37.85 miles @ an average of 12.7mph, 38.0 max
Total ride time of 2:58'36
After checking out of my hotel I rode to the Sprint store to see if my phone had arrived, and it hadn't. I checked the FedEx website to see when it would arrive and it said "by 3PM," and I figured I wasn't going to stick around the store for it to show up. I would rather spend my time sucking down caffeine at a local coffee shop, so I wrote my name and number on a card for the store clerk to contact me when my phone arrived. As I turned to leave, however, the FedEx guy was walking in the door with my brand new phone! So, I got it activated and went to a coffee shop anyway where I spent far too long sucking down coffee and chatting on Facebook with friends. After picking up some lunch, I finally hit the road in earnest.
About half my ride this day was in the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers, which make a line north towards Missouri. In Rogers I turned east and headed toward my campsite, but only after stopping at a local bike shop where the attendant stoner told me about the problems he was having with police in the area. I couldn't care much less, but I stuck around to rest my legs before hitting the last stretch of my ride to camp, which wasted even more time. I had hoped to find some portable speakers for the road at the bike shop, but they didn't have any, so I just purchased a patch kit and headed out.
By the time I reached the campsite it was just before sundown. The camp site was terrible, and the road down to the camp site was worse. Worse still was the price they charged for a site with no amenities: $15. On the way down the road toward my site I tried riding, but the hill was comprised of rocks the size of my fist and I almost fell twice, so I dismounted and walked the rest of the half mile to the camp sites. Once there I warmed myself by collecting firewood for quite some time, and then created a roaring fire and cooked dinner. I got to sleep quite late.
Day 24
30.51 miles @ an average of 11.0, 39.8 max
Total ride time of 2:45'31
Got a late start due to my late bed time, and therefore by the time I reached the caverns I wanted to visit between my camp and Eureka Springs, they had closed for the day. Still, I rode on, and after about 18 miles I stopped at a gas station/deli-type-thing for lunch and a quick break. Then I pedaled on toward my destination, but stopped about 2 miles outside of town when I saw the World's Largest Tuned Musical Wind Chime. You know when you watch movies about road trips the family always stops to see the "world's largest ball of twine" off the side of the highway? I had to stop, it was too funny. I snapped a bunch of pictures and rode off, chuckling to myself.
As I entered the town the first thing I saw was a hotel. And another. And another. And more, and more until I was sure that no one in the town actually lived there. With so many hotels I was sure the town had to be comprised completely of transients. I stopped at McDonald's (they have free wi-fi) to check Google to find a hotel with a decent price. I didn't find one with a great price, but I did find one with a Jacuzzi in the room and a sweet location right in the middle of downtown.
Turns out, the hotel was constructed in 1905 soon after the town got its start. As I learned later, the town of Eureka Springs has always been a tourist spot ever since the discovery of natural radiation in some of the springs in town. Some of you may know that in the early 20th century, after the discovery of radiation, it was believed that radiation was actually a healthy thing to expose one's body to. People believed that bathing in the slightly irradiated springs would heal almost any ailment, and so people flocked to the area from around the country. If this surprises anyone, remember that this was also about the time that cocaine drops were used to soothe the pains of teething infants, and Bayer was marketing Heroin as a way to stop morphine addiction.
So, the number of hotels really wasn't that impressive when you think about the fact that the entire town is based on tourism. Some of the locals told me that, were it not for tourists, the town would disappear due to lack of money. There would be no money in Eureka Springs without tourism. So, I felt mildly good about supporting the local economy while I was in town.
After checking into my room, I was told that most of the places in town closed down by 9, so it would be a good idea to go find some food before this happened. Downstairs and across the street from the hotel was a small "Indian" restaurant that served mostly hamburgers. Anyone missing the irony here? No? Good. I got a nice veggie sandwich, a samosa, some fries, and devoured all of it, along with a beer. Then I asked my waitress where one might go for a drink and a game of pool, and she directed me to the place the locals go to drink to get away from the tourists. Now this was what I was looking for. I headed off in search of good conversations, and I was not disappointed.
At the bar I met a ton of locals, all of whom were incredibly interesting, as well as incredibly interested in my travels, so I talked for hours, much longer than I had intended to, and finally got back to my hotel a while after midnight, where I filled up the Jacuzzi and watched Mythbusters. Shortly after my long, relaxing soak in the monstrous tub made for honeymooning couples, I crashed for the night.
Day 25
2.81 miles @ an average of 3.9mph, 12.3 max
Total "ride" time of 0:42'27
Decided to stay in town for another day since Eureka Springs is such a cool, little town. In the daylight I noticed it's a lot like the small mountain towns you run across in Colorado like Idaho Springs or Frisco. There were a ton of little art shops and rock shops and other locally owned businesses, so I bought some stuff from a few of them, including post cards and a birthday present for my dad. I spent the majority of my day just walking around, pushing my bike up and down the streets, talking to locals and learning the history of the town. Funny thing about tiny towns though, after a while people started walking up to me saying they had heard about me and wanted to know how my trip was going. This was positively strange. Complete strangers walking up to you and knowing your story is not something I'm accustomed to, but apparently the people sharing their stories of meeting a guy traveling the South on his bicycle were accompanied by a description of my mustache, so I was easy to spot. Still, throughout the day, as I met more locals, and told them my story, I had just as many people walk up to me saying they had heard it. I saw a bit of the grapevine at one point. After talking to one store owner I saw him go outside and yell to another, "This guy's traveling around on his bicycle! He came from Dallas!"
One of the people who I think was most responsible for spreading the story of the mustachioed traveler was a young man by the name of Steven, who I had met the day before at the locals' bar. I ran into him a couple of times throughout the day, the last of which was at the "Indian" restaurant, where I went for a quick beer before heading out of town. I told him I was planning on staying at the campgrounds just outside of town, but he said that it was dangerous to ride on that road at night, as there is not shoulder, but he offered me an alternative. As it turns out, Steven does not have a solid place to stay in Eureka Springs, and instead camps out in different places around town. He offered to show me one of the places he usually camps so that I might stay in town for the night without being bothered by anyone. I gladly accepted, and decided to stick around chatting with him until he was ready to show me where I would be sleeping for the night. Luckily, he also had something of a rapport with the waitress and was able to wrangle us up some free soup before we left, and somehow, in the middle of this, I ended up showing him contact juggling. He said he had another friend in town who also contact juggled, and wished that I could meet him.
Anyway, after finishing our soup, we headed to my home for the night where I locked up my bike and followed him to an open mic night at a local bar where he was planning on performing. As it turns out, he makes most of his money by busking on the streets of the city during the weekends when most of the tourists are present. His music is wild and intense. He beat boxes into a flute. I took a video of it, and I will post it as soon as I have a faster connection than the one my current hotel is offering. It is really mind blowing though. I've seen beat box flautists on YouTube before, but I've honestly never seen one quite as good as Steven. He blew me away. Anyway, after open mic we went back to my camping spot and he left me to chill with some friends, but after a few minutes he returned saying that I was welcome to come join them, and that his contact juggling friend was there! I went with him a few hundred yards down the street and met a group of people and contact juggled for them, and drank some beer and had a generally good time, but I was tired, and so I soon excused myself and returned to my hammock for a good night's sleep.
Day 26
42.27 miles @ an average of 12.0mph, 35.0 max
Total ride time of 3:33'18
Once again I left the town late and was unable to visit the caverns I wanted to, as I arrived just after they closed, but I rode on. And on. Despite the mountains I positively flew through the miles. I can't wait to get to the flat lands again as I'm sure I'll be making 50 miles per day easy. Still, despite missing another chance at touring some caverns I did reach a milestone. I made it to Missouri! More than that, I made it to Table Rock Lake! I'm at the destination of my journey, yet somehow I don't feel like sticking around that long.
One thing I noticed on my ride is that, at some point while Steven was helping me get my bike up the trails to my camping spot the previous night we bent the wheel a bit and there was a noticeable bump in the steering, so I decided to head to a bike shop as soon as possible to repair the damaged part. Still, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't get to my destination on the edge of Table Rock Lake, where I camped for the night. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to camp there, though. All the water in the park had been turned off, as had the electricity. Still, I made a great, roaring fire once again and stayed up way too late reading, which ended up being slightly problematic the next day. However, on the way to the campsite I was able to stop a couple of miles away and purchased a 1/2 dozen eggs, 3 of which I ate for dinner, saving the other half for breakfast. I also learned that toasting poptarts over a campfire is awesome.
For some reason I was in a great mood, and despite having ridden so many miles, I still had the energy to dance around the campfire to the music on my iPod for a while before making dinner. Maybe I'm just happy to be reaching the pinnacle of my journey. Maybe I'm just happy to be moving again. Who knows.
Day 27
22.29 miles @ an average of 11.0mph, 37.0max
Total ride time of 2:01'16
Woke up early enough, but it was so warm that I was feeling sluggish. Compounded with a lack of sleep, I ended up bleary-eyed for quite some time after rising, and took quite a while before getting on the road. Still, I knew my destination was Branson, MO, which was only a few miles away, so I didn't try anything to hasten my wakening. Once on the road I took it easy, especially since I had to climb a few hundred feet at the start of the day just to leave my campsite, but once I hit highway 65 I was flying. It was the first taste of a long stretch somewhat flat road I've had in quite a long time. I averaged 17mph, if not more, just on that road because it was miraculously flat in such a mountainous region. I guess that's what you get with highways, instead of going over hills, they just blast right through them so the road is straight as can be.
Anyway, I got to Branson and went to the north side where I had located a bike shop. I went in and asked the owner if I could use his truing stand, and he was more than welcoming, so I set to work, and had soon fixed the bump in my ride, but I spent the next hour and a half talking with him about riding and touring and life and idiots who drive cars, and all sorts of other stuff until he closed. I left the shop in good spirits and phoned a nearby hotel to check their rates and found the cheapest rate I've encountered on this trip so far. Google lied to me, however, and the hotel wasn't as close as I had seen on the map, so I got to see a bit more of Branson than I had wanted to initially. It turns out this town is a consumerist hotbed where all the people who were never big enough to make it to Vegas end up, and all the mid-west retirees go on their weekends to see one-hit-wonders from their youth. Seriously, this place wants to be Vegas. There are lights flashing everywhere. From my hotel I can see a mock-up of the Hollywood sign with a King Kong climbing a miniature tower. There's a giant building that's something like a mock-up of half the Titanic complete with iceberg. Every half-assed comedian I've ever heard of (and a ton I haven't) apparently is still alive and well, and performing lackluster shows on a weekly basis here in Branson.
I can't wait to leave.
There's a cavern nearby. I think I'm going to go to it tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment