The Oklahoma winds are certainly living up to their reputation among cyclists traveling west to east across the state. Again today we battled strong (~20mph) NE winds as we pedaled 114 miles to Enid. However, the ride was much better than yesterday's and thanks to ample use of Ibuprofen I was able to stay on the bike and out of the support van for the entire day. We have pedaled 440 miles over the past 4 days fighting strong headwinds most of the time - and I'm pooped!
Our route today was fairly complicated due to Trek Travel's use of relatively scenic backroads that minimized our time on busy highways. I did capture the route on my iPhone App so, if interested, you can find the tweet of the details. We passed through Fort Supply where an Army Outpost was established in 1868 to supply General Sheridan in his famous (or infamous) winter campaign against the Southern Plains Indians. I wish there had been time to look around. Not much else to report on the scenery front - everything in this part of Oklahoma pretty much looks the same.
I had another massage tonight and the Trek Travel therapist that's traveling with us identified (based on my screams) that the pain I am dealing with is in my left abductor muscle, not my quadricep. She worked on it really hard and hopefully it will be less painful on tomorrow's ride. In any event, I've tolerated the pain for the past 300+ miles, so I'm planning to keep on pedaling.
The next 2 days are relatively short (~70 miles each day) as we make our way to Ponca City and then on to Bartlesville. Hopefully this will give all of us a chance to recover somewhat from the grueling mileage of the past 4 days. But, with the forecast of strong and cold NE winds our hopes for recovery could be dashed.
It sure will be good to get through Oklahoma!
Steve
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