Its amazing how we fool ourselves. This year I had already ridden over 3,000 miles mostly at 15 to 18 mph and I thought I was a strong rider. Certainly I could travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, ride the Bike Arkansas daily trips each morning and then visit with daughter and 3 grandchildren afterwards. She would tent with the group and we would fish, hike and sightsee in the then finish with a fine meal in one of the colorful local establishments each evening. My wife, Dottie, was along to spend a wonderful week with our daughter and her children and provide the transportation to the next site for all, but me. I would leave early each morning and they would meet me for lunch at the next site. The ride started in front of the Old Arkansas Courthouse in downtown Little Rock. There were only 58 cyclists including 5 tandems, yet the tour director was excited to have so many riders on the first Bike Arkansas. Organization seemed to be skimpy. It certainly wasn't up to our standards. There would be no rest stops; we would have to find convenience stores along the way. This was rationalized as a way to meet the locals. There would be no route arrow marks on the road; we would have to follow the map or the 0-sheet. The problem that I would discover was that the mileages were way off, sometimes low but usually high. Since there weren't a lot of riders and since everyone made their own rest stops there usually weren't other riders within sight so it was difficult to feel confident that you were going the right way. Most of the riders were good riders. Ages ranged from two 15-year-old boys on mountain bikes to a 69-year-old codger from New Orleans. There was a 53-year-old who finished in the top 10 last year for his age group. There was a couple from Arlington, VA and a couple from St. Louis. A group of 5 came down from Iowa, but most riders were from Hot Springs or Little Rock. The weather was a hot 92 and the humidity was high. The locals said it was El Nino that caused the unusual heat.
DAY 1 Little Rock to Greer's Ferry Lake 80 miles We all left going north over the Arkansas River through North Little Rock on this busy Memorial Day Weekend Saturday. We all stuck together and took a lane for the first 12 miles out of town. At the first light one rider forgot to unhook his foot and fell over. Everyone laughed, as only his pride was hurt. Once out of Little Rock the traffic waned and the hills gradually grew. I drank a 28-oz water bottle every 10 miles and found that convenience stores were not very frequent. Fortunately I had 3 water bottle and a stash of Powerbars. As usual had carried way too much on my bike for the first day. Most of the hills were small, but did hit 50.2 mph on one hill. After 80 miles I arrived at the first overnight campground on Greer's Ferry Lake. It was packed for the weekend with pickup trucks and lots of boats. The lake was beautiful with very little development and sheer cliffs down to the water. There were many places to jump off the cliffs into deep water. The marina was right next to the campsite. Our daughter arrived and we went out for dinner. Unfortunately, at the restaurant they hadn't heard of any way to cook except to deep fry it. It seemed to please the usual clientele who were mostly old boy fisherman. I ate several baked potatoes.
DAY 2 Greer's Ferry to Mountain View 46 Miles This was the only short ride all week. I started as the morning fog was lifting from the lake. I love to ride early. The route went over a foggy bridge to cross the lake at the narrows and then headed uphill. We were now in the Ozarks Mountains. One of the guys I rode with was a civil engineer from Little Rock. I razed him all day that there just couldn’t be any civil engineers in the Ozarks because they didn't route the roads around the mountains or level them out. He wasn't ready for the hills either as he mostly rode near Little Rock where it wasn't so steep. The ride was beautiful, but again it was very hot and the reason for the short mileage was the great number of climbs. We stayed at Sylamore Creek right water. I jumped in the water as soon as I got there and immediately jumped out because the water was only 65! Sylamore Creek is a world class trout stream, but it felt better to just swim or float in a tube. The whole group went out together for some great pizza.
Day 3 Mountain View to Bull Shoals 68 Miles The ride started with a 2.5 mile climb to Blanchard Springs Caverns. Soon we on an awesome bike road (Rt.341 N). For 25 mile the wide road twisted and turned and going up or down; never flat. The ups and downs evened out so you could usually coast up the hill from the last down. All 24 gears were used and my derailleur never stayed in a gear more than a few seconds. One minute I'd be doing 40 mph and the next I’d be down to 8 mph. The wilderness was fantastic and the views from the overlooks were awesome. I didn't see much wildlife, just the usual road kill - snakes and armadillos. We stayed at another great campground just below the dam.
DAY 4 Bull Shoals to Jasper 71 Miles The instructions for today said "Eat well and stock up, you'll certainly need it today as we climb, climb, climb our way through the toughest day yet." That was an understatement and it was raining; raining hard. I rode up to the top of the dam, then to the town of Bull Shoals, then up and over the mountain. In Yellville, where I ate a second breakfast, the climbs got bigger. I talked to a farmer there, who said that if there had been a flat part in the Ozarks they woulda put a monument on it. He liked the rain, as they needed it. At one point I was climbing a long mountain and lightning and thunder were echoing off all the mountains. I wondered what I was doing out there, but somehow it was fun. I don't mind riding in the rain when it is warm. Alfer 60 miles Dottie drove by. I said that I'd be done in less than an hour. Two hours later I got to the campground. The last 11 miles were all steep climbs. So much for having a lot of time for visiting with my grandkids.
DAY5 Jasper to Russellville 70 miles The day started with a 1,400 ft. climb in 3.5 mile to the top of the Ozarks on Rt. 7. Today would be all "Scenic 7" with breathtaking views of the "Arkansas Grand Canyon." I rode up the mountain with a woman from Hot Springs who races mountain bikes. She pulled her hamstring on the climb and had to drop out. After the climb the ride was mostly downhill for the rest of the day, which was great. I had a 2 "booger burgers" in Booger Hollow for lunch. There were lots of scenic overlooks and gift shops along Rt. 7. In Russellville we stayed at Lake Dardenelle which was the best place we stayed all week. We camped on the shore and had a group cookout. I swam and my grandchildren caught 7 fish. At 3 am a horrible thunderstorm hit. Later we found out that there were several tornadoes nearby.
DAY 6 Russellville to Hot Springs 67 miles Today we rode through the Ouachita (pronounced Wash-a-taw) Mountains. These were not as bad as the Ozarks. In fact, it would have been a beautiful ride if it hadn't rained all day. Most of the riders stuck together. We were down to about 30 riders and some more were talking about riding directly to their homes in Hot Spring. All day we ducked into every convenience store we came to, just to wring out our socks and gloves. One last steep hill and we were in the Lake Ouachita State Park. It was another wonderful campground. I’ve never seen so many bass boats as I have on this trip. Half of the riders went home or to Hot Springs to stay at a motel that belonged to one of the members of the Hot Springs bike club, who felt sorry for us and all the wet weather we have had. I stayed at the campground and only realized too late that those who went into town would have a much easier last day.
DAY 7 Hot Springs to Little Rock 82 miles The first 18 miles were very hard getting out of the hills where the campground was. I made a wrong guess as to where the route went and turned the wrong way, but I soon turned around and found it. The road to Little Rock was rolling, but a fast ride. I was averaging low 20s to the outskirts of Little Rock. I stopped and had lunch with my daughter and her family near their home. I felt guilty that I hadn't gotten in earlier each day to visit with them, so even though the finish was close I took time to lunch with them. It was getting very hot and I rode the last 15 miles through city streets. At the finish everyone celebrated with new friends made during the week. It was nice to go on a small ride where you got to know everyone. I would recommend this ride for strong riders who want a challenge. I celebrated with my family at Codum's general store and restaurant. It was made famous as Clinton's secret place to eat lunch out in the country with his cronies. The hamburgers are called hubcaps and are made from 1.5 pounds of beef on a huge bun. The Arkansas mud pie, also very large and fantastic....