Last time I
talked to yall I was near Dallas, Texas and waiting out a crazy storm. In 36 hours we received almost 5 inches of
rain and some of the lakes in the area rose over 6 feet. They really needed the rain though since the
entire state has been in a pretty bad drought for the last year. Lucky for me though I had some relatives in
the area that I was able to stay with.
Eventually though I had to keep moving on. I was headed up to Oklahoma and then into
Arkansas for my next high point.
I was lucky
to have another set of good weather after the storm and as I headed north I had
a pretty strong tail wind every day but one.
The big difference I started to notice was that I was starting to get
back into more populated areas and the hills were starting to return. The terrain was still relatively mild and it
was a good warm up before I got to Arkansas where some real climbs showed back
up. I could definitely tell that I had
only been riding in flat areas for the last couple weeks.
It felt
could though to be suing my muscles a little differently though and it was also
nice to have the change in going up hill and then a little coasting down
hill. This allowed me to stand up a
little more often to stretch out and rest.
It was also nice to have a constant change in scenery. While riding across Texas was pretty easy it
could get rather boring seeing the same thing day after day.
After about
a week I made it to the town of Subiaco in Arkansas, which was pretty much at
the base of Magazine Mountain. The next
day I went for the summit and for my first real test of a big climb on the bike
since being in Colorado almost 2 months ago.
It was slow going but I just kept puttering along all the way up and
eventually made it to the Visitors Center.
It was a good climb except for the fact that it was almost 100% humidity
and near the top I was actually in the clouds riding so I couldn’t see hardly
anything. Lucky for me though there was hardly any traffic so I didn’t have to
worry about getting hit by anyone too much.
By the time I reached the visitor center I still had not found a place
to stay for the night but I met someone there who was on their way out and they
offered to buy me a room at the lodge on top of the mountain. I was thrilled by this and was even able to
go check in and change clothes before hiking to the summit from the lodge. The clouds even cleared up enough for me to
see a little of the valley below. Thanks
to the University of South Carolina Study Abroad Office for sponsoring this
summit.
The next
day saw an incredible amount of changes to both the weather and my mood. I started the day on top of Magazine Mountain
and in a very thick cloud. It did not
take to long though for my descent to take me below the cloud and where I could
see. The rest of the ride down was a ton
of fun and at the perfect time of day.
It was a pretty ride and with the cloud up high there was water dripping
off a lot of the rocks and tress. With
the sun being low and in the southern sky it shown off the droplets to make for
some fascinating sights on my way down.
Sorry to say though that I was a little caught up in the ride itself and
did not stop to take any pictures.
The next
couple hours were pretty uneventful other than the fact that I noticed some
bugs flying around and annoying. That
was one thing I have not missed over the last couple months. Eventually I started to climb over a pretty
good-sized set of mountains. As I
climbed I could see some dark ominous clouds rolling in behind me. About halfway up I could here the thunder
start to roll around in the mountains.
With no towns and no shelter in sight I just kept riding hoping it would
pass another direction or just wouldn’t be to bad. As I got to the top of the mountain the thunder
had grown both in frequency and had become much louder. At the top there was a guy sitting in a truck
who told me there was also a hail warning in effect and that they were
expecting quarter sized hail to fall in the storm. He then mentioned that at the bottom of the
mountain there were some bathrooms I could probably hide in till the storm
passed. So I hightailed it down the
mountain looking for these bathrooms he mentioned. I hit an intersection and stopped to check
the map on my phone to see if I could tell where the campsite and bathrooms
were. I figured out they were just
around the corner as the first drops of rain hit me. I was able to get under a picnic shelter just
as the storm let loose. 
I sat there for almost 45 minutes
waiting for it to pass and saw some hail but luckily nothing the size of a
quarter. Eventually I hit the road again
because I still had about 30 miles to go before reaching a town. As I road the rain would come and go. At least it was in the 60’s so I never got
cold except for during a descent every now and then. Finally I reached the town of Hot Springs
Village where I given a room by the Village Inn. A great place to stay with an awesome staff
in your ever in the area. As I got to my
room and was getting organized I received a call from the owner of the hotels
brother. He actually ran an Italian restaurant
next door called Italian House and Grill. He invited me to come over for a free
dinner. The restaurant was small and
cozy with a great menu for very good prices.
It was probably one of the best dinners I have eaten this entire trip.
Now as I sit here writing this blog
I am waiting out the weather once again.
Nothing like the last time in Texas, but still a very miserable day to
be out riding. When I start up again
tomorrow I will be headed towards Louisiana for my 15th summit of
the trip. Until then . . .
- Michael
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