I believe in a place called Hope

Day 62, Stage 41- Mena to Hope
110 miles in 8hrs 30mins (incl. two punctures but only a brief few
muffin stops)
Total Distance - 3,529 miles
It hadn't been a bad dream, it had really happened. I still couldn't believe it when I finally woke this morning. No beer! Understandably, I was happy to be moving on this morning, albeit a couple of hours later than planned - yesterday had obviously tired me out more than I thought.

It was near perfect conditions as I set out; around 25C with no wind and not a cloud in the sky, and things essentially stayed that way all day. Things weren't quite as quick as I was expecting as the stages was filled with a lot more 50-100ft climb/descent stints than I'd expected. It also included one totally unexpected wall-like 200ft climb into Umpire that almost became the first hill all trip to get me off my bike and pushing. But, with a struggle, I made it. Scenery-wise, it was just like being back in Washington again with quiet roads winding through trees, lots of trees, and where there's trees there's logging trucks. Lots of logging trucks.

The trees gave way to lush dairy pasture in the latter miles, which then gave way to caravans - thousands and thousands and thousands of FEMA caravans and mobile homes just outside Hope. Quite a surreal sight.

I finally arrived in Hope around six and headed straight for the various Bill Clinton houses and sights dotted around town. Love him or hate him you can't help but be amazed and inspired that he got where he did given how and where things started for him.

On a different topic, I was delighted to switch on the Weather Channel to discover that, after four weeks of chasing shadows, the Vortex 2 team today finally got themselves a major tornado to track. I think I must have been the only person watching for the past few weeks who's been wishing for them not to have anything to chase. But, now I'm out The Alley I'm more than happy if it all goes funnel-shaped.

Need to get myself some sleep now, I'm afraid, as another 110+ mile day on the cards...with a slight headwind...and 90F.

King of the Roads?

Day 61, Stage 40 - Talihina to Mena
64 miles in 7hrs 10 mins (with only snack stops)
Total Distance - 3,419miles
Today basically started well, then got better and better.

Firstly, apologies for the investment chat in the next bit but its been an important 'hobby' for me while I've been on the road. As with so many weekdays on the trip I awoke early and couldn't resist checking up on my Bloomberg app. to see how the little hedge fund (and I mean little!) that I've been keeping going since just before I left was doing. After two of it's poorest days in quite some time on Tues & Wed I was a touch worried. Today, though, was a very good day, taking it up through the 50% return on invested capital since it was 'founded' at the end of Feb (and for the finance folk amongst you, that's not just from playing the market rally as it's been broadly market neutral on a beta-adjusted basis - though, obviously cause it's been working it's become a bit net long so the long Sanofi position got trimmed down today - and yes, that's yet another Sanofi trade I've made money on Messers Gestrin and Baker). Excited and delighted I couldn't get back to sleep, especially given the stage that lay ahead.

Now back to the cycling - As I set off at nine, the clouds looked thicker than I expected, especially over the ridge I was heading for. Before leaving Talihina I got confirmed what I'd heard - there was no food or even water stops all the way along the stage until a dozen miles short of Mena. As a result the panniers were promptly filled with large quantities of juice, water and snacks making the bike the heaviest it's been since the 'death' stage out of Vegas to Kingman. But I was in no rush what-so-ever. Today way about enjoying the journey on what was to be my last day of big climbing for the trip with over 5,000ft vs the average 1,000ft days that lie ahead into Miami. I slowly covered the 9 miles to the start of the Talimena Scenic Byway and paused for a moment to take a few pics beside the 'Warning: Gradients of 13% Next 21 Miles' sign. This was going to be a challenging but fun day.

The road promptly went steeply upwards and I more than happily ground the gears round realizing that I was, perhaps strangely, really enjoying it. The road was empty with the first traffic I saw being a coyote trotting along a hundred yards up ahead. Then, a matter of seconds later, a roadrunner shot across the concrete into the trees. Couldn't have scripted it better. That was my only company for the first hour or so until I reached the first summit of the ridge when I was passed by two bikers just as the road dropped away as steeply as it had gone up which made for a 35-40mph two mile chase of the motorised wheels. I guessed they must have been surprised to see me still in their mirrors at the end of the descent and, when I bumped into them hours later, they confirmed they had been. That first taste of the ultra fast, steep and winding downhills had definitely been at the borderline of control and at the top of every descent for the rest of the day I had a feeling if nervous anticipation about what was down round the next corner, and more importantly, whether I could make it round it.

And this was the story of the day; insanely steep, but just ridable climbs (such as the pic), mad descents and a rolling road through the trees along the ridge complete with the pleasantly overwhelming aroma of the newly cut verge. The regular viewpoints dealt up spectacular views despite the still overcast skies and poor visibility. I was absolutely loving it and coasted along just enjoying the ride, in as little a rush as I've been all trip. More than once I found myself briefly wanting a puncture so the day would continue on for longer. The near solitude continued for hours as I looked on to see the vast expanse of trees with only what looked like the occasional brush stroke of grey through it that was the road ahead.

After five delightful hours I cycled across the state line out of Oklahoma into the tenth state of my trip, Arkansas before zipping down into the town of Mena

I was even asking myself the question; Is this the best road of the trip? I have to say it's definitely up there. And I imagine that on a cool, crisp early autumn morning when the colours on the endless views of trees are turning I think it would be top of my list. Somewhere that, without hesitation, I'd definitely come back to, but know that, in reality, I almost certainly won't. If you're ever in the area, though, take the detour.

On a different subject, though, I've just discovered I've made a gargantuan error in my planning. Having done my laundry and with three consecutive century days lying ahead I decided it was time to unleash the buffet ninja in me once more and just hope I don't have another 'Lemond moment' tomorrow. I walked into the Chinese restaurant and took a seat....

Waitress "Can I get you a drink sir?"
Me "Yes, a beer please"
Waitress "ah, what was that sir?"
Me "Just a beer of some sort please"
This brought nervous laughter from said waitress followed by "Eh, this is a dry county, sir"

Stunned, silence; feather, knock down

And I thought I'd been speechless when I saw the Grand Canyon! I know I was going slowly today but didn't realise I'd been going 'backwards'. I honestly didn't know that anywhere left in the civilised world that was 'dry'. I thought that whole experiment was pretty convincingly proved to be a failure about 80 years ago. All of a sudden I'm very suspicious of this place. And let's be honest we know why it's dry, and in my book any belief system that results in you not being able to have a beer is seriously suspect.

Looks like tomorrow I shall be setting off in search of an Ice Cold in Arkansas.

A beautiful day under skies of gray

Day 60, Stage 39 - Holdenville to Talihina
101 miles in 6hrs 50mins (incl. one non-Subway footlong sub - a poor imitation)
Total Distance - 3,355 miles
It was a restless night last night as the thunderstorms that started at 9pm continued to roll around til at least 4am depositing copious quantities of rain which wasn't falling quietly. The rain was still coming down heavily at 6am so I checked the radar loop on Weather Channel which suggested it would likely move on in an hour-or-so, but was being followed by another band of rain about 50 miles behind. I went back to sleep with the idea being to set off into the wedge of dryness when it passed overhead - if this plan worked I figured I'd have the right to feel suitably pleased with myself all day.

Setting off just before nine I could see the rain falling way up the road ahead and the clouds behind me looked like they weren't keen on staying airborne. But I was dry and I stayed that way through the first 25 miles through lush, damp green tree-lined fields. I pedalled on happily smug then realised that the cows in the field I'd just passed were all lying down, as were those in the next field, and the one after that. The dark clouds had almost caught me and the cows knew what was coming. But the road was turning to take me across and away from the rain if I was lucky (and fast enough). I was both and reached McAlester around noon where the inferior sub was consumed. The road then rolled on through more of the same green and pleasant land under heavy skies the morning had taken me through.

All day I had to continually avoid the innumerable armadillo remains yet again today but thankfully I actually saw some live wildlife crossing the road today including a deer, a tortoise (which I suspect may not have stayed live for much longer) and then, very much to my surprise and shock, a tarantula - or at least an enormous hairy spider, and another, and another. Four of the 10-12cm arachnids over the 60-80mile period.

The town of Talihina arrived after 96 miles just before 4pm as the light drizzle started falling so I sought out somewhere to stay. This proved more difficult than I expected. The first motel had the 'No Vacancies' sign up despite having only a couple of cars outside the ~15 rooms. So I decided to follow the 'downtown B&B' sign which took me down a road and out the town. Next option was the worrying looking place advertising rooms and showers on a mildew-coated sign. 'Ring the bell' it said on the door pointing to the two bits of painted wire. I knocked on the door then opened it expecting to find a front desk of some sort, but found a front room of some sort. I retreated quickly conscious of the fact that around these parts of the world they shoot first and ask questions later. With the gps suggesting the nearest place was some 19 miles away I decided to chance to luck and head further out of town and thankfully stumbled upon the Lazy R Inn almost an hour after I'd first rolled into town.

Forecast looking ideal for tomorrow's short-but-tough jaunt up and along the Talimena Scenic Drive - a stage I've been really looking forward to since I first drew up the plans for the trip.

And as for today's picture. It's just the humour of a biking scientist - apologies.

Stormschasing

Day 59, Stage 38 - Oklahoma City to Holdenville
86 miles in 6hrs 10mins (incl. only one quick bagel stop)
Total Distance - 3,254 miles
Mixed feelings this morning as I woke in time for another very early start. While I was delighted to be getting back on my way, especially on a route away from the interstate, I was more than a little worried by the weather forecast for today. A cold front was to move in today and the computerized voice from the Weather Channel last night had been going over in my mind warning of scattered thunderstorms, some with severe winds and hail. Now the definition of 'severe' in this part of the world is somewhat different from the UK - severe rain = several inches fin a couple of hours, severe winds = possible tornadoes and severe hail = golf ball to baseball sized. I was definitely nervous, especially when I set off just before seven and could see I was in the middle of a vast horseshoe of menacing looking clouds. There was nothing to do but pedal and hope. After about an hour the horseshoe had been left behind but one arm had curved round to move between me and the rising sun. The rain started to lightly drizzle down and I was expecting to get wet. Then, to my surprise, shards of sunlight started to cut through the cloud and quickly carved it out the sky. Looking round I guessed I had at least another couple of hours of dryness. So I pressed on, fighting, with the Garmin gps as I went - piece of ******* junk that it is. The clouds then started to gather ominously again, but this time the road turned to take me south-east into the sunshine instead of the wall of dark grey that headed off north. To make it even better, the headwind that I was expecting to strengthen during the day began to wane giving me a more than pleasant run into Holdenville. To be honest, I hadn't had particularly high expectations for the scenery on this part of the trip but it turned out much better than I expected - not it any way stunning but nice, lush, green, gently rolling, quiet roads.

Then came my dilema for the day. It was 1pm and I had just over 80 miles chalked up. I felt good and wanted to carry on for a few more hours. However, the next town of note was almost 50 miles down the road. While the skies looked good I couldn't be sure they'd stay that way for the 3-4 hours I'd need. So I reluctantly called an 'early' end to the day. And when the thunderstorm rolled in two hours later as I was devouring my last slice of pizza, I was pleased I had.

Speaking of good decisions, I was chuckling to myself about the sign in the pic. as does a storm shelter not become a septic tank as a tornado passes overhead?

Looking ahead for the rest of this leg I've got a tough five days tentatively pencilled in as I try to squeeze what was six stages into five taking me down to Vicksburg on the Mississippi. As a result I'm looking at hopefully doing centuries in four out of the next five stages, with the remaining day being a +5,000ft climbing day - tough. Good news is the weather is looking pretty good for the next week - warm, but with the exception of tomorrow, dry. And the best weather news is that tomorrow will take me out of the 'Vortex 2' tornado hunt region (the Weather Channel has blanket coverage of this V2 project), which I'm assuming is the area in which said spinning things are most likely to occur.

One other quick point is I've got to give a special mention to the folks at the Wheeler Dealer bike shop in Oklahoma City who took delivery of my broken Cannondale yesterday and gave me a lot of help in stripping it down and getting the parts boxed up and to the Post Office. Thanks again and best of luck with the expansion into the new shop folks.

I'm considerably less grateful to the assistant in the PO who told me I couldn't send then package cause it was 1" over the 108" (length + girth) size limit, especially as her colleague had already measured it at 107". Some vicious slashing and re-taping got it below the limit (even further) so it should be arriving back in Balerno in a couple of weeks.

Snack time

Day 58 - Waiting for FedEx
...so nothing to do round here but eat.

Nice weather, except for ducks

Day 57 - The 'burbs
90F, dry with a 20mph southerly has been ideal weather for a day of refuelling (though not for the little, lonely feathered creature in the pic). And I've been refuelling considerably with as much food as possible. Speaking of bulking up, I finally found a set of scales for the first time since I set off and I'm down 7kg (1stone) to bang on 14 stone. I must be honest, I'd have thought it would have been down a bit more than that. None-the-less it's the lightest I've been in about 10 years and the 7kg doesn't take account of the fat-to-muscle weight transfer that's bound to have happened. As an aside, my BMI is now a fraction under 25, meaning I'm just below being classified 'overweight', apparently. Does the BMI scale really have a shred of credibility left? Hmm, I think not.

Pedalling up the off ramp

Day 56, Stage 37 - Weatherford to Oklahoma City
66 miles in 4hrs 35mins (incl. half a foot of Sub and muffin stop)
Total Distance - 3,168 miles
I'm tired.

Some 560 miles in six days has left me even more in need of a rest that this little feline I passed on the way to dinner this evening.

Mentally it was definitely a much tougher day than the stats suggest as I had an ongoing battle to stop myself from switching off early, thinking this 900 miles along and on the interstate was at an end. It was, finally, after a fast 45 miles as I took the exit ramp off the I40, almost four weeks since I first passed the start of it way back in Barstow, California.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the humble armadillo must be becoming an endangered species in these parts as there were even more of the poor critters squashed on the road today leading to a disturbing aroma of death to linger in the hot and humid air. It's an unpleasant enough smell at the best of times but when your gasping for breath pushing the pedals round...yeah, you can imagine.

I've managed to track down the bike shop where my broken machine should have been but, alas it's still in the FedEx depot here in Oklahoma City, due to get delivered on Monday which means two days rest here - which I was planning. However, it's two days out in the northern suburbs - which I wasn't planning.

Still, I'm sure I'll find some place where I can sit in the sun.

Oklahoma!

Day 55, Stage 36 - Shamrock to Weatherford
101 miles in 7hrs 5mins (incl. two short snack stops)
Total Distance - 3,102 miles
(Damn mail just crashed when I was about to send this so apologies for the short blog today).

It was another day of flat roads under blue skies with the temperature just the right side of too hot.

I was 170 miles from Oklahoma city when I set off from Shamrock early this morning and I was thinking that, if the wind turned my way, then I might just be able to get there in one long stint.

The first two hours to my morning pizza at Sayre, after 36 miles, went well bringing me into Oklahoma, the ninth state of the trip. Here I stumbled across the sculpture in the pic. Apparently it represents 'the spirit of the wild west'. And who says the Americans can't do art?! The next stop was the 'official' Route 66 museum at Elk City (as opposed to the dozen-or-so unofficial ones I've seen along the road). Here I bought what, I've just realised, is my first trinket of the trip; a Route 66 wristband - it's all about the weight.

As I left Elk City I realised the wind had turned, but had turned the wrong way as it was a NE'erly and I was heading east. Ok City was not going to happen so I continued a forgettable 40miles down the interstate to stop next to the legendary, but frankly disappointing, Lucille's diner (the 'mother of the mother road').

In the meantime, armadillo has come from nowhere to top the unofficial roadkill tally that I've been mentally keeping. The list is something like; 1) armadillo, 2) cat, 3) skunk, 4) snake, 5) coyote, 6) tortoise, 7) deer, 8) squirrel, 9) dog . Well, I did say things have been a bit boring as of late!

Forecast looking good for tomorrow's short 65 mile stint into OC where my broken Cannondale should be waiting for me in one if the local bike shops to see if it can be warrantied. Here's hoping.

Plain Sailing

Day 54, Stage 35 - Amarillo to Shamrock
91 miles in 6hrs 10mins (incl. two muffin, Nesquik & Doritos stops)
Total Distance - 3,001 miles (I think, network stuffed again so can't check yesterday's total)
It's flat round here. Very, very flat.

It turned out that yesterday's six hour sprint had left me more tired this morning than I thought I'd be (though it might also have had something to do with that extra stein of the local brew).

Conditions were perfect (25C, clear skies and only a light northerly wind) as I set out at 10.30 with no real idea where I was going to finish tonight. It was just going to be one of those days of spinning the pedals, seeing how I felt and how far I got.

There really was absolutely nothing of note for pretty much the whole day on a practically straight road. Just the occasional little windpump, numerous vast grain stores, and cows, cows and more cows. Not an unpleasant part of the world at all, especially given the weather, but not exactly inspiring either.

Today's stage also saw my altitude descent of recent days continue as I dropped a further 1,200ft to 2,300ft into the thicker air by the time I stopped in the town of Shamrock, 10 miles short of the Oklahoma state line. And the air's thicker in more ways than one as the humidity is notably creeping up. It's at a fairly pleasant level now compared to the harsh, desiccating high desert air but it's likely to be the next big challenge I'll face as I head off further into the deep south in a few days.

With little else of note today I thought I'd briefly touch on the campervan culture here. The size of some of these machines are really astonishing and I reckon nothing else I've seen symbolizes the stereotype of American over-consumption as these things. While I'm used to seeing them now, it took me at least a month before I stopped thinking they were tour buses coming along the road until I saw the boat/golf buggy, 4x4 being towed along on the back. What I still haven't got used to, though, are some of the names for these vehicles; Explorer - fine, Dolphin - a bit weird, but ok, and of course Winnebago. However, 'Cougar' is a little puzzling but not half as worrying as 'Prowler' or, worse still, 'Intruder'. Or is it just in my mind that those are disturbing?

Mr Kaye got it wrong

Day 53, Stage 34 - San Jon to Amarillo
102 miles in 6hrs 59mins (incl. pancakes at halfway house)
Total Distance - 2,910 miles
It wasn't til about 40 miles down the road today that it dawned on me that what had woken me at five this morning had been someone trying to get into my motel room. With no car parked outside the guy walking around the car park looking in the bins had, obviously, also been trying the room doors. Well, the noise had woken me only 5 mins before my alarm was due to go off as I got up in time to set off at 6.06am in the hope of reaching Amarillo, 95 miles down the road, before 1pm when the Man U vs Barca game was kicking off. It was a big ask but I was feeling confident (about the trip, not the game).

After three hours on the road, having crossed into Texas, I took the slip road off into Adrian in search of the numerically-significant mid-point cafe where today's pic was taken. The best pancakes of the trip (and possibly even best welcome) set me up well for the 50 miles into Amarillo. This stint was quicker than I thought it would be as, for the first time all trip, the wind forecast was wrong in my favour being NNW instead of the forecast NNE. While it sounds a trivial difference, as I was heading due east it was enough to add a significant few mph to my speed.

I hit the east of Amarillo after 82 miles at 11.50, in plenty of time to find a motel before the game started. And then the problems started - after 8 miles and 40 mins of cycling round the downtown city centre and I hadn't seen a single motel/hotel and only a handful of bars. Now I challenge anyone to show me a town where you can travel that far without finding suitable, or any, lodging. More like 'Show me the way IN Amarillo', Peter. I decided to head for the legendary Big Texan inn on the far side of town, home of the '72oz eat it all and get it for free' steak. I finally found it just after one and it was showing the football, though I now wish it hadn't been. I opted for the 21oz steak which was more than ample for me but I'm about to pop back in for dinner and watch the challengers take on the beast (there's a webcam of it as well which is actually more compulsive viewing than it sounds).

There's a reality tv film crew here at the restaurant filming a Route 66 roadtrip mockumentary. It's been amusing talking to the tv crew telling them that I'm cycling most of what they're filming.

One very good point raised on the menu here though - who the hell tried the first mountain oyster?

Meanwhile, I'm feeling good and the weather, wind and topography are all looking promising for tomorrow. I've got that calm excited feeling I had on the beach at Santa Monica again.