Atoka to Idabell, OK

July 12.

This was the chance to complete a century ride—probably the least hilly one we have on the trip, certainly the least hilly so far.  It was another hot day.  I started out slow, one of the last to start because of a last minute task I needed to do.  Judy and Lou were serving as sweeps that day.  They had already managed to complete a couple of century rides, the first one in Nevada.  Judy asked if I wanted them to ride with me or behind me.  I said with me, but I don’t think she heard me because they started out staying farther back.  Then when I entered a road, they stopped at the corner.  So I kept going.  At the first rest stop, they finally caught me, though it took much longer than I expected.  Lou had gotten a flat along the way.

The little hand pumps we carry on our bikes can get enough air in the tires to get back on the road, but a floor pump is needed to really get the tire inflated well.  Lou was having trouble getting the pump seated on the valve, so I offered to do it for her.  She wanted her tire inflated to 120 psi, and then changed her mind and asked for it to be inflated to 110 psi.  At 110 psi, the inner tube blew and the tire came off the rim!  So time for another change.  They were at the rest stop, and there were spare tubes in the trailer so we got her flat fixed again and also found a hole in the brand new tire that she had just put on the night before.  All set to go again.

I told them that they didn’t need to stay behind me, assuming  that they had not heard what I said previously.  But I left after the tire was on the rim, but before it was pumped up and back on the bike.  They have always managed to catch me in the past, so I knew they could do it again.

This pretty pond was on the way to the first rest stop, I think.  I hardly took any pictures that day!

The worst part of the day was a section of construction that we went through.  I was pretty scared and I surprised myself by getting a lot of speed after having already gone about 60 miles.  I had no idea that I had that kind of speed left in me.  I certainly didn’t have it in me before I felt like I really, really needed to hurry.  I don’t have any pictures of that.

Between the second and third rest stop, a man stopped us.  He had a water jug that belonged to us that Phil and Kian had left at a gas station a ways back.  We didn’t have any way to carry it and we told him that if he left it by the side of the road, we would send someone back to get it.  Instead, he asked where he could take it.  So he took it to the next rest stop at the Hugo Lake Overlook for us, probably another ten miles down the road.

And that story reminds me of an even better one from the day before!  Meredith and Steve had stopped in a coffee shop on the way.  They were sweeps, riding behind me, and that is one of the things Meredith likes to do.  We got to one of the rest stops and found out that Mike W was behind us and that he had Meredith’s wallet.  Meredith and Steve didn’t know how that was possible, that Mike could have a) gotten behind them and b) stopped in the same random, off the route, coffee shop.  What had actually happened was that the coffee shop owner saw her wallet and went driving around looking for cyclists in orange shirts.  Mike had missed a turn in an entirely different place but that put him in position to be spotted by the coffee shop owner!

Back to the hundred mile day:  At the last rest stop, Judy and Lou were very encouraging.  I always worry about slowing the others down since the sweeps are required not to pass me, and they are always better riders than I (still improving and still the slowest).  It they had been the slightest bit hesitant, I would not have tried it.  But I took a short break, got a Starbucks Doubleshot to drink, and ended up finishing a lot faster than I had been going previously.

When we got in, a whole bunch of people came out to cheer!  That is the first 100 mile day that I have completed since 1983 on the first RAGBRAI tour I ever went on when I was 26 years old.  (I’m pretty sure that is correct)  And I got tears in my eyes again.  Big day.