Day 9: Blanchard to Watonga
June 15, 2005
Mercedes woke me up at 5:20 AM and asked how I was feeling. I told her I would let her know in ten minutes. I started moving around and wasn't feeling too bad, but wasn't feeling too good either. Decided I didn't need to push my immune system so chose to drive. Three other people chose likewise and they chose to ride in the van I was driving. With another breakfast under our belts and the haze of the morning after a day off filling our heads, it took the team over two hours to get ready to go.
Finally pulled out at 7:20 for what was projected to be a 94 mile bike ride. The first 20 miles went well and I was able to pull over and write in the journal some to catch up. (Journal writing is time consuming sometimes). There had been forecasts for heavy rain and even hail so riders were really trying to get down the road as fast as possible. Unfortunately, there was a very heavy wind out of the south which became a crosswind at some point. People were starting to suffer as they would push themselves hard, but still only crawl along. One person decided to bail at the rest stop since he wasn't feeling too good in the first place and the wind and work just made it worse.
The second rest stop also went well. At this point I finally looked at the map and the directions that had been set up by a couple of the other guys. I had originally made directions from Oklahoma City, but when that fell through due to insurance concerns we had to stay in Blanchard an extra day which caused my directions to go for naught. However, the last part of my directions were useable which saved the team just over 12 miles all together.
I'm not sure why the town decided not to mark the roads, but at one point I emptied the van by letting people out at key intersections to point the way to turns that would have been missed otherwise. Got everyone to lunch and hung out waiting for the whole group to pass us. Brett, Channing, and Sam left a good 45 minutes before some people even showed up. The wind was playing havoc with people and there were some pretty vicious hills along the way.
At this point, I was starting to feel pretty good and was wanting to get out on a bike. But it was not to be since all of the sick people were under 21, meaning they were not covered by the van's insurance. So I had to drive, but in retrospect it was probably a good thing that it happened to work out that way. The new directions were written as "get on 270 and take it into Watonga". But somebody told a few of the people to get on "this" road (meaning 270) and take it "straigh" into Watonga. However, 270 bent away at one curve and right at the tangent to the curve another road left the highway and continued straight. The three riders kept going "straight on the road" and left 270, even though the directions said otherwise.
I had already passed the intersection and was waiting for people at the next rest stop. Some of the riders were already nearing the final destination while others were a good hour or so behind. After a good long time, I realized that people must be lost since I felt I had been waiting too long. Just then I got a call from Mercedes saying that she and Stephen had gone straight at the curve and were now about 20 miles out of the way. Fortunately for them they were able to ask for directions and find a way to Watonga without having to turn around completely. BJ was worse off since he was further along the rode than the other two.
In fact, he went so far that he ran out of road. He called me at about the same time as Mercedes which was at about the same time that the weather started looking real ugly. I got everybody in the van and headed back to where they were, which at this point was 30 miles away from me. The winds switched from southerly to northerly and the temperature dropped dramatically, classic signs of tornado weather. I got phone calls in quick succession from Mercedes and BJ with both saying they had taken shelter in stranger's homes. So I drove around in the bad weather trying to figure out how to pick everyone up and such. What made the problem worse was the low reception quality for our phones in such a rural community.
It was really good for the team as a whole then that I had so many sick people in the van with me. Each person seemed to have a different service provider so we were able to jump around on networks to get calls across. After meandering for a good while we managed to find BJ. It was good that he had taken shelter as the rain was heavy and it was cold. Almost comically, as soon as we found him the rain let up and the clouds cleared. We packed him in the van anyway and thanked the kind family who sheltered him. Seemed like really nice folks.
Headed over to pick up Mercedes and Stephen, but we were wondering how we were going to fit all of their stuff. But by the time we got to them the weather was looking pretty good, if not windy. After a brief discussion, Mercedes and Stephen decided to ride on and complete their journey. The terrain had some very steep hills, and with the very green grass and trees planted in the red clay it made for some scenic views. Hills look a lot better when you're not trying to pull yourself up them on a bike. Everyone finally made it into town around 3 PM or so, with the first people having arrived before 12. A dramatic difference that really showcased the difference in biking abilities at this point in the ride.
Dinner was fantastic with a fish dinner made entirely of fish that they caught in the local river. Add some great side dishes such as hush puppies and we were sitting pretty. So good. Some people took showers by turning the hose on themselves, but too cold for me. It was almost comical since the thunderstorm had come in with a second wave and the water was quite chilly.
Found a big screen projector in the basement and some of the guys managed to convince a lot of people to watch the Three Amigos. Classic. Watched the movie and went to bed. Always feels good to go to bed after a long day.