Onward and homeward

Day 39

37.53 miles @ an average of 11.1mph, 18 max

Total ride time of 3:22'32

Finally left Memphis, though I was really enjoying the company of TJ and friends. Frankly, it was just exciting to have someone to talk to who already knew my background, and had been reading my blog, and so was caught up on where I had been. This left time to talk about our lives other than biking, and I'm pleased to say that this was a great break from what has become the norm. I finally got to talk to someone and it wasn't just and extended introduction. So, in order to get out of Memphis, TJ gave me a ride to highway 79 and dropped me off. I was sad to see him go, but I had to get on with my trip, so I headed south and west. The southern part of the road wasn't too bad, but once I turned west the wind was in front of me at around 20mph and I felt like I was climbing a mountain all day, only without the prospect of an enjoyable downhill coast at the end. My right knee once again flared up after about 20 miles of riding. I hoped it would get better as the days went on, but pushed through the pain for the time being and headed towards my destination.

A little while after this I hit 1000 miles for my journey and hopped off to take a picture of my bike and the odometer, and take a short rest. As I hopped back on my bike the Proclaimers song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" came on, and I hooted in joy, and sang along with it, replacing every instance of "walk" with "bike."

So I pedaled on, and by the time I was coming within 15 miles of my campsite the wind had worn me ragged, so I stopped in a town and found a hotel room to crash in for the night. The other reason for doing so was that the temperature dropped to 37 degrees, and I would rather be indoors for that, even if I do have a sleeping bag that can handle that kind of temperature. Luckily the hotel wasn't too expensive, and not too dirty either. It was funny, though. The room was maybe 10x15, and the majority of this area was taken up by the king-size bed they somehow managed to squeeze in there. I swear there was barely room for my bike.

Day 40

61.04 miles @ an average of 13.3mph, max of 21.1

Total ride time of 4:33'58

After I woke up and packed all my bags to go, I noticed that I had a flat on my front tire, so I spent some time fixing that and getting ready to roll. This time the flat was caused by a staple. A freaking staple.

So, my planned stop was about 40 miles from where I was, but the next planned stop would have been 70 miles from there, so I decided it would be best to push on and shorten the ride the next day. So I pushed an extra 20 miles. This meant staying in another hotel, but at least I didn't have to ride as long the next day. I'm beginning to feel like I'm credit card touring at this point.

Got into a good rhythm this day and went around 20 miles between stops, which felt good. All this despite the fact that my knee still ached all day, though the pain wasn't as sharp or immediate as it was the day before. The pain, however, is beginning to affect my morale, and I begin to feel the desire to just get home and be able to relax. More than anything, though, I miss my friends.

At night I looked up ways to stop my knee from hurting so much, and decided to follow some of that advice the next day and see if it helps at all.

Day 41

55.16 miles @ an average of 11.8mph, 18.8 max

Total ride time of 4:39'48

Left the hotel feeling alright, but my course led me directly south. Into the wind. Again. I'm getting tired of wind. The first 24 miles were directly into the wind, but after crossing the Arkansas River I turned west and the wind wasn't quite as troublesome, but around 30 miles into the trip my knee began to hurt so badly I was nearly brought to tears. All this despite taking the advice I got online the previous night. After another mile or two the pain lessened, but it had been severe enough that I decided I needed to find a ride home, and at my next stop I called my mom to discuss what we could do. She told me that she could pick me up the next weekend, but that I needed to push on until then. She also said she would pay for hotels for the coming week. From here on out, I would be credit card touring. I finished out the last 18 miles, and, instead of camping, checked into a hotel in Star City which smelled like an old person's home, and decided I didn't want to stay there another night, so I set my sights on Monticello for the next day. I'm sad I decided to give in this day, but I don't want to cause permanent damage to my knee. I want to keep riding until the day I die.

Day 42

22.44 miles @ an average of 15.4mph, 32.1 max

Total ride time of 1:27'17

Started the day at a local diner where I sucked down about a pot of coffee and had a big breakfast of eggs and toast. I was waiting for the day to warm up a bit, as the morning was a bit chilly, and headed off once the temperature had reached about 60. Once I left, though, I was way overdressed and stopped along the road to strip down to my riding jersey, and while I was doing this, my foot got covered in ants. I didn't notice until I rode another couple of hundred yards down the highway, and when I looked down there were a ton biting me already. I brushed them off, but ended up with about a dozen bites around my ankles. I swear, ants are the bane of my existence.

Anyway, I rode on, planning to stop for a quick rest after about 10 miles, but I was feeling pretty good after that, so I decided to take a break after an hour of riding, but after that I still felt pretty darn good, so I ended up riding all the way to my destination in Monticello. I made pretty amazing time, if I say so myself (and I do), despite the fact that I'm back in hilly country. Actually, I'm happy about the hills. It's wonderful to finally have some time to coast between long periods of exertion.

Checked into my hotel early and got some food at the WallyWorld down the street, and just rested the rest of the day.

Day 43

No riding.

Kept resting in my hotel most of the day, and only went out a few times to eat at a local Chinese buffet, and to grab a snack or two from the WallyWorld. The only real interesting thing that happened was that, while I was at WalMart, I was walking through a section which had recently been mopped, but was not blocked off. As I got to the edge of it, where a woman was still mopping she looked up and immediately started yelling at me. "Uh, uh! You cain't go t'rough heah. You gots to go arouyound," she said, as she pointed back the direction I had just come from. I looked in front of me and saw that I was about two paces from the roped off section and told her calmly that I could simply take the two steps and be out of the wet floor area. She didn't take well to this, and repeated that I had to go back the way I came and walk all the way around the area, which of course would have made me walk on wet floor even longer. I explained this problem to her, but she continued to insist that I take the long way. "Okay," I said, "I'm just going to take these two steps and be out of your way, and off the wet floor." "Uh uh," she started again, but I cut her off, saying "You're retarded." Granted, not the nicest I've ever been, but you have to understand that this woman was exhibiting some serious lack of mental capability by insisting that I walk so far over the still-wet floor instead of simply stepping off of it and being on my way. She, however, had an amazing comeback: "Yo mama's retarded." "I'm sure that's why she has a PhD, and you're mopping floors at WalMart," I replied and walked off. She had something to say in return, but I didn't hear it properly, nor did I care to have her repeat herself. So, I finished my shopping and returned to my hotel, slightly miffed that I had let such a ridiculous woman get to me, if only for a second. Oh well...

Day 44

42.25 miles @ an average of 13.4mph, 21.8 max

Total ride time of 3:08'36

Went to bed far too late, as usual, and woke up around 8:45 to get some breakfast from the hotel, and packed up. Left town around 11:30am, and, despite the wind once again being in my face, made good time towards Hamburg, where I intended to stay for the night. As I pulled into the hotel parking lot, however, an extraordinarily obese woman called me over from to a gazeebo in the parking lot. "We're out of rooms," she informed me. I groaned and checked my phone for the nearest hotel. It was 12 miles away, and my knees had begun to hurt just 2 miles outside of Hamburg. I cursed my luck and headed west to the next hotel. Unfortunately, this 12 mile detour only cut about 1 mile off my journey for the next day. Luckily, it looks like I won't get rained on the next day, and I'll be in Louisiana by the afternoon.

Day 45

For some reason, I didn't write down my ride information for this day. Meh.

Wind. Wind. More wind. So freaking tired of wind. I'm also ready to go home. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, and if it does, I'll stay in this hotel an extra day and stay dry. Pain all day. Really not much to say, to be honest. This was probably my weakest day of riding since the early days of the trip. I stopped every 5 to 10 miles. Once I got to town, I stopped at the first hotel I came across and rented out a room. Luckily, it also happened to be one of the cheapest motels in the city, and it came with a coupon for the Mexican food place across the street.

Day 46

No riding.

Rain. No riding. Rested more. One more freaking day.

Day 47

25.77 miles @ an average of 17.4mph, 27.7 max

Total ride time of 1:29'01

Decided to go out with a bang, so I rode hard all day. I might as well have been riding a fixed gear, because I never stopped pedaling. I booked it all the way, and basically had the best ride of my entire journey. Even though the whole ride was pretty much on flat land, I still managed to average 17 point freaking 4 miles per hour. Blew my mind straight out my face when I checked it at the end of the ride. While I was riding down the highway a minivan was passing me when suddenly its side window exploded outwards for no apparent reason. Whatever the reason, though, its close proximity meant that I basically rode through a cloud of shrapnel, which freaked me out. I didn't check myself for injury, but I did check my tires for pops. Still didn't stop, and booked it the last few miles to I-20 where all the hotels were grouped. Found the cheapest one I could, and checked in. I walked a few miles to get stuff from the nearest gas station and played "Zombie, Run!" (an awesome app for Android) on the way. Basically, it populates the area you're in with "zombies" which you must avoid while you're walking around. I died four times before I got back to the hotel. Partly due to my inability to cross heavily-trafficked roads on foot. Still, awesome game.

Day 48

296 miles in 5 hours. WHAT!?!?!

Woke up to my mom calling me. She was outside my hotel, ready to pick me up. On our way back to Dallas we picked up some Cajun food. I got a crayfish poboy, and she got a crayfish etouffee, which was too hot for her, so I got to eat it. It was delicious. I'm so glad to be home. So glad to rest. Saw my best friend, and hung out with him. We went to a big Halloween party in Dallas, and though I didn't have any costume put together, my clothes were mostly 70's style, so we both went as disco dudes. Then slept in my parent's house, glad to be back. Glad to be done. Glad I was able to have this experience.

The whole ride: 1247.9 miles by bicycle in 6 states.

Already planning the next trip. Who wants to go with me?