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I got up feeling kind of melancholy and I’m not sure why.  Maybe it was the feeling that the end was near.  Maybe it was that I was tired of being on the road.  I know I was missing Pam.  At any rate, with only 40 miles to go, this bike trip was nearly over. 

Last night was “the big party” to celebrate the end of the ride.  What that consisted of was a catered dinner followed by a band.  The dinner was OK.  The band was not.  In addition, it was so loud that it inhibited the conversation around camp.  I eventually wandered over to the other side of the rec center building where we were staying so I could talk to Pam on the phone, then I stayed and visited with Bob and his wife for a while.  Bob and I are accomplices in The Great Blanket Theft from Freewheel 2008.  He’s a super nice guy and a very strong rider.  He’s riding this year with his 13-year old granddaughter and her friend.

As I started out, I noticed several riders going off-route to shorten the mileage for the day.  I saw more doing that yesterday as well so I guess a lot of folks are getting tired.

The final day wasn’t the best riding of the week due to the wind.  It was pretty strong from the northeast, so there wasn’t a moment today that we had it in our favor.  There were quite a few hills along the way as a double whammy that made today not nearly as fun as days past. 

The one thing  that became very noticeable throught the morning was that we’re now in wheat country.  Wheat fields stretched pretty much as far as the eye could see in places.

After stopping for a picture at the Kansas state line, I pulled into Alva about 10:40 with a sense of relief that I had made it.  I am tired, but it’s been a great trip.  I think the people I’ve met and become better acquainted with this year made the difference.  It was a fun group. 

 

 Now, the parting question becomes whether I’ll do another Oklahoma Freewheel, or whether I’ll try to find a different state to ride next year.  Hmmmm?

Here’s the link to the GPS track for the day.

God bless….

TW

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This entry was posted on June 14, 2009 at 9:39 am and is filed under bicycle, Cycling, Fitness, Oklahoma Freewheel. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: bicycle, cold weather, Fitness, Oklahoma Freewheel

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