Day 17, Mena Arkansas to Arkadelphia Arkansas
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Category: Bike Ride
Last night, I woke up at around 3:00 pm and witnessed an amazing thunderstorm to the south. The storm was popping off lightening at the rate of several per second. What a show! I wondered if we were going to have bad weather for today’s ride. But by the time we stirred for breakfast, the sky was clear. No bad weather for our ride today!
Today, we rolled through a lot of rural Arkansas. We started off leaving the lodge and rolling down (and up) the last few miles of the Talimena Scenic Drive. Mena was the first town we went through, and I noted that there was a lot of nice homes along the way. These small Arkansas towns are most interesting. Lots of folks living out in the country also. This part of the country has lots of trees and forests, and is quite picturesque.
Even though we only went 101 miles with 3500 feet of climbing, it was an easier day than yesterday. However, I wondered if I had recovered enough from yesterday’s tough ride. There were parts of the ride that made me feel very sluggish. Most of the hills we climbed today were not very large or had much of a grade, so that was certainly easier than yesterday.
Equipment wise, we did have some issues. Bob Enright, one of my two riding partners, had a flat at the second rest stop. It took a while to repair, since his tires are very difficult to get back on the rim. As we approached lunch, I had a flat. I pinched the first intertube when fixing the flat, so had to replace that intertube. The next intertube I put on worked fine, but I broke the valve stem. The tire had enough air to make it the next few miles to lunch, but the intertube had to be replaced. Fortunately, Doug, one of the support crew replaced the intertube while I ate lunch. THANK YOU DOUG!!!
After lunch, we had had about 20+ miles to go into Arkadelphia, and the ride in was very pleasant. Ate dinner at a Subway, and took care of all of the washing chores.
17 days down, 9 to go. We will be entering Mississippi day after tomorrow. We were supposed to stay in Belzoni MS, but had a problem with hotel reservations, so we are going to stay in Indianola MS that evening.
So far, I am doing OK. Had some saddle sores, but with medication and preventive care, they are going away. YEAH!! Also, thanks to one of the tour riders (Jerry Sorensen), I am using his gel seat cover, and that is helping a lot. Of course, there are the usual aches and pains, but I am taking lots of Ibuprofen. Thanks goodness for that!
More tomorrow....
Click here for today’s pictures
Today, we rolled through a lot of rural Arkansas. We started off leaving the lodge and rolling down (and up) the last few miles of the Talimena Scenic Drive. Mena was the first town we went through, and I noted that there was a lot of nice homes along the way. These small Arkansas towns are most interesting. Lots of folks living out in the country also. This part of the country has lots of trees and forests, and is quite picturesque.
Even though we only went 101 miles with 3500 feet of climbing, it was an easier day than yesterday. However, I wondered if I had recovered enough from yesterday’s tough ride. There were parts of the ride that made me feel very sluggish. Most of the hills we climbed today were not very large or had much of a grade, so that was certainly easier than yesterday.
Equipment wise, we did have some issues. Bob Enright, one of my two riding partners, had a flat at the second rest stop. It took a while to repair, since his tires are very difficult to get back on the rim. As we approached lunch, I had a flat. I pinched the first intertube when fixing the flat, so had to replace that intertube. The next intertube I put on worked fine, but I broke the valve stem. The tire had enough air to make it the next few miles to lunch, but the intertube had to be replaced. Fortunately, Doug, one of the support crew replaced the intertube while I ate lunch. THANK YOU DOUG!!!
After lunch, we had had about 20+ miles to go into Arkadelphia, and the ride in was very pleasant. Ate dinner at a Subway, and took care of all of the washing chores.
17 days down, 9 to go. We will be entering Mississippi day after tomorrow. We were supposed to stay in Belzoni MS, but had a problem with hotel reservations, so we are going to stay in Indianola MS that evening.
So far, I am doing OK. Had some saddle sores, but with medication and preventive care, they are going away. YEAH!! Also, thanks to one of the tour riders (Jerry Sorensen), I am using his gel seat cover, and that is helping a lot. Of course, there are the usual aches and pains, but I am taking lots of Ibuprofen. Thanks goodness for that!
More tomorrow....
Click here for today’s pictures
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