Wyoming's Tour de Prairie

Cheyenne, WY. Today was the annual Tour de Prairie, which is part of the Cheyenne Parks & Recreation's "Superday" celebration. About 200 of us rode out Happy Jack Road, past the wind farm, and into the hilly approach to the Continental Divide. It was along this general route that Grenville Dodge first surveyed the Transcontinental Railroad.

The century climbed to the highest point on Interstate 80, where there is a monument to Abraham Lincoln. This celebrates the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first macadam road to cross the continent.

The steady west wind turned this into two separate rides. There was a grueling "out", in which every turn of the crank was an endurance test. The winds were 18 mph gusting to 25. There were no clouds, and there was about 3000 feet of climbing. This was followed with an amazing "back", which was all tailwind and mostly downhill.

Shade trees are rare in these parts, and the daytime high was over 90 degrees. So, hydration was a vital part of survival for the ride. The organizers had great, well-stocked rest stops at appropriate places. And, the Gatorade was widely available.

We passed the 14-turbine Happy Jack Wind Farm. The blades were whirling all day, easily generating their 29 MW of power. They are impressive structures as you pass by them on your leetle bicycle!

North Dakota: Wind-swept Flatland

Fargo, ND. I just completed the Tour de Cure, one of the many organized charity rides to defeat diabetes. The route was simple: a square of four 20-mile legs followed by a 10-mile 'tail' into Minnesota. And, it was flat: the only time I had to climb was the overpasses over interstate highways.

As with all the rides in the Great Plains, wind presented a challenge. In this case, the wind was forecast to blow from the East, and instead came in from the West. Our first leg was a westbound leg early in the morning. Winds are light in the morning, so we missed a headwind at the start. This was followed by a southbound 20 miles in which we struggled with a crosswind. As I've said before, crosswinds can be nearly as challenging as headwinds.

But, from mile 41 to mile 61, we were propelled by a powerful tailwind, and most of us flew down the road on 'afterburners'. It was like getting on board a moving walkway at the airport -- even when I coasted I was doing 15 miles per hour. The northbound leg was another crosswind grind, and brought us close to the start with less than 80 miles completed. Thus, we added an East- West out-and-back across the Red River into Minnesota. Going East, we could bomb down the road again. But, once we turned around, pushing the final 15 miles into a stiff breeze drained everybody's battery.

I left early to be sure to finish by the organizers' stop time (3PM). Little did I realize that they made and announcement to recognize me at the group start. Thus, when I mentioned my 50-century project at one of the rest stops, several riders said, "So you're the guy! They were looking for you."

I hate being rude, and I appreciate their good intentions. But, I've found, if I don't leave early, I end up doing the ride pretty much alone. Nobody else, it seems, does my leisurely 60-year old pace. But, I appreciated the enthusiastic cheering squads at the rest stops and at the end of the ride. Lots of pom-poms and, of course, cowbells!

As most flat rides, there is not much to say in the scenery department. Farm followed farm, all of them huge. Occasionally, there would be horses. Roads in this part of the country go to the cardinal directions of the compass. Only the railroads get to go on a diagonal. The country is so open, that you can see all 120 cars of a freight train in the distance. (Okay, to help pass the time and the miles, maybe I did count the cars on the freight train while I was riding.)

This is Burlington Northern Santa Fe country. Union Pacific doesn't go anywhere near North Dakota. Add to that, the occasional short line such as the Red River Valley & Western. I saw lots of BNSF traffic. At one point near the end, I was racing to a crossing as a BNSF train was approaching (from the distance). I realized that I was increasingly likely to make it across before the gates closed. This made no sense -- with a headwind at mile 91 I am NOT faster than a a speeding locomotive! It turns out, the engineer must have had a stop signal, as his train coasted to a stop about 200 yards from the road.

A Little Tour de Rock

Little Rock, AR. I just finished the 2012 Tour de Rock, a 100-mile loop through the Arkansas bayous east of Little Rock. This ride supports the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute, or CARTI. CARTI helps cancer patients, and is, according to everyone I spoke with, one of the best places to work in town.

A Tunnel of Trees near Mile 30

The course was flat, the second half of the ride had a great tailwind, and the temperature just brushed 90 degrees. Those are pretty good conditions. There were some beautiful sections, including the ride along the river at the start and the finish, as well as a nice segment through pecan groves on route 161 (pictured).

I followed my mantra, "Start First, Finish Last, Have the Best Time," with precision. I jumped the gun at the starting point (to beat the heat), moving across the Big Dam Bridge about 20 minutes early. And I was, in fact, the last one to finish at just before 3PM. That was not my plan, but there were several people behind me who dropped off during the ride. I always feel a little guilty when I'm last, as if I'm holding people up from the rest of their day. But, it really did not seem to be a problem for folks, and they probably had to spend the time breaking down the rest stops anyway.

This was a superbly organized event. The rest stops were well stocked, especially with lots of pickles. (Pickles, I have discovered, may be important in suppressing leg cramps.) The rest stop spacing was about every ten miles after about mile 30, which was quite helpful. There was no chance of getting lost -- the course was marked with large, red arrows that could be seen for half a mile. And, there were ever-present SAG and radio vehicles.In fact, as I was the tail end of the ride, I had a SAG escort for most of the last 50 miles.

Some riders find the presence of a trailing SAG vehicle bothersome. That's because you sometimes want to enjoy the road to yourself -- especially when it's a quiet country lane. But, for me, it was nice to know that there were people looking out for me when I was so far from home. It was a nice change from some organized rides, in which a late rider arrives after riding for hours alone to find an empty parking lot. Besides, it was a motivator to keep up my pace and a witness to the fact that I finished the whole ride.

I have to call out the unique support of the police and sheriffs in this ride. Normally these large rides start with a police escort through town, and we had that. Roads were blocked and we were waved through intersections in downtown Little Rock early Saturday morning. But on this ride, the support was made available to the old stragglers like myself at key intersections well into the afternoon. Two police cars and a motorcycle cop stopped traffic on busy US-165 at 1:30PM, allowing me to blast through the intersection. I felt like a celebrity with all the escorts and flashing lights. I thought that would be all, but at one more busy intersection, a Little Rock officer held traffic so I could roll through at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a nice touch that I had not seen anywhere else.

There volunteers set a new high-water mark in friendliness on this event. They all seemed to know what cyclists want at various points. On a warm, sunny afternoon, they had set up a garden hose as a 'mister' to cool us off at the 90-mile rest stop. As soon as we arrived at a rest stop, they ask to fill our water bottles. (Pushing water and hydration is just a good idea. Some people fail to realize how important hydration is in the last 20 miles or so, and skip drinking and even skip rest stops.) And, as feeding my ego is very important (to me), many folks were interested in my 50-century project. I think the rumor that I was on this quest made it to later rest stops before me, as several folks asked me, "Are you the person who's doing a century in every state?"

Well, yes, I am that man, and this is, in fact, the blog I told you about. I hope any new readers enjoy the many entries, and take pleasure in following me to the end. It will not be long now: 41 states down, and nine states to go!

Ohio: Lingering on a Perfect Day

Xenia, Ohio. One of the benefits of riding a 'do-it-yourself'' century is the ability to control the timing. Thus, if the weather is sparkling (70 degrees, no wind, etc.), then you can take your time doing 100 miles. Xenia is the intersection of five, long rail-trails. There is s substantial infrastructure for cycling, including some rebuilt 'train' stations with amenities. The trails are all paved, and, as they follow the old railroad, have only the slightest of uphill & downhill grades. Is there any wonder that I would linger in this area?

The Little Miami Trail is the main trail through Xenia. The Creekside Trail leads West to downtown Dayton. There's an Eastbound Prairie Grass Trail out of town that goes for 29 miles. Finally, the Jamestown Connector begins (now) just out of town. The plan is to connect it under route US-35, but that may take several years.

Who Would NOT Want to Linger on a Day Like This!

Giving myself  permission to linger, I stopped at a well-known ice-cream place in Spring Valley. At 93 miles, just about any ice cream is going to taste great, but this was truly delectable.

It was a bittersweet moment as I rode into the Xenia Station parking lot for the last time. I was tired, to be sure, but I left with deep appreciation for the attention local governments have paid to creating a massive (and paved!) cycling network.

Wildlife: This was a major cardinal-viewing day. They seem to like to swoop across the trail in front of a cyclist. Two deer crossed the trail in front of me, and I thought I got a picture. Alas, it did not come out. I saw a chipmunk hiding in a hole in the asphalt on the trail. The cottontail rabbits seemed to enjoy scampering in the grass on the margins of the trail. I shot a picture of a tern in the Mad River near Dayton, as I avoided the 'evidence' of the several flocks of Canada Geese.

With Ohio, the state count is now up to 40! And, in two days, I will add Arkansas to the total.