Day 26

6-15-14

Day 26

Farmerville LA to Magnolia AK

It was hard to leave the Edgewood B&B.  This was one of those places you wished you woke to pouring rain and a “no-go”.  And at only $99 how could you go wrong? But our wagon train must move on.  We are in it to fill in the missing states and build up our cycling endurance.

These long distance loaded tours will not really make you that much “faster” on the bike when you return home.  You would think after 4000 miles and all the hill climbing you would be a rocket ship once the bags come off the bike.

But in reality you do not gain tons of speed. Don’t get me wrong we will be quicker but what you do gain is endurance, and in a big way. For us now 50 miles is a walk in the park, 75 just a little annoying and 100 mile day is just a job that needs to get done.

Tender hands is the only complaint you will hear from anyone of us as far as body pain goes.  Many of the road surfaces are rough and the hands take a real pounding. Nothing nicer than a freshly paved road but we do not see too many of those.

Today we conquered another state Arkansas, with only 4 remaining in our quest to have ridden them all. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada are still missing from our “to-do” list.

They say everything is bigger in Texas. We were told even the miles are bigger and longer in Texas.  I hope they are wrong because that is one big state.  Our route dances along the TX-OK border for a long way. We could see Texas on Monday.

When we left the Mississippi delta we left the long flat straight roads behind for a while. They have been replaced with the gentle rolling hills of Arkansas. The roads were nearly traffic free and in 70 miles we traveled today we did not see a single store or gas station. Unlike back home in Connecticut where there is a convenience store or CVS on every corner out here there is just trees.

Water supplies have started to become an issue. It was over 90 degrees and humid today with little shade to be found. Each rider has to use self-control when it comes to water consumption. It is easy to suck down an entire water bottle when it is hot and you are working your body hard. With no stores or houses to replace you stock you have to resist the temptation. This situation will worsen as we head further west and into the triple digit temperatures.

It is easy to say just carry more water, but water is heavy.  Right now each rider is carrying about 100 ounces of water which weighs 6-1/2 pounds. Each 16 ounce bottle you carry adds more than a pound of weight to our already overloaded bikes.

We went by a place selling concrete storm shelters. Scary thinking that would be something you would need. This dealer was near a buried pipeline labeled “Poison Gas”. Seems like if I had a poison gas line in my back yard and the need for a concrete bunker I may look for another place to live possibly.

The Arkansas road we traveled was lined with miles and miles of yellow and black wild flowers. Anyone know the variety we are seeing?

So far we have had only 3 flat tires the entire trip and two of them happened today.  They both were slow leaks we able nurse along with the pump for the 15 miles left in the day avoiding an on road repair.

 70 miles

Weather 92 degrees Sunny HUMID

2859 Feet of Climbing  

PS..."again"  ...... These blogs are typed and video clips made after a long days ride and usually late in the evening. I am out of gas begging for sleep before the 6am wake-up.. Please excuse typos and other screw-ups.