnate in that beautiful little river town.

Still, I sleep fitfully. Unlike a child on Christmas Eve, awaiting gifts from Santa, my sleep is filled with apprehension. I am somewhat unwilling to leave behind my quiet, comfortable life, surrounded by friends. Yet, I know this is something I must do.

Before she left on a business trip this week, my mother left a little plate on my bike, which I did not notice until yesterday. It has a picture of a bicycle stamped into it, and the words, "Life is either a great adventure, or nothing." -Helen Keller

It's time to leave. It's time to travel. It's time for the great adventure to begin.