DAILY BLOG

Today, we had a chance to ride in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. After several days riding across Oklahoma, we were looking forward to Arkansas as a change of scenery and roads. Last night, we also decided to tweak the route so we could get the most challenging climb in the area we were going through—Mt. Magazine, which is the highest point of the state at 2,700 feet. So, we focused on riding the Mt. Magazine Scenic Highway that runs from Ozark-Paris-Havana.

Justy got off to a flying start!

Rich, Jared, and Justy riding through the Ozarks

The ride was scenic through the Arkansas countryside. Lots of small, rolling hills before the biggest climb of the day. Jared was back in business again joining me for the full ride today; he was feeling much better after his illness over the two previous days. Justy and Jordan each rode a good amount of miles today as well—Justy at the start and Jordan at the end.

Rich and Jared

We could not find the Eiffel Tower and no one spoke French!

Nice scenery today

Rich treading on through the heat

Not the Rockies, but pretty nonetheless

Rich and Jared cross a bridge

The weather was hot and humid—a sure sign we have hit the south. I am sure we’ll have many more days of humidity before we hit Charleston.

Pushing hard to the top

One of the expectations we had before the tour was that we’d have picnic lunches each day, finding a nice shady spot along the roadside. However, maybe it is just the roads we have taken, but we’ve rarely been able to find good lunch spots along the way. The typical scenario has been pulling along the roadside in the hot sun and no shade, and eating in the A/C van. However, today, we were able to find a great picnic spot. At the top of Mt. Magazine, they had a really nice picnic pavilion as part of the state park. Since it was a weekday, it was deserted, so we had the place all to ourselves.

Rich takes a nap at lunch

Justy defying gravity at lunch

After the bike ride was over today, we had originally planned to travel from Arkansas to Jackson, MS, essentially traveling south the equivalent miles we were heading east. This plan was so we could take advantage of riding the famed Natchez Trace Trail, which runs southwest to northeast across Mississippi. However, before we left Little Rock, we got a call about a meeting at Family Life, the Christian ministry which is located in Little Rock. So, we are staying in Little Rock tonight, going to the meeting tomorrow morning, heading to Mississippi as soon as the meeting is over tomorrow morning, and then we’ll hopefully be on the bike by lunchtime on the Natchez Trace Trail. Busy schedule!!

Jordan, Rich, and Jared ride in the afternoon

Our dinners out at night are proving to be interesting in terms of how many refills that we’ll order. After a day of riding on the road, we are always very very thirsty, no matter how much water or electrolytes we drink. Our record is 21 total soda refills, which we set in McAlester, OK.

Our daily schedule is almost non-stop. We get up usually at 6am and try to load the van/eat breakfast/get out by 7am, although we don’t always get out on time. During the mornings, we try to get as many miles in as possible, so that after lunch, we can just wrap up the day with 40 miles or less. We get in to the hotel by late afternoon, usually by 5pm. After unloading the van, we rush off to supper by 6pm. In the evenings, we then get laundry done, write the blog, upload the photos, and sometimes swim at the pool. The goals are to get to bed by 11pm (an incredibly early time for Kim and I!!!!!). However, in spite of this non-stop routine, none of us are getting tired of the tour. I asked the boys about it tonight. It’s still something we are all excited about and look forward to the next day.