It's gotten to the point where I fall asleep watching the Weather Channel each night. And it is the first thing I turn on in the mornings. For the record, I liked Al Roker better when he was fat. It is ridiculous that I have an opinion on a weatherman's gastric bypass surgery. Temp in Conway was 60 when I got up for breakfast. Nice. It had increased to 69 by the time it was time to load luggage. The weather system to our north is drawing up warm, humid air from the Gulf.
Several riders got an early start, but most of us took off as a group again this morning. About a quarter mile from the hotel, I was the only one caught by a traffic light. I was going to have to sprint to catch up with the group, which is what I did when the light finally changed. But I was caught by the next light. Half a mile into the ride, and I had already been orphaned. I pushed on alone. We were all biking into a steady headwind. Speeds weren't great, especially outside of the paceline. I caught Pacific Mike, Dick and Scott - all of whom had gotten an early start. We rode as a foursome, until I attempted to bridge the gap to the faster group. I couldn't even see the faster group, so it was an effort in futility.
We all met up at the first SAG, but the faster group took off before I could down enough food and refill water bottles. It was turning out to be a hot, humid day - lot's of fluids were going to be necessary. Pacific Mike, Dick and I left the SAG. Right after that SAG were a series of about half a dozen turns. I learned that if I didn't want to get lost, then I should follow Pacific Mike and Dick. They never get lost. I was just hanging back, when I thought about some advice I had recently been given about enjoying the ride. I slowed down a bit and even got off the bike to take some pics.
I eventually got back to biking seriously and knew that there was a faster group behind me. Jay, Paul, Reem, Randy and Brian had gotten a delayed start this morning due to mechanical difficulties on one of their bikes. I knew at some point, they were going to catch me. Sure enough, at about mile 42 I heard "Hey Mikey!" It was Jay. "Hop on the lunch train." Each successive rider said the same thing; except they called it the "Jay train". I hopped on the last wheel and my speed went from about 15mph to 22mph. That is an incredible difference. We were headed into a steady headwind, and Jay was setting an amazing pace.
We were riding on back country roads that run somewhat parallel to I-40. You couldn't see the interstate except for the places where we crossed over or under it. Temps were right at 90 and humidity was high. We rode past rice fields and catfish ponds. The ponds were right by the road and served to artificially increase the humidity even more.
The lunch SAG was at mile 72, and I was fading fast about mile 68. I just wanted to drop off the paceline and limp into lunch. Jay took a look back, saw I had dropped off and peeled off to the back of the line. He started slowing, I motioned for him to continue going forward... but he kept coming back. "Aren't you going to let me suffer in quiet dignity?" I asked. "No", he said. "I wanted to watch". He pointed to a spot on the road about three inches behind his rear axle and two inches to the right of his wheel. That's where I put my front tire, and he pulled me along. Before I knew it, we were back up to 21mph. It was really hard; but at each point where I was just to give up, Jay seemed to sense it and made some wisecrack that took my mind off the pain. Before I knew it, we were at lunch.
I rode the last 30 miles from the lunch SAG to the hotel all on my own. My speed was 17mph - 19mph. At 17mph, the pedaling was easy, and I wondered if this is what it feels like to be Jay biking at 21mph into a headwind. The difference between 17mph and 21mph is huge; the required effort increases exponentially. This part of Arkansas is swamp and the flood plains of the Mississippi, and they were flooded. Earlier in the day, we had seen areas that had been hit by the recent tornadoes. The only mobile home I saw all day was one that had apparently been ripped open by a tornado.
When I got to the hotel, I took an ice bath - my first. It was just a cold bath with a bucket of ice thrown in. The ice melted pretty fast, I was burning slap up. The local newspaper came to the hotel to take a picture of our group. The reporter is also the local insurance agent; he said this was the biggest story of the day. For dinner, six of us descended upon the local Pizza Hut and then hit the Baskin Robbins next door.
Today was much longer than 102 miles should be due to the headwinds. I'm exhausted and stuffed. We had to walk over the interstate to get to dinner, and for the first time in my life, I'm walking like I don't have a purpose. I walking like those people at the mall who are always in the way. I think it is called "ambling" or "strolling" or something like that. We have an early load tomorrow - 6:15am. And it is going to be warm. And we're crossing the Mississippi River, so it is sure to be humid.
And just for the record (and despite what it sounds like), I am having fun. Thanks again everyone for the comments and e-mails. I can't tell you how much that adds to the experience. I really appreciate it.
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