The forecasted rain didn’t materialise, so we had a good sleep until the guys in lycra that are doing a supported Route 66 cycle decided to start their day at 5 am. Once they were up they made sure everyone else in the vicinity was too.
While we didn’t actually get up at 5 am, it was a slightly early start for us than usual. We then decided to not capitalize on the earlier start by calling in at the service station on the way out of the campground for a hot chocolate. Yes, it was a chilly morning. Not quite Scotland chilly, but Oklahoma chilly was chilly enough to feel the need for something warm to start the day.
While enjoying our hot chocolate we had a chat with a local couple, Mark and Shelly. They lived on Weatherford, one of the towns we would cycle through in the coming eight hours, explaining they had a church near to where me we were taking, which reminded us it was Sunday. It’s very easy to lose track of the days of the week when you are living the life we are at the moment. It also dawned on us that bearing in mind the number of people that we talk too, we seem to be meeting a disproportionate number of people that own their own church. Maybe someone is trying to tell us something!
As there is very few Route 66 roadside for the next section and the wind shouldn’t be in our face for a change, we decided to make today a miles day, setting our target Elk City, 75 miles and over 2500 ft of climb.
Of the 75 miles over 70 miles of the day was on the original Route 66, more often than not on the original road surface. While that is good from an experience perspective, it’s tough on pretty much every other perspective.
Even the sections of the route that are in reasonable shape, the expansion gaps between the concrete slabs that make up the road are still garring. Garring on the bike and garring on our bodies. Where the road had deteriorated the going could be describe as dangerous, especially when encountered on the fast downhill sections, but those sections pale in comparison to the sections that tarmac has been thrown on the deteriorating road surface.
We passed through Bridgeport and Hydro without really noticing we had arrived or even left, with only a few shacks remaining of what may have once been a thriving route side community.
Weatherford and Clinton were next. Both had somehow survived the building of I-40, in fact, they both seemed to be thriving. That said, we passed through both in a few minutes without stopping for more than a few minutes to take a few photos.
While families clearly called the next two towns, Foss and Canute, home, it was sad to see more towns on the route that clearly have seen much better days.
We eventually arrived at the outskirts of Elk City after navigating a section of road that was closed due to the building of a new bridge. Lucky for us it was in a state that we could use it and lucky for us it was a Sunday, so no jobsworths around, as the detour would have taken more than 3 hours.
We had opted to stay at the first hotel we came to, not due to its location, but due to the price, so Super 8 was our bed for the night.
The usual negotiation with a hotel receptionist that really should not be working in the service industry ensued, with logic eventually winning the day.
Unfortunately, due to it being on the outskirts of the town there was little nothing near, including nowhere eat, which is becoming a bit of a theme. There was however a Wal-Mart 2 miles away. What better way to relax after a 75-mile cycle than a 4-mile walk.
I’m not sure if Americans don’t walk because of the lack of paths, or whether there are no paths because Americans drive everywhere. Regardless, after a two-mile hike along the side of a busy road leading to the interstate and under the interstate flyover (Wal-Mart being at the other side of the interstate), we arrived at the best place to find something veggie in town.
As there was talk early of taking a day off tomorrow, wind and weather dependent, we bought food for a couple of days, plus body wash, toothpaste and sunblock. We then hauled our provisions back the two miles to the hotel, just as the sun was setting.
By the time we had made it back to the hotel, it was dark. We devoured a family-sized portion of something with an eggplant and parmesan base, that didn’t taste too bad even though the cooking instruction didn’t recommend microwaving it.
Fed and full we settled down to watching Forrest Gump on the TV… if only Forrest was into cycling instead of running and ping-pong who knows what he could have done!
There is still talk of a day off tomorrow! 😊