[Spoiler alert: this story does NOT involve canoodling, unless you count the cicadas doing it. But this story does involve canoeing, and I’m a sucker for punny titles.] This Memorial Day weekend, I traveled (by car, not bike) to southeast Missouri. To make a 40-year-old story as short as I can, my Rice U/Hanszen College …
Route 66, Stage 3: Post Iter
First, the numbers for Stage 3:Distance: 234.3 miles Time: 19:50 (hh:mm) over 5 daysAverage speed: 11.8 mphAscent/Descent: + 11,377ft / -9,561ft (+1,816 net)Longest day: 61.5 miles, Elk City to Shamrock (Sunday)Shortest day: 31.1 miles, OK City to El Reno (Thursday)Worst day: Shamrock to an I-40 rest area 20 miles east of Groom, 33.4 miles. Thanks …
Route 66, Day 18: The Worst Hard Time
Everything started well this morning, even with a rather stiff wind coming out of the south. I made the last-minute call to put on my windbreaker and pull up the hood under my helmet; it turned out to be the second-best decision of the day. For the first 8-10 miles, the south wind was bearable: …
Route 66, Day 17: King(s) of the Road
And there's nothin' short of dyin'That's half as lonesome as the soundOf the sleepin' city sidewalkAnd Sunday mornin' comin' down - Kris Kristofferson (Yeah, I know: the title of this post doesn’t match the lyrics; sue me.) Sunday morning came down hard for both me and Jon, right off the bat, as we both bottomed-out …
Route 66, Day 16: My third annual Clinton
Two years ago, riding with Jon from Peoria, IL, to LaCrosse, WI, we had to make an unplanned detour to Clinton, Iowa. (We stayed in a rather skeevy hotel, where—in the hotel parking lot before we departed—Jon got to see a woman being “cuffed and stuffed” into a patrol car.) Last year, when I was …
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Route 66, Day 15: Bike wheels on a gravel road
The day started with Jon breaking the news that our route would need to change: OK DoT began repairs yesterday on a bridge over the Canadian River, so we’d have to detour south and then meander our way back to the intended route. We had no choice, and ended up encountering more hills and way …
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Route 66, Day 14: Bikes in low places
(Today’s short 30-miler took us through Yukon, OK, home of Garth Brooks. Yukon is also home to more non-denominational Christian churches than I have ever seen lined up on a one-mile stretch of road. I counted six, all with interesting names, like the “Canadian County Cowboy Church.” More on Yukon in a minute….) Driving me …
Self-Propelled
Whoopi-ty-aye-yayI go my wayBack in the saddle again - Gene Autry [Our story so far: Jon and I finished Stage 2, St. Louis to Tulsa, last September. I kept on riding throughout the fall and reached a by-far personal best of 5,000km (!) for 2023. As we started mapping out the continuation of the trek …
20,000 Roads
I remembered something you once told me,And I'll be damned if it did not come true.Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down,And they all led me straight back home to you. - Gram Parsons, "Return of the Grievous Angel" This will likely be my final post of 2023. There's a remote possibility that the …
Why 3K
Back in early September, when Jon and I were planning Stage 2, he asked how many miles I had ridden to that point. I had just crossed 2,100, and he replied that, once we finished the ride to Tulsa, I should be able to "hit 3K with ease." Until that moment, it had never occurred …
Rideworthy 