Nearing the end of our Day Off in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We're onto 8 straight days of riding with scary mileage, but here's a summary of the last week.
20Jun: From Little Rock to Clarksville, Arkansas; Our first century! 105 miles and I think we all felt pretty great. I rolled into second lunch, looked down at my odometer, and couldn't believe I had already done 73 miles; just 32 more to the 1st Presbyterian Church where they took great care of us. I got the best soy chai latte ever at a local coffee shop and we had an amazing potluck. Debbie gave us hugs. Dr. Terry offered his chiropractic services for free. Marci invited us over to her house to set off fireworks. (I decided I was exhausted and just went to bed.)
21Jun: From Clarksville to Fayetteville, Arkansas; another long day at 91 miles. Some crazy people decided to do 9 more so they would have back-to-back centuries under their belts. We climbed through the Ozark Mountains and I decided the Appalachians did their job... a 2000-mile climb really wasn't that bad. :-) We were given free rein of the church and I enjoyed my own room complete with a tv and "The Polar Express" (I fell asleep after 20 minutes).
22Jun: From Fayetteville to Grove, Oklahoma; 74 miles, exciting bonus! Our route took us through the 3 Corners, I stood in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri (we biked in MO for 2 miles, adding a bonus state to my list of states visited). The ride was hilly and my legs and knees started to register the fact that they've been putting on a lot of miles... We had a ping pong table and got to have a cookout (with s'mores!) at a park thanks to our hosts.
23Jun: From Grove to Bartlesville, Oklahoma; 75 miles, we got a late start due to some stormy weather. I was one of the first to leave and decided that adrenaline helps a lot. Despite some nasty headwinds I pushed pretty hard, mainly because I was convinced the clouds all around me looked like they could form a tornado at any moment. (Don't worry, Mom; if there were really tornadoes the leaders wouldn't have let us leave :-)). I ended up being one of the first to get in to the church because other groups left late, got lost, got flats, or had minor paceline incidents. The Church of Christ had a bunch of signs to greet us, as well as homemade cookies, popcorn, lemonade and fruit waiting for us.
24Jun: Day Off in Bartlesville; Last night had a birthday/bachelorette party for one of the riders on the trip. Started off at a bowling alley and continued at our host site. Kind of amazing. Slept in this morning, ate a delicious breakfast, and we had our first truly successful bike clinic. About 15 kids from a camp here brought their bikes and B&Bers talked to them about what we're doing, how to take care of their bikes, helped them pump up tires and clean chains, and went for a ride with them around the parking lot. I rode into town with Dave and Suz to go to the bike shop, check out the Price Tower and art museum, and run a couple other errands.
Long week ahead so it's time for bed! More photos coming soon.
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