Oklahoma Freewheel Day 2 – Apache to Cordell
What a great day of riding! 69 miles of rolling pairies, decent roads for Oklahoma, and if even though the scenary wasn’t spectacular, it wasn’t ugly either.
Actually, getting out of the fairgrounds at Apache was a pleasure. They weren’t the best facilities for a group our size, but our original overnight stop in Anadarko was flattened by a tornado a few weeks ago. This had to do.
I'm discovering that donkeys like to climb!
With fairly calm winds for most of the morning, it seemed like I made pretty good time for a while this morning. I caught up with Drew about 15 miles out, and we mostly rode together the rest of the day.
People seem like they are settling into the groove that will take them through the week. We’ve learned that we need to hit the convenience stores (and I’ve actually had some of my best encounters with local folks in places like that). Today, Drew and I opted to skip the “advertised” lunch stop in favor of a sub sandwich from a convience store. The old gentleman working the counter was a delight to talk to as he made our sandwiches, and we got some good information from the guys at the next table about the Wichita mountains that we would soon see on our left.
The sub shop guy
Typical scenary
Another character you encounter on Freewheel is “Dennis”. He always mans the last rest stop of they day (and it’s actually one of the better ones). He has his own trailer, complete with porta-johns, water, and loads of treats. To look at him and his trailer, you’re really not sure you want to drink the water. He apparently volunteers his time and puts up the money for the treats every year and is considerd a staple of the ride. I think people like the shade he creates with his awning!
This is Dennis. I'll try to get a pic later of his toothless grin!
Two or three times today, Drew and I got into a fairly fast two-person pace line that was a blast. When traffic allowed, we cranked it up the final 5 miles into town, then rewarded ourselves with a coke stop before hitting camp, and that resulted in our second encounter of the day that was priceless. The owner of this convenience store was an absolute hoot! She liked to tell stories, and she told them at the top of her lungs! She told us that she considered her little family run store “the bitches place”, and boy, could she tell some wild tales. In spite of her being such a character, she also told us of her son, who was getting his masters degree in performance music. You never know what kind of people you’re going to meet on trips like this.
"The bitch" and her dog
Cordell looks like a nice little town. It’s got a pretty neat looking town square (picture coming later) and we’re camped at the city park for the night. As I was leaving to look for internet access, I stopped to talk to the two young men manning the closed intersection. They were both football players for the local college, in town during the summer for summer conditioning.
Here’s the GPS track for the day.
God bless…
TW
Explore posts in the same categories: bicycle, Cycling, Oklahoma FreewheelTags: bicycle, Cycling, Fitness, Oklahoma Freewheel
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