DAILY BLOG

One of the joys of going cross-country by bicycle is that you inevitably visit parts of the country that you normally would never pass through. I had never been to Oklahoma before, so the whole state has been a new experience. The western panhandle of the state was much as expected—flat, farm & grazing country. However, Oklahoma City proved to be a most pleasant discovery. More on that in a second.

I started out this morning speaking at a 6am men’s breakfast event at Journey Church in Norman. Their men’s group is reading The Expeditionary Man as part of a month long study; I really enjoyed getting a chance to talk with and meet them. I was originally going to go golfing with several of the guys after the breakfast, but a couple media interviews came in at the last moment, so we went to them instead.

We headed up from Norman to Oklahoma City to go to KTLR Radio for a live in-studio interview. It was the first radio interview for the boys, so that was a real treat. The host was great, and we had a lot with it. Before we left, a Spanish speaking television station in the same building came by and did an impromptu interview with all of us as well. Not sure how all of our talk translates into Spanish, however.
Next, we had to dash off to The Oklahoman, the main newspaper in town. We spoke with the religion editor about the book and tour. Because we were heading into town, we only brought one bike along for pictures. The photographer first took a photo of all of us by the support vehicle. Then, since I was the only one with a bike, he had me ride in the parking lot with the support vehicle riding behind me. However, the funny thing was that I just had my street clothes on — t-shirt, khaki shorts, tennis shoes, etc. I had no helmet or any bike gear at all while riding. I imagine that the photo will look pretty silly and will prompt thoughts like—what is this nitwit doing going cross country? Oh well, the boys had a good chuckle!

This evening, we went down to downtown Oklahoma City with Herschel Thompson, pastor of small groups at Journey Church, and his wife/family. They are a terrific family and a real joy to spend the evening with! They took us to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, which is definitely recommended if you are passing through town.

We then went to Bricktown, which is a newly restored section of the downtown with a canal, interesting restaurants, ballpark, shops, etc. I was blown away by how great a downtown section it was. I never knew Oklahoma City was like this! They need to advertise more or something, because I think we’d have tried to stay in a hotel downtown had we known how cool a place it is.

Awesome Mexican food!

Rich and Herschel talk while walking next to the canal

Bricktown in OK City

Jared unsure of his new friend

Jordan is also unsure of his new best friend

Tomorrow, we hit the road again. We head from Norman to McAlester, Oklahoma. From what we’ve heard, we’ll be leaving the flats of western Oklahoma and will be getting into some rolling hills. That’s perfectly ok with Jared, so I suspect he’ll be perking up tomorrow. More tomorrow.

Also, I only could add Jordan’s photos tonight to the blog. However, I’ll aim to post Justy’s and Kim’s photos of the rest day tomorrow.