The combination of yesterday's 100+ mile ride, my very sore quads, and 40 mph winds made today's 127 mile ride very challenging - perhaps the hardest physical endurance effort I have ever attempted. But I did it! As one of our guides says "the pride lasts longer than the pain".
We headed out of Guymon at first light on Highway 3 heading east towards Woodward with the wind blowing so strongly that it was difficult to keep our bikes on the road - and it continued to blow hard all day from the NNE as we tried to head east. So we all know Oklahoma is windy - and you also may think it is flat. But try cycling from Guymon to Woodward and you will discover that the land is an endless series of rolling hills and valleys - offering another challenge to cyclists.
There really isn't much scenery to look at, which is a good thing because I would have missed it while concentrating all day on keeping my bike from being blown off the narrow shoulder - I did go into the dirt once but got back on the shoulder without incident. The only notable landscape feature was the appearance of the first big wind farm of the trip as we neared Woodward - I'm sure we will see more as we continue across the state. We rolled into Woodward about 6:30pm after over 9 hours on the saddle.
Tomorrow we do our third 100+ mile day in a row with a 114 mile ride to Enid. While I am proud of keeping my streak of biking every mile alive, there may come a time when my body says ENOUGH - and it could be tomorrow.
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment