August 11th
Woke up in Boise City, Ok after a good nights sleep and at the Townsman Motel and walked next door to Dollar General to get a few things for my ride. I actually found some really tasty trail mix and bought some cheap headphones which ended up being pretty nice. I usually use a speaker for music but the connection isn't working well anymore and since there is very little traffic in this area I am ok with using headphones for now. It was a cloudy day and possible thunderstorms in the forecast so I packed up quick and headed down the road. There was a strong headwind most of the day and it was really hot but overall a pretty nice day on mostly flat road. Very few cars and a nice wide shoulder as I jammed out to everything from Paul Simon to Pantera. Music really seems to make the miles fly by somedays! I biked past many corn fields and even more oil fields. I was surprised to see so many oil wells, reminded me of bicycling through western North Dakota and eastern Montana. After a pretty long ride I arrived in Guymon, OK and the Weed Chamber of Commerce had got me a room donated by the Holiday Inn. Thanks Weed Chamber and Guymon Holiday Inn!!! After a long cold shower I took a walk into town and made a stop to check out Centennial Park. It was small but a really nice park nearby the hotel. From there I walked over to Scotty's Bar and Grill and got a tasty dinner and a cold beer, hit the spot! Headed back to the room and relaxed, so nice to have two days in a roll without and flat tires!
http://www.express.ihg.com/guyok
Woke up in Boise City, Ok after a good nights sleep and at the Townsman Motel and walked next door to Dollar General to get a few things for my ride. I actually found some really tasty trail mix and bought some cheap headphones which ended up being pretty nice. I usually use a speaker for music but the connection isn't working well anymore and since there is very little traffic in this area I am ok with using headphones for now. It was a cloudy day and possible thunderstorms in the forecast so I packed up quick and headed down the road. There was a strong headwind most of the day and it was really hot but overall a pretty nice day on mostly flat road. Very few cars and a nice wide shoulder as I jammed out to everything from Paul Simon to Pantera. Music really seems to make the miles fly by somedays! I biked past many corn fields and even more oil fields. I was surprised to see so many oil wells, reminded me of bicycling through western North Dakota and eastern Montana. After a pretty long ride I arrived in Guymon, OK and the Weed Chamber of Commerce had got me a room donated by the Holiday Inn. Thanks Weed Chamber and Guymon Holiday Inn!!! After a long cold shower I took a walk into town and made a stop to check out Centennial Park. It was small but a really nice park nearby the hotel. From there I walked over to Scotty's Bar and Grill and got a tasty dinner and a cold beer, hit the spot! Headed back to the room and relaxed, so nice to have two days in a roll without and flat tires!
http://www.express.ihg.com/guyok
Thanks Guymon Holiday Inn!!!
Very nice hotel!
Cool waterfall in the lobby
Love these Holiday Inn beds!
Centennial Park
4 Million Hogs a Year!!!
August 12th
Started the morning off with an awesome Holiday Inn continental breakfast. Today was very hot, as usual, but this time I had the wind at my back, woohoo! I covered the first 20 miles in an hour and made a stop in the town of Hooker. After a quick visit to the t-shirt shop and Chamber of Commerce I headed over to the malt shop for a shake and some ice water. So refreshing on such a hot day! The next 20 miles were very enjoyable and I spent most of them singing and biking down the road with the wind pushing me, felt great! I would make an occasional stop whenever there was a tree to get in the shade for a few minutes and cool off a little bit. The last 20 miles were down a nice quiet country road but it was now extremely hot, over 100 and there was very little shade. It became hilly and slowed me down quite a bit and just a half a mile before I got to the campground I got a flat tire from another thorn. After patching it up I headed over to the quiet campground and took a shower under the spigot. It was nice to relax in the shade for a bit. After setting up camp I decided to head into the nearby town of Beaver and get something to eat. On my way I noticed some dark clouds rolling in quickly and it looked like a big storm. I got another flat tire, another thorn, on the way into town. As I was patching it up the rain started coming down and it felt great! I had 2 cars stop to offer help which I thought was really nice of them. When I got into Beaver it was raining really hard so I went into Pizza Hut and waited it out. After filling up on ice water and pasta I headed back over to the campground. My tire was losing air but I just pumped it up every so often not wanting to remove it and patch it again, figured it could wait until morning. The evening was really nice after the storm. I relaxed near the lake and watched the hawks, a crane, and thousands of dragonflies. Met the guy running the park, forget his name, but he gave me the campsite for free and was a really nice guy. Enjoyed a really nice sunset / moonrise and did a little reading before falling asleep under the star filled sky.
Started the morning off with an awesome Holiday Inn continental breakfast. Today was very hot, as usual, but this time I had the wind at my back, woohoo! I covered the first 20 miles in an hour and made a stop in the town of Hooker. After a quick visit to the t-shirt shop and Chamber of Commerce I headed over to the malt shop for a shake and some ice water. So refreshing on such a hot day! The next 20 miles were very enjoyable and I spent most of them singing and biking down the road with the wind pushing me, felt great! I would make an occasional stop whenever there was a tree to get in the shade for a few minutes and cool off a little bit. The last 20 miles were down a nice quiet country road but it was now extremely hot, over 100 and there was very little shade. It became hilly and slowed me down quite a bit and just a half a mile before I got to the campground I got a flat tire from another thorn. After patching it up I headed over to the quiet campground and took a shower under the spigot. It was nice to relax in the shade for a bit. After setting up camp I decided to head into the nearby town of Beaver and get something to eat. On my way I noticed some dark clouds rolling in quickly and it looked like a big storm. I got another flat tire, another thorn, on the way into town. As I was patching it up the rain started coming down and it felt great! I had 2 cars stop to offer help which I thought was really nice of them. When I got into Beaver it was raining really hard so I went into Pizza Hut and waited it out. After filling up on ice water and pasta I headed back over to the campground. My tire was losing air but I just pumped it up every so often not wanting to remove it and patch it again, figured it could wait until morning. The evening was really nice after the storm. I relaxed near the lake and watched the hawks, a crane, and thousands of dragonflies. Met the guy running the park, forget his name, but he gave me the campsite for free and was a really nice guy. Enjoyed a really nice sunset / moonrise and did a little reading before falling asleep under the star filled sky.
The Hooker Chamber of Commerce / T-Shirt Shop
A Tree! Shade!!!
Baking in the Oklahoma Sun!
Love the town motto!
( No Man's Land - Everyone's Town )
Nice Quiet Park
( state had to sell the park to the county - $ issues )
Lake at the park
Storm coming in!
Shelter and dinner
Just outside of Beaver, OK
Back at the park
Almost full moon
August 13th
I kept my rain fly off the tent and the fresh air blowing through felt great and made for a nice nights sleep. After packing up my stuff I noticed both my tires were now flat. I spent quite a while pacthing them but they would not hold air and I found several holes and thorns. I must have gone through an area heavy with thorns because there was a bunch in the soles of my sandals as well. I headed back into Beaver and had to keep pumping up my tires just to get there. I was hoping I would find some tubes at the hardware store but they didn't have my size. It was already very hot out and I decided I would at least bike 10 miles up to the highway and maybe try and catch ride from there. It took me a while to get to the highway because my tubes would not hold air no matter what I did. When I got to the highway I found some shade under a tree and threw out a thumb whenever a truck passed. After several hours of no luck getting a ride my good friend Stephanie got in touch with someone in the town of Buffalo where I was headed. She gave me the phone number for Pastor Phil Davis and he offered to come pick me up and bring me to town. Thanks Phil!!! Phil showed up with a friend about an hour later and we drove the one hour to Buffalo. It was a nice drive and the guys gave me all kinds of information about the area and were very nice! When we got to Buffalo I checked into the Buffalo Creek Motel who donated a room to me for the evening, thanks Buffalo Creek Motel!!! I dropped off my stuff and Phil offered to take me to a friend of his who ran an auto shop. Phil's friend was very crafty and said he would get me back on the road in no time and he did just that. After taking closer looks at the tubes there were multiple tiny leaks and he covered them in rubber cement and put car tire patches on them and even gave me some to take with me. I was very grateful and happy to have met Phil and for him to know the perfect person to help out. Thanks again guys!!! After a shower I walked across the street to Shorty's Cafe and found out that the owners were also the owners of the Buffalo Creek Motel. They were a very nice married couple and also really good cooks! After getting a couple supplies from the grocery store I headed back to the room. I was actually more sore from sitting on the side of the road all day then I would be from riding. I looked over my maps and made a new route to get myself to a bike shop in 3 days so I could pick up spare tubes.
I kept my rain fly off the tent and the fresh air blowing through felt great and made for a nice nights sleep. After packing up my stuff I noticed both my tires were now flat. I spent quite a while pacthing them but they would not hold air and I found several holes and thorns. I must have gone through an area heavy with thorns because there was a bunch in the soles of my sandals as well. I headed back into Beaver and had to keep pumping up my tires just to get there. I was hoping I would find some tubes at the hardware store but they didn't have my size. It was already very hot out and I decided I would at least bike 10 miles up to the highway and maybe try and catch ride from there. It took me a while to get to the highway because my tubes would not hold air no matter what I did. When I got to the highway I found some shade under a tree and threw out a thumb whenever a truck passed. After several hours of no luck getting a ride my good friend Stephanie got in touch with someone in the town of Buffalo where I was headed. She gave me the phone number for Pastor Phil Davis and he offered to come pick me up and bring me to town. Thanks Phil!!! Phil showed up with a friend about an hour later and we drove the one hour to Buffalo. It was a nice drive and the guys gave me all kinds of information about the area and were very nice! When we got to Buffalo I checked into the Buffalo Creek Motel who donated a room to me for the evening, thanks Buffalo Creek Motel!!! I dropped off my stuff and Phil offered to take me to a friend of his who ran an auto shop. Phil's friend was very crafty and said he would get me back on the road in no time and he did just that. After taking closer looks at the tubes there were multiple tiny leaks and he covered them in rubber cement and put car tire patches on them and even gave me some to take with me. I was very grateful and happy to have met Phil and for him to know the perfect person to help out. Thanks again guys!!! After a shower I walked across the street to Shorty's Cafe and found out that the owners were also the owners of the Buffalo Creek Motel. They were a very nice married couple and also really good cooks! After getting a couple supplies from the grocery store I headed back to the room. I was actually more sore from sitting on the side of the road all day then I would be from riding. I looked over my maps and made a new route to get myself to a bike shop in 3 days so I could pick up spare tubes.
On the way into Beaver
( altered this picture to make it look more like a painting )
Beaver, OK - home of the World Cow Chip Throwing Contest
http://www.beaverchamber.com/history.html
Would help if it was a busier road!
The spot where I sat for 4 hours
At least there was shade!
Pretty nice room inside!
Just a few items I found or brought with me for the journey
Dinner at Shorty's Cafe
August 14th
First thing I did when I woke up was check to see if my tires were still holding air and they were! Very happy about that. I quickly packed up and planned to head out early to beat the mid-day heat. As I put my back tire on the quick release broke and would not tighten, not good. I spent the next two hours working on it and finally found a nut that would fit in my bag of spare parts and was able to at least temporarily fix my bike. So much for my early start but at least I was back on the road again! I headed down a hilly road to Boiling Springs State Park where I planned to camp for the night. It was very hot and there was a headwind but other than that a pretty nice ride. I passed a field of over 100 giant windmills and a ton of oil fields as well. About halfway I came to the town of Fort Supply and made a gatorade and water stop. The next town was Woodward where I stopped to get some groceries for dinner and used the free wifi to check emails at McDonalds. Boiling Springs was just another 6 miles down a quiet country road. I saw herds of 20 or more whitetail deer several times and each group had many fawns and even some 6 point bucks. I picked out a nice campsite in the shade and took a cold shower which felt great! Well worth the $12. It was still hot and humid after my shower but I biked around the park and explored anyhow. First stop I checked out the lake and then biked down to the river on a fun off road biking/hiking trail. I came just feet from running over an armadillo, that was exciting! There was a swimming pool at the park that was closed for a family reunion but I managed to purchase some nachos and a soda and was then offered a beer by 2 guys carrying a cooler. When I went to open the cooler I was surprised by a giant Boa Constrictor in the cooler!! Scared the s!*t out of me!!! The guy thanked me for not punching him and we all had a good laugh, definitely woke me up! I went back to the campsite and watched the very playful deer chase each other around and listened to the sound of the very loud cicadas. Fell asleep to the sound of trains and coyotes, slept great!
Buffalo, Oklahoma
This dog followed me around Buffalo and kept trying to take my stuff!
Leaving Buffalo
Shade!
Oklahoma is not as flat as I thought
Windmills
Very nice campsite!
Beautiful sunset shots. Love the dragonfly too. Be carefull in that hot sun. Don't over do it. I posted your blog on my facebook. I hope you get more donations.
ReplyDeleteAngie
Thank You! Shade and water are my 2 favorite things these days! Next time you are on Facebook you should "like" my Biking For Wishes facebook page and spread the word if you have time. Thanks Angie!!
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