Click here to go to day 1.
Map of day 5: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54914470
The plan for today was to ride from Mt Ida to Hope, where we would stay the night with Jerrie's parents. Found out it would be a little farther than I'd planned, about 85 miles. We could probably do that, but this trip is not about just bike riding. It's a photo safari, a "visit with the locals", and site seeing. Oh, then Jerrie also decided to make it a "collect souvenirs for her co-workers from things we find on the shoulder of the road". That was interesting.
As we were leaving, we met "Fred", a gentleman selling muscadine grapes on the Mt Ida square. He'd grown them himself. Told us about growing the grapes and some of his other produce. Visited with him a bit, then headed out. As we were leaving, he shouted at us to come back. Wanted to tell us the short cut to the road we wanted. I think next long bike ride, I"ll take a portable stool to sit on, pull out a note pad, and get more information from the people we meet.
We continued on hwy 27 south of Mt Ida through the communities of Norman, Caddo Gap, and Glenwood. Stopped at city hall in Norman and once gain, found some friendly folks to visit with. Glenwood was the largest town since Mt Ida, with a nice convenience store, and even a McDonalds! Lajunta found a nice park with picnic tables in Murfreesboro, where we met her for lunch. We continued on to the town of Nashville.
Riding hadn't been too bad that day, just normal type hills I'm accustomed to riding. Up to that point, the roads have been very bicycle-friendly.....nice shoulders to ride on. However, that changed as we left Nashville on hwy 278. Honestly, this is NOT a safe road to cycle on, until you get to about Ozan.....little to no shoulder, curvy roads (traffic is right upon you, before they see you), heavy traffic (lots of 18 wheelers), and what shoulder there is, has those "rumble strips" on them (good idea for cars, terrible idea for cycling). Often times the shoulder was so narrow, it's impossible to ride to the right of the rumble strips. We found ourselves occasionally stopping to get out of the way of the 2 way traffic.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Ride Across Arkansas 2011. Day 6, Thursday September 29, near Ozan to Louisiana/Arkansas border.
Click here to go to day 1.
Map of day 6: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54914626
Hello flat lands, good bye granny gear! Rode the entire day today without having to shift to my smallest chain ring!
Time goes fast when you are cycling, well, sometimes not as fast as you'd like when climbing those hills. But after it's over, it seems like it went fast.
We got an early start today, Lajunta drove us back up to an old church where we'd stopped the night before, the Sardis Methodist Church. We rode about 5 miles to the community of Ozan. The roads improved at that point, with a wider shoulder to ride on and no rumble strips. Next town on the map was Washington. What an interesting town, especially if you are a history buff (I'm not, but still found it interesting). Took lots of photos here. Many old, historical buildings. The town is actually a state park, http://www.historicwashingtonstatepark.com/.
After about a 45 minute tour, it was time to hit the road, if we were going to get to Louisiana before dark. We stopped a few miles before Hope. There was a John Deere dealership, that was owned by friends of Scot and Jerrie. We visited with Clark for awhile, then headed to Hope.
We rode on to Hope, passed the home where Bill Clinton lived as a child, then on to Jerrie's parent's home, where Lajunta had lunch prepared for us.
After lunch, we took hwy 29 and headed south once again. The roads were perfect for cycling, nice wide shoulders all the way to Louisiana. Turned out to be the hottest day of our trip, with temperatures near 100. I can handle those temperatures when cycling, so long as we don't have hills to climb and have plenty of water. Lajunta met us a few times that day, to make sure we had plenty of water. We stopped in Lewisville a bit, then went through the last town of our trip, Bradley. About 5:30, we arrived at the state line.
Mileage for the day, 72.
That evening, Jerrie and I took turns enjoying "Mr Bob's" massage chair!
Map of day 6: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54914626
Hello flat lands, good bye granny gear! Rode the entire day today without having to shift to my smallest chain ring!
Time goes fast when you are cycling, well, sometimes not as fast as you'd like when climbing those hills. But after it's over, it seems like it went fast.
We got an early start today, Lajunta drove us back up to an old church where we'd stopped the night before, the Sardis Methodist Church. We rode about 5 miles to the community of Ozan. The roads improved at that point, with a wider shoulder to ride on and no rumble strips. Next town on the map was Washington. What an interesting town, especially if you are a history buff (I'm not, but still found it interesting). Took lots of photos here. Many old, historical buildings. The town is actually a state park, http://www.historicwashingtonstatepark.com/.
After about a 45 minute tour, it was time to hit the road, if we were going to get to Louisiana before dark. We stopped a few miles before Hope. There was a John Deere dealership, that was owned by friends of Scot and Jerrie. We visited with Clark for awhile, then headed to Hope.
We rode on to Hope, passed the home where Bill Clinton lived as a child, then on to Jerrie's parent's home, where Lajunta had lunch prepared for us.
After lunch, we took hwy 29 and headed south once again. The roads were perfect for cycling, nice wide shoulders all the way to Louisiana. Turned out to be the hottest day of our trip, with temperatures near 100. I can handle those temperatures when cycling, so long as we don't have hills to climb and have plenty of water. Lajunta met us a few times that day, to make sure we had plenty of water. We stopped in Lewisville a bit, then went through the last town of our trip, Bradley. About 5:30, we arrived at the state line.
Mileage for the day, 72.
That evening, Jerrie and I took turns enjoying "Mr Bob's" massage chair!
 | |
| Morning began with good shoulders to ride on, once we reached Ozan. |
 |
| The courthouse at Washington, or as the locals call it, "Old Washington". There's a tourist information center inside, and you can tour the facility. |
 |
| Ladies at the Washington courthouse who give out tourist information. |
 |
| We were a little too early for lunch, but Jerrie asked the workers at the "Williams Tavern Restaurant" at Washington if they would come out for a photo. Jerrie's dad, "Mr Bob", eats there every day. |
 |
| One of the locals in a period costume. Not sure if he was a tour guide, or an actor. |
 |
| This tree, located in Washington, is the largest magnolia tree in the northern hemisphere. It has grown so large, they had to close the road! |
Ride Across Arkansas, 2011. Day 7, Friday September 30, day of rest and recovery.
Click here to go to day 1.
We were having so much fun, we considered driving back down to the Louisiana state line, and then riding west to the Texas state line. However, after riding in the near 100 degree heat, we were about worn out. We'd allowed a couple extra days on our trip, as there's always the possibility of bad weather, or mechanical problems, but we couldn't have had a more perfect week. So we had a couple days to spare.
Jerrie mentioned that the regional fair was going on in Hope, so we decided to go check it out. We enjoyed seeing the livestock and displays. Lajunta was interested in finding the canning lids that had American flags on them.
Jerrie was excited to run into a few old acquaintances.
That evening we drove to Texarkana with Jerrie's parents, where we met her sister, Paula, for dinner at the Ole Feed House. Paula also brought her neighbor, a cyclist, who wanted to hear about our trip. The restaurant featured a fine seafood buffet!
We went back to the Dillard's home, were we took turns in Mr Bob's massage chair. Lajunta didn't find it as relaxing as did Jerrie and I. But that's another story.....lol
What an incredible time we all had! Thinking next year, we may have to return to the spot where the ride ended, and ride across Louisiana to the gulf!
Ok..a few interesting facts you may find hard to believe:
Number of flat tires......0
Number of mechanical problems or bike adjustments....0
Number of dogs who ran into the road and chased us....0, (yes, not a typo...Zero!).
Miles ridden in rain gear......0
Number of times Jerrie crashed into ditch.....0 (inside joke)
Number of people who shouted insults at us...0
Times we used pepper spray.......0
Number of hills I had to walk up.....0 (helped that I had the smallest chain ring on by bike,a 30 tooth, replaced with a 24 tooth. Didn't shift very smoothly, but got me up those long, steep hills. )
In summary.....the route we took was a VERY good route to cycle, with the exception of hills and that one stretch of about 10 miles south of Nashville. The shoulders were very good to ride on, and for the most part, with very little debris.
Be sure and check back soon, when we get home, I'll be uploaded some of the 700+ photos that I did, plus some of Lajunta's.
If you have an questions, comments, or corrections, please email me at: dad_5ks@yahoo.com.
So, anyone want to join us for next year's ride???
We were having so much fun, we considered driving back down to the Louisiana state line, and then riding west to the Texas state line. However, after riding in the near 100 degree heat, we were about worn out. We'd allowed a couple extra days on our trip, as there's always the possibility of bad weather, or mechanical problems, but we couldn't have had a more perfect week. So we had a couple days to spare.
Jerrie mentioned that the regional fair was going on in Hope, so we decided to go check it out. We enjoyed seeing the livestock and displays. Lajunta was interested in finding the canning lids that had American flags on them.
Jerrie was excited to run into a few old acquaintances.
That evening we drove to Texarkana with Jerrie's parents, where we met her sister, Paula, for dinner at the Ole Feed House. Paula also brought her neighbor, a cyclist, who wanted to hear about our trip. The restaurant featured a fine seafood buffet!
We went back to the Dillard's home, were we took turns in Mr Bob's massage chair. Lajunta didn't find it as relaxing as did Jerrie and I. But that's another story.....lol
 | |||
| Jerrie and Lajunta at the Regional fair in Hope. |
 | ||
| One of the craft entries at the fair. Lajunta really likes this...as "Snow Lady" with 5 little snowball kids". |
 |
| The group that ate out in Texarkana at the Ole Feed House (gets my recommendation).....Gary, a cyclist who wanted to hear about our trip, Jerrie's sister Paula, Jerrie's parents Jackie and Bob, Jerrie, Lajunta and Larry. Wonder if I could get my own tv show, and be the cycling version of Guy Fieri of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives"??? |
What an incredible time we all had! Thinking next year, we may have to return to the spot where the ride ended, and ride across Louisiana to the gulf!
Ok..a few interesting facts you may find hard to believe:
Number of flat tires......0
Number of mechanical problems or bike adjustments....0
Number of dogs who ran into the road and chased us....0, (yes, not a typo...Zero!).
Miles ridden in rain gear......0
Number of times Jerrie crashed into ditch.....0 (inside joke)
Number of people who shouted insults at us...0
Times we used pepper spray.......0
Number of hills I had to walk up.....0 (helped that I had the smallest chain ring on by bike,a 30 tooth, replaced with a 24 tooth. Didn't shift very smoothly, but got me up those long, steep hills. )
In summary.....the route we took was a VERY good route to cycle, with the exception of hills and that one stretch of about 10 miles south of Nashville. The shoulders were very good to ride on, and for the most part, with very little debris.
Be sure and check back soon, when we get home, I'll be uploaded some of the 700+ photos that I did, plus some of Lajunta's.
If you have an questions, comments, or corrections, please email me at: dad_5ks@yahoo.com.
So, anyone want to join us for next year's ride???
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Why You Should Always Wear a Helment While Cycling.
Mountain Biker attacked by buck in Africa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S2oymHHyV1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S2oymHHyV1M
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)