When we woke up it was still raining, which was rather demoralizing, but we could see on the radar that we were just on the edge of the rain and it appeared to moving away. Sure enough, by the time we departed at our usual time just after 7AM, it had stopped. However, there was a stong wind blowing from the north/northwest owing to our positioning in the southwest quadrant of Harvey's remnants. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey. Please go away and leave everyone alone.
The wind made for brutal riding, especially when we were headed north. Working together, we could barely sustain 14 mph. On the west-facing stretches, the crosswind made for tricky positioning but we could go a bit faster. The terrain reminded me of the Katy prairie: vast stretches of flat farmland criscrossed with long, straight roads, maybe 10 miles with no deviation.
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| Could be Texas |
It went on like this for 60 miles, until we finally reached the town of Poplar Bluff, where we had planned to stop for lunch. As we rode through town, Tom spotted a sign for the Ozark Country Market on a run-down brick building. I was skeptical but once inside my misgivings vanished. It was a little deli/market/gift shop run by a group of Mennonites, complete with aprons and bonnets. It was much like the Amish Store in Belleville near Mom's summer cottage. Needless to say, lunch was excellent.
After lunch we still had 50 miles to cover so we did not linger. The rest of the route was on US 60, a busy 4-lane highway. It's ridable only by virtue of a wide (really wide, like 11 feet) shoulder. The terrain changed as well, from a flat prairie to long, gentle rolling hills as we approach the foothills of the Ozarks. Fortunately the wind abated slightly but was still in front of us. We made it to Van Buren just after 4 PM after a long day.
Physically I am holding up pretty well. My butt is sore and my legs are tired but otherwise no problems. Mentally it's challenging to do these long rides and then have to reset back to zero every day and do it again. I am telling myself to just take one day at a time: all I have to do is finish today's ride.
Rich asked about gear: what's working and what isn't. Everything is working well so far. Some plusses: my Apidura saddle pack and bar bags are great. It's amazing how much stuff you can cram in there, and the saddle pack rides really well. The seams are not sealed so a small amount of water can seep in. On wet days I line the pack with a kitchen trash bag, which seems to work well. My Ortlieb handlebar bag is also great. It's super convenient to have access to often-needed stuff: rain jacket, bike food, sunscreen, tire patch kit, etc. The map case, on the other hand, has been really difficult. I keep my phone in the case and use it for navigation. It's nice because the touch screen works through the case. The problem is that it becomes like a terrarium in there, and condensation gets between the case and the phone, making it impossible to operate. I have solved that (sort of) by putting stuff in the case to prop it up like a tent, so the case is not in contact with the screen.
All in all, everything is going well. It's a lot of riding, but we knew that going in.
Today: 109 miles, headwind for much of it. 3415 feet of climbing, all after lunch.
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| My blogging workstation |
Here's a hot tip from the kayak outfitter we used on Tybee Island - get one of those silica gel freshness packs (like from a pill bottle) and put it into your terrarium-like map case to absorb the moisture.
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