That was the theme of today, as it was fabulous! The temperature was in the high 40's or low 50's as I left the motel a bit before 7:00, to get a head start on the fast guys. There was a slight tail wind right from the start, perhaps about 7 mph, not much, but nice. Before long, I was at the first SAG at 33.2 miles, along with many of the group, and left before many as well. The course had a lot of up and down, but nothing severe and many of the rollers you could make it up with your momentum and a bit of either hard pedaling or standing up a bit without losing much speed. There were a lot of turns as we rode through the countryside, on VERY rural roads, most in great condition and with almost no traffic. With the sun shining and the green grass in the fields, many with cattle grazing, it was gorgeous. As nasty as yesterday was, today was beautiful.
Along the sides of the roads, I frequently saw Indian paintbrushes, yellow buttercups, brown eyed Susans, and some white, some yellow and some purple little flowers I could not identify. Nice!
At about the 55 mile mark, we reached the halfway point in our ride across the country.
Half way done!
It was a pretty long pull to lunch at mile 78 and much to my pleasure, many of the guys were still there. Most days, by the time I get to lunch, everyone else is gone. Shortly thereafter, we rode through Nowhere, OK. We had ridden a long way to get nowhere.
Our fearless leaders.
Anyway, I pushed on to the motel in Chickasha, OK. I was still feeling good at the end. 120 miles and it was the easiest century I have ever ridden, on a good course, on good roads, in beautiful weather and in good company.
While I had a good day on the roads, the other guys were flying. As much as most hated to miss yesterday's ride due to the bad weather, their bodies benefited from the rest.
The sad part of the day is we had to say goodbye to Gilbert, from Canada. He had ridden in the van in hopes his torn thigh muscle would allow him to start riding again, but to no avail. He will catch the bus to an airport and miss the rest of the trip. He is such a strong rider and has a tremendous sense of humor, so we will miss him.
Also, Eric, from Alaska, who had just joined us a few day ago, had a serious mechanical breakdown, and rode with Brett's sister in their rental car to go to some larger city to try to get his bike fixed for the rest of the trip. Here's hoping he is successful.
Tomorrow looks to be a looooonnnnngggg day. Day 15: Sunday, May 1 - Chickasha, OK to McAlester, OK - 144 miles for the day, 5,100' of climbing due to more rollers and lots of up and down with actually only a small elevation loss.
I will see how it goes, but it is likely I will get bumped ahead somewhere along the line tomorrow. I am hoping to get in another century, anyway. The forecast is for about the same nice weather, with perhaps a light crosswind - not as helpful as today, but as long as it is not in our face, we feel lucky.
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For the ride leader's take on today with photos, go to here.
Glad you are enjoying the moment!!! Keep riding!
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