DAILY BLOG

Note: Once again, our hotel’s internet connection is weak, causing problems uploading our photos to flickr.com. We’ll upload today’s pix as soon as we can get a decent connection. Sorry!

Today, we left Norman and traveled 100 miles to McAlester, in eastern Oklahoma. I am not sure what it was, but it was one of the harder days that we had. Jared and I began the day riding together, but he wasn’t feeling well. After 10 miles, he was feeling very weak, so he headed for the support vehicle. I continued on by myself through the neverending rolling hills of eastern Oklahoma. I pushed hard in the morning, in spite of the hills, humidity/heat, and headwinds and rode 52 miles before lunch.

We stopped by the side of the road outside Holdenville for lunch. We typically stop by the roadside daily, eating turkey or ham sandwiches. I am amazed that the kids have not gotten sick of our lunches yet! I cooled off in the van during the lunch break. After the 20 minute break, Justy joined me on the bike for several miles until he got tired. When he went in, Jordan and Jared came out and began riding. Jared lasted about 20 more miles, but he was still not 100%. We both agreed it would be better for him to take the rest of the day off, so he could be rested for tomorrow.

Jordan and I continued on to finish the day out to McAlester. However, for some reason, the final 20 miles today were some of the most difficult for me of the tour. I was exhausted from the humidity and headwinds, and it was hard to get into a flow with the continual rolling hills. I enjoy listening to my iPod during normal riding, but usually when I am feeling like that, I turn it off because it does not seem to help at all. Anyway, we gutted it out and made it to the outskirts of McAlester.

One cool note about Norman I forgot to mention yesterday. We had a slow leak in the support vehicle that we noticed on the rest day. So, I took it over to a local tire center in Normal (named Hibdon’s). I ended up telling them about our tour when I was checking the van in. They fixed the tire, but when I went to pay, they did not charge me at all! Very hospitable! Thanks Hibdons!

Tomorrow is our last day in Oklahoma. We ride 100 or so miles to Fort Smith, Arkansas on the border.