Tour de USA | Stage 19 Guymon, OK. 72 miles

Welcome to Oklahoma, but before I get to that, let’s discuss the day.  We hit OK about 50 miles into today’s 72 miles, it is our 5th state, and 4th stateline crossing. Here is today’s video:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1606629914

Personally today was a much better day for me.  We still had the wind, but we got it figured out today, more on that later.  I only had 1 flat, and we figured out the issue, and it wasn’t a pinch flat, but a very small wire was stuck in my tire from probably days ago from the interstate.  It kept working it’s way through my tire and poking the tube a little, and then causing a small leak.  We thought this might be the issue yesterday, and 3 of us ran our finger on the inside and outside of my tire looking for it, and we found nothing.  So once we found it today, and 3 flats later (1 today, and 2 yesterday) I think we have solved the problem.

Here are some pictures from Texas, for such a big state, we were only in it for a short period of time.  Same with Oklahoma, just today, and in Kansas tomorrow.   

Big Tex says “Hands up boy!” Yes sir.

This is a group pic with the guys that I was riding with today.

This is my buddy Tom, the one that gets my bags to my room and on the foot of the bed on time everyday, and his mother, Paula, she is the owner of the tour company.  They both are doing a terrific job.


So today we had a major headwind as well, sooner or later we might, I hope, get a tailwind.  I mean we are going west to east, although we have been heading northeast the last few days, so one would think a tailwind should be in the cards.  Because of the winds, we as a group, finally got it figured out and we did a paceline, there were 9 of us for half of the day, and then down to 7.  Everyone pulls (leads) for a mile or so, and then it just keeps rolling through different leaders, then you go to the back of the line after leading.  Once you are in the back, it is much easier, and time to recover before your turn comes up again to fight the wind.  We tried this yesterday, but some of the people only wanted to sit in the back, so one of the guys that I was riding with said “let’s go” to me and 1 other at the rest stop and we left and did a paceline with just 3 of us.  So today, the others got the point, that it’s much easier if everyone helps out.

Boone Pickens is right, there is a lot of wind in OK, and that there is a lot of energy to be garnered from the wind.  We saw hundreds of massive windmills.

We went across the street to grab a mid afternoon snack after our showers and a quick change.

Green Chile Cheeseburger with fries, a strawberry shake, and water, hydrate!

Check out the map, you can see all of the state lines in pink below.  Tomorrow is a very short day to Liberal, KS, it’s just the way the hotels fall, and we need a shorter day after the last 4 long days, so no one is complaining, and we get to sleep in and leave later than normal tomorrow.

One of my friends/followers asked me what my favorite part or place has been so far.  This is a very hard question to answer believe it or not, because so much of it has been amazing.  What isn’t my favorite is probably: flats on the side of the road, riding on the interstate, although I felt safe, and the Texas Chip and Seal roads.  If you aren’t familiar with Chip and Seal roads, they are very rough, and jiggle you to death, and hurts your hands and butt through the vibration, and this lasts for many miles.  I would say 3/4’s of the road that we were on in TX was that type of rough road.

Some of the things that were awesome were Sedona, AZ, Looking out on the vista’s as they just open up after you have climbed for miles to get to the top of the mountains, and Manhattan Beach were awesome, and I had some friends meet me there, and see me off on this journey.

Thanks for the questions, and keep them coming.

Thank you for following along with me on this journey, and if you can please make a donation to the Children's Hospital below.  100% of your funds go to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

https://vanderbilt.ejoinme.org/bikeacrosstheusa

As a non-profit institution, the Children's Hospital provides care to the children who come through its' doors regardless of the family's ability to pay.  Caring support from the community allows this level of service to continue.