Today we rode 83 miles thru the Kiamichi mountains, the longest daily ride of the week. Because we were anticipating a long day, we rose and packed up early. My morning meal consisted of a breakfast burrito in camp. We rode out of Atoka this morning at about 6:20. There were many rest stops today, but I quickly noticed that all had water or Gatoraid but none had ice to share. I discovered throughout the week that ice would be in short supply. The rest stops were manned by Girl Scouts or volunteer firemen or local clubs taking donations. The local volunteer fire station in the small community of Lane put on an exceptionally good lunch for us. I had pasta salad, egg salad and slaw. Others ate BBQ and cold cuts. One of the fireman wore what I surmised to be a British desert uniform with a tan kilt, sported a full beard and chewed tobacco. Quite a character.
The first half of the ride was bordered by beautiful rolling hills with prosperous farms. The last 15 miles were hard with long, steep hills. One hill in particular was several miles long. We also saw our first example of an apparent Freewheel tradition. On the side of the road, halfway up one hill lay a dead armadillo on its back, with a beer bottle held on its chest and between it’s paws.
Arrived at the Eastern Oklahoma State College campus in Wilburton at 4:45 pm. We camped on the football field and were welcomed with a Spaghetti dinner put on by the student union. We chowed down like troopers and guzzled iced tea by the glassfull.
Tonight was the only night of the trip that I was unable to get a cell phone signal. What a bummer. I fired off a couple of text messages, but had no way to tell if they had been delivered. Like everyone else I went to bed early. Expecting only a 50+ miler tomorrow.
1 comment:
Your text messages were received and we both slept under the same moon that night.
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