Friday, October 5, 2007
Big day of riding today. Prior to this the most I've ever ridden was Day 29 of my Alaska trip, 599 miles ( Alaska Trip Blog ). I wanted to make my usual Saturday morning foursome so I had to ride 'em like they counted today. Certainly made me appreciate the stamina of the Iron Butt tourers. In order to be an Iron Butt you have to go at least 1,000 miles within 24 hours. I don't think I could have made another three hundred miles when I stopped last night. And I'm certain I couldn't have done it safely; one of the reasons I'm not sure that those who do that riding have adequately assessed the risk/reward of the situation.
Woke before sunrise and left the hotel by 6:30 a.m. Found a restaurant on the outskirts of town and, by the time I'd completed breakfast, the sun was over the horizon. It helped that the temperature was 69°, not the 40° of yesterday morning. Found US283S and headed for the Kansas/Oklahoma border.
Another local human kindness story
I didn't gas up before leaving Dodge City, having fueled up at Garden City the previous afternoon. Passing through the town of Englewood just before the border I calculated I had about 35 miles of fuel left. To my amazement the only source of fuel in town wasn't open. I pulled into the pumps to see a "Help Wanted" sign and a closed operation at about 8:15 a.m. on a Friday morning. Usually in these small towns such stores open early almost as a community service, folks in farming communities aren't known for sleeping in.
A bicyclist was parked at the station when I pulled in. He'd was on a bicycle tour from Colorado to St. Augustine, FL, showing a lot more stamina than I have. Unfortunately, he'd developed a problem with his rear rim and anticipated he would shortly be hitchhiking to Oklahoma City, guessing that would be the location of the closest full-service bike shop. He reported the neighbor next door had given him some water but didn't know when the store would open, but that he thought he'd probably open by 9:00 a.m. Given my desire to make time today, you can imagine my pleasure at this news.
We walked back over to the neighbor so the bicyclist could replenish his water and the neighbor confirmed the foregoing and relayed that the nearest gas would be in Laverne, OK, thirty-five miles away...right at the outside of my estimated capability.
The bicyclist and I returned to the station with me determining to wait out the store operator, hoping he'd not go past the 9:00 a.m. thing. A lady on a bike came by and stopped to say hello. She was extremely nice, commiserating with her fellow-biker and offering to take him back to Garden City where there was a bike shop. He gratefully declined saying he wanted to continue ahead but took her cell phone number in case he needed help and couldn't get a ride. From his statements he'd had this kind of problem in the past and found catching rides in farm country relatively easy since almost everyone drove a pickup.
When I explained my fuel problem she said, "No problem, I have plenty of gas at my house." So she led me around to her house where there were six to eight five-gallon gas containers. She explained that she performed well-service for a guy who owned about ten gas wells in the area, and that the local store had, in fact, only recently re-opened so she kept a gas cache because it wasn't readily available. She not only had the gas, she wouldn't accept payment for the gallon or so I poured into Betsy.
Having insured my continued progress Betsy and I took off for points south. But first I took a couple of pictures of the nice lady's old homestead. It was almost as neat and nice as its owner.
The home was built in 1907 and later expanded in about 1920. But the pièce de résistance was the original artwork the 1907 builder placed in the yard.
You just meet so many nice folks traveling like this.
Pulling into Englewood I noticed a flock of wild turkeys calmly feeding right in town. Any hunter with experience will tell you that wild turkey are among the most difficult of animals to successfully hunt.
And here they are, safely gobbling up breakfast without threat from anyone or anything. Come hunting season, which should be very soon, you couldn't find them without major effort and stealth.Continued southward on US283 catching US270E just south of Laverne. Gassed up in Woodward and took US183S out of Seiling, OK, to I-40E Spur out of Geary. Not wanting to fight OK City traffic I took US81S at El Reno to Chickasha, taking SR19 to Pauls Valley. From this point on it's I-slab home. Took I-35S to the split, taking 35E into Denton and Dallas. Murphy's Law was operative. I hit Denton about 4:30 p.m., along with almost every licensed driver in Oklahoma, all heading south for Saturday's Texas-Oklahoma football game. There are something like nine (9) Denton exits and everyone of them was backed up, creating a twenty-mile long parking lot with almost perceptible movement. I don't know why Denton, but there they were. Once through, traffic moved along pretty good into Dallas though slowing for, I'm sure, the usual Friday drive-time parking-practice. Slow for several exits, I won't complain since I have Houston traffic to gauge by. This was a piece of cake and, once I managed the connector over to I-45, it was due south at a good clip.
I don't normally ride at night, I just don't like the lack of visibility coupled with the movement of deer, which are plentiful in this area. Interstates are usually relatively safe because all the traffic tends to keep them off. But there are stretches between Dallas and Houston on I-45 which look like Bambi-heaven to me...but what're ya gonna do? I needed to get home and it was dark. I rode on. But not without stopping at Woody's for jerky. (A description of Woodys can be found on the last day of the Alaska trip blog.)
Pulled into the house about 9:30 p.m. well stuffed with jerky and ready to go again. I just can't get enough of this stuff.
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