Guymon OK – 29

Hello Everyone,

At certain points in the tour, we come to say, “Wow , we only to ride 70 miles today. I am happy to say that we have reached that point in the tour. Of course, after the prior two days of over 200 miles total, almost anything would seem benign by comparison. The terrain was comparatively flat and the winds were pretty good if not always favorable.  We left an hour later than usual and that had some of the group grumbling a bit.

Now we are beginning to enter the agricultural center of the USA and the terrain is more of farms and the noise is filled with trucks transporting cattle and feed. You can smell it as well – you tend to get used to it, but the odor is often accompanied by bugs and hitting them at 20 mph can be painful.

I spent most of the day riding with Herm and Randy but Randy decided to hit the SAG at about mile 50, the state line because of his nagging knee issues. Randy certainly keeps up a happy and positive demeanor despite the constant pain. He tries to alleviate it by stretching every 10 miles or so. The good news is that Michelle should be back with us in a few days and has been cleared to ride by her doctor.

I would say that the highlights of today was the giant statue of Tex who has seen better days and looks like the insertion for the hero of Toy Story. We also crossed a state line and did the time honored dust sprinkling ritual. The DQ midway, also gave us free DQ’s and that was an awesome gesture by the owner.

I did have a flat a mile from Guymon, but fixed it promptly with Herm’s assistance. Herm owns 27 bicycles and repairs and sells them as a hobby. He also does pinball machines and I always wanted one and have picked his brain on some of the good old time ones. It was fun riding with Herm today, we took our time and had some good conversations which made the time pass quickly.

When we hit town, we headed over to the local bike shop and bot she cool jerseys and then had lunch at Braum’s which is like DQ only with more options. We did see Ross and Alan who were pedaling around town and they actually escorted us over to Braum’s and then headed off for coffee. Alan is a coffee connoisseur and likes a cup after his ride. Ross is a good sport and keeps him company.

Tomorrow is a short ride into Kansas and we only have to ride 40 miles or so. I think that the Wizard of Oz museum is there. Tom reminded us how Frank Baum came up with “Oz” as it was bios lower file cabinet O to Z. I have some good photos and hopefully the hotel WIFI connection will work better tonight.

Hope that everyone is doing well.

Tailwinds

Chuck