Day 35: Cinco de Mayo, Memphis Style.

This morning, I awoke to the most unique alarm possibly ever.  Pickle ball.  There were about 20 seniors playing a fierce game of pickle ball at 8 am.  Normally, I would be angry at this early awakening, but after opening the curtain of our stage (yes, we sleep on stages, too) – I couldn’t help but laugh.

Alarm clock

Timmy trying his hand

After our lunch time event at the University of Tennessee, we hit the streets of Memphis yet again.  Instead of defaulting to the comfort sweetness of Beale street bars – we explored the town’s musical history a little bit.

We nap anytime, anywhere

I recorded my debut album here

After hitting a famous recording studio, a few of us went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the location of MLK’s assassination.  The museum was outstanding, and ranks up there with the Holocaust museum.  I learned quite a bit about our sad history, and am still blown away that it was not too long ago.

Hotel of the shooting

MLK's last speech

As I’ve touched on our eating habits a bit, two riders were so hungry they decided a 7 pound hamburger challenge was in their grasp.  While I watched them sweat from discomfort of that much food, I refreshed myself with margarita’s and an outstanding little version of what they ate.

The smiles didn't last long

To lift up our mood, we got tickets to the local AAA baseball team.  Sitting in the grass, we were able to take it all in and enjoy the great weather.  As it was a rider’s birthday, we even participated in an on-field hoopla celebrating cinco de mayo.

Sandlot?

"Quesadilla" burgers

Justin won not only with speed, but style

Memphis definitely has won surprise city of the ride, thus far.  I had horribly low expectations, but it astounded me with its music culture and museums.  Next up, Nashville, which is definitely one of my favorite cities in the country.

Day 34 (5/4): M-I-S-S-I-P-P-I and Memphis 100

Marvell to Memphis, 106 miles.

Today we awoke with sore legs, and ready for our second consecutive century.  We knew we’d hit a record 3 states in one day (AR, MS, TN), cross the Mississippi, and stroll into Memphis – so we were relatively excited.  Our excitement was short-lived.  Today was our most boring day.  More boring than Texas.  Nothing but flat land, with no scenery but heat waves blasted mirages from the roads.  To top it off, Mississippi doesn’t believe in shoulders for their roads aside from some gravel here and there.

Crossing the M-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

Can I leave yet?

Mississippi's amputated shoulder

To stave off the boredom, and to help with the winds we rode in a larger group than normal.  A few of the riders on support for century #1 yesterday did a great job taking their share up front.  Really the only excitement that happened was at the last water stop, when we heard a “boom” that sounded like a gunshot.  The one and only Katie Kidwell’s tire blew completely off her wheel, after a mere 80+ miles.

Katie changed her wheel without ANY levers. R4WH first.

After we entered Tennessee the scenery changed drastically.  Flat boring terrain started rolling into lush green horse farms – yet again proving my nature respecting state lines theory.

Rocky Top

That evening we were all really stoked for some real BBQ.  Our host took us out to dinner at the famous Rendevous BBQ, and we certainly enjoyed their dry ribs.   Honestly, they were the tastiest, most delicious piece of meat to ever enter my mouth.  In fact, my rib eating experience may be halted in the future, as I know I’ll never have a similar experience.

Peabody Hotel

World Famous Rendevous

Getting hungry by our 16+ full orders of ribs

Dry rub ribs = a party in my mouth

Forget baby wipes, I'm licking those fingers

Gotta get it all

After satisfying our meat craving, we hit Beale Street looking for the best Memphis Blues bar.  The music was fanstastic, the drinks were cheap, and the container-law was open.  Needless to say, the evening was a blast, and we all enjoyed ourselves a ton.

Blues galore

Enjoying the live music

Relaxing to the max to music. Note our companions.

"Welcome Bikers" They knew we were coming! Maybe for all we drink, Bud should be a sponsor

A few partied in the vans, a few slept

I’m looking forward to exploring the city a little more tomorrow!

Finally, it’s here

So we’ve had absolutely no internet the last week.  Who would have thought we’d have better internet in dying towns like Ranger, Texas?

Anyways, the moment is finally here, I’ve flown back to Boston to graduate medical school.  Which obviously means two things: 1) I can put a silly M.D. after my name, and 2) I can update my blog!

It’s nice to have a bit of rest on my legs, and my knee certainly is really appreciative.

Day 33 (5/3): A Marvellous Century

Little Rock to Marvel, 101 miles.

We rode out of Little Rock on a fantastic bicycle path. I guess Little Rock is getting really excited about cycling, and just put a nice path riverside.  There is no better way to start out 100+ miles on a “Big Dam Bridge,” and then going for an easy stroll in the woods.

Big Dam Bridge - Longest pedestrian bridge, ever.

Riding on said "Big Dam Bridge"

Into the wilderness

View from the path

Pete is just so happy to be on this bike path

After the first twenty miles or so, the scenery kind of dulled to a quiet roar.  In fact, it was so not scenic – I thought we were back in Texas.  The last few days it has really went from early spring temperature to summer overnight – and it was  roaring 87 and humid today.  As you know, I don’t deal well with humidity.  Factor in a hot day, and magnify that 100x.  Factor in 100 miles, and well, you get the idea.  I’ll just say I was happy my kidney’s still worked at the end of the day 🙂

Hot, hot sun and no shade

Speaking of all of this hotness, I did some really stupid – I rode without my jersey.  My lower back hates me for it, since I had my sunscreener only do my top (I forgot the lower part..) .  I’m already lobster red, and I’ll make sure to give you an update.  There is a pool when it will start to blister.

We had a provided meal at the church we stayed in and afterwards a few of us explored the small/dead town of Marvell that ended up drinking a brew in a tractor.

More to follow soon with centuries, hot days in Memphis, floods, and the works.

Day 31 & 32 (5/1-2): Little Rock

Hot Springs to Little Rock, 45 miles.

The huge storms that ripped through the Southeast completely spared us last night.  There were multiple tornado’s both North and South in Arkansas – but our area was clear with a few rain drops.  The lightning surrounding us was fantastic to watch.  Maybe us staying in Cburches alot has its benefits?

One thing we didn’t escape was the immense humidity of the storm.  We walked outside, and I had to use a knife to cut the air to get my bike out of the building.  I also remembered how poorly I do with humidity.  I sweat.  I sweat, alot.  When it’s so humid, I get soaked.  This is reason #245 that I love Colorado – I can hide this flaw in its evaporation.

The pedal into Little Rock was short and I used it as a personal day.  Each pedal felt like my gears were sticking, so I just went with it and fell back from the group.

After refreshing with a fanstastic nap, we explored downtown Little Rock’s River Market district.  There were some great bars and restaurants, especially for beer lovers like myself.  The first bar we enjoyed had ~300 beers in house, with a hearty Colorado connection.  We ended the evening at some piano bars with dueling piano’s.

much easier than riding a bike

Sarah is loving Sam Smith

Tim, drinking a dainty Martini

Dueling banjo/piano's

That night, a few of us stayed at Katie’s friends house – which meant the following morning we had a lactic acid flushing walk of 4 miles.  Along the way we stopped in for some fantastic Brazilian style brunch and the best coffee I’ve had all trip.  We took the afternoon easy, with some moderate exploring – given we have two (2!) centuries coming up…

Hot and sweaty.

Staying afloat in Tennessee

As I haven’t posted in awhile you’re probably thinking one of 4 things:

1) I’m still in a Hot Springs bath
2) my bike sank in the Tennessee floods
3) I got lost
4) I’m lazy, and am sick of blogging.

Alas, we’ve been without internet for a few days again – and I promise to fill you in when we get it. Busy few days recently, and we’re pounding out some miles (290 on my last 3 ride days)! We’ve passed through Little Rock and Memphis, and are currently re-routing to Nashville detouring some of the flooded roads.

Don’t worry, all of that excitement will be coming your way shortly (hopefully)!

Day 30 (4/30): A day for Baths

Today was our shortest day (even shorter than our SD rides) – and we had plenty of time to explore Hot Springs National Park.

Megan and I gave lectures today while on the support team, and our audience for the day was about 200 3^rd/4^th graders in Hot Springs.  I’m pretty sure I’m leading audience size for the group, and I’ve only spoken for two days.  I guess I’m that good.

I’m adding a bit to my national park list on this trip, and this one is quite different from all of the other ones I’ve visited.  It is by far less scenic and outdoorsy compared to the likes of Yellowstone and Grand Tetons – and essentially encompasses the historic downtown area and its associated bath houses (fueled by hot spring waters).

Drinking fountain

Historic downtown

Where we took a bath. Exciting.

Syphillis treatment room. Dirty.

Time for an extra workout

Happy Ending

The group went to a bath house, and loved our soothing soaking.  Unfortunately we didn’t go for the private baths, and it was not much more than a public hot tub – but nonetheless, we didn’t really have anything else to do.

Our overnight accommodations were directly across the street from a horse track & casino, so we decided to indulge.  Most of us had $10 coupons given to us, and the majority of us left in the positive.

I finished my evening by mourning the Nuggets blowing up and being eliminated from the playoffs

Day 29 (4/29): Arkadelphian Olympics

Magnolia to Arkadelphia, 75 miles.

Today’s ride was pretty un-eventful, except for the continuing increased greenery.  We also passed our first substantial river since the Rio Grande out in El Paso, and fortunately it was in the perfect location for our lunch stop.  Enjoying lunch riverside is quite a treat.

River + Flowers = Awesome Lunch

Feeling a little like huckleberry fin

Since arriving to Arkansas, we figured we needed to celebrate.  After our relatively easy ride, support team Tango arranged for quite an afternoon.

We were staying in a parks and recreation department – and the facilities were fantastic.  So fantastic, in fact, that we had Olympic games, grade school style.  We played: dizzy bat, made a bike out of play-doh, had a pie eating contest, water balloon toss, and wheelbarrow races.

Our teams were based on birthday month, so I take no responsibility in the fact that our team finished dead last. Not only were we last, but we were last in nearly every game.  I suppose that is what happens when you have a team member nursing a shoulder injury (Travis), and one with a lazy eye (Jody).  Since I’m naming names, I guess I can say that I botched dizzy bat and fell over twice on our run back.

Not at all dizzy

Trek’s new model

Shaving cream

Team Globogym

“Artistic interpretation”

Dizzying

Wheel-barrow

Face of intensity

Falling with style

4,000 calories on the face

Pre-fall

After adding another way to recover – we took advantage of the grills and ate hamburgers, pasta salad, and beer.

Aside from the Olympic games, today was special for another reason, it was one of our riders (Bryce’s) birthdays.  We have a “secret-rider” program going on, where we secretly buy them presents that are jokes, motivation, etc.  Bryce’s secret rider pulled through, to make sure he had enough birthday cards and candy.

Tomorrow I’m back on support, and my legs are getting excited by that fact.

Day 28 (4/28): Entering a new Frontier

Texarkana to Magnolia, AR – 52 miles.

Today we had a monumentous day today – we left Texas!  We’ve been here for about two weeks, and I was really excited to leave to the bounty of Arkansas.  Unfortunately, there was no state line sign so we couldn’t pose in our glorious moment.

Are we on a road?

The ride was awesome – we passed over some bayou with intensifying greening of the surroundings.  Its funny how nature really respects state lines (although Eastern Colorado sucks as much as Western Kansas).  The group rode together for the majority with a lot of exploratory side trips to BBQ joints, fairs, and the like.

Are we in Louisiana?

I have to say, my butt looks great

Two horses, just relaxing in the sunshine

One particular rider, Katie Kidwell, decided she was so hardcore that she didn’t need to ride with her back wheel attached.  She arrived to our first water stop 1 hour behind us sweaty and laboring, complaining of “feeling weak.”  She was a monster on two wheels after we fixed her ‘problem.’

We enjoyed a watermelon rest stop – and after someone flatted.  Within 1 minute, the sheriff was playing traffic cop and acting as a barricade.  Where were the cop support vehicles in Arizona when we flatted every 30 seconds?

watermelon smiles

Super Trooper

After showering and relaxing in our destination of Magnolia Arkansas, we were fed a glorious dinner by a local church.  We figured the best way to work off the great southern cooking was playing challenging their youth group (ages 6-13) to kickball.  We evenly divided the little ones and elder ones and I’m proud to say that Team Awesome kicked our competition into submission.  I’m reluctant to say that I pulled up lame after my first at bat, but I battled through my bilateral quad cramps.  Given I’ve had 20 years of competitive swimming experience, I’ve endured a lot of pain before – but nothing could have prepared me for those kickball cramps.  I’ll just call it a character building experience.

Oh, and for those of you wanting to see my agony via pictures – I’m sorry, they are too grotesque to post.

Day 27 (4/27): R-E-C-O-V-E-R-Y

Paris to Texarkana, 92 miles.

Today was completely opposite of yesterday, and was fantastic.  Since arriving to Texas, every morning we check the wind forecast (more important to us than temperature, rain, snow, tornadoes) and it was great news at breakfast – a tailwind!  Chatter was light, the mood was lifted, my legs twitched with joy.  I stuffed one less powerbar into my back, and filled my water bottles a little less.

Once we hit the road, it was awesome.  The morning air was chilly and with some wind assistance we were flying.  The scenery was fantastic with green rolling hills and horse farms.  My compadre, Justin, stopped to spend some quality time admiring the baby horses.

One happy family

We were flying so fast that we hit our lunch stop (~50 miles) by 9:45a.  Our lunch stop was the typical boring gas station – and we even had time to talk about Schwinn’s with a local trucker.

Working on our non-loitering

With all of our repetitive riding, our legs really take a hit.  We’re trying all sorts of different ways to recover:

1)      Chocolate milk – this is the best recovery drink you can buy, and its price is right.  It was studied by Indiana University, and it is legit and outcompetes the super expensive recovery drinks.  To best replenish wiped out muscles, it is best to drink within 30 minutes – which can make for quite the adventure right after a bike ride.  One half quart will give you a solid 880 calories, with 120g carbohydrates and protein.

Doing some personal shopping

Use #85 for our back pockets

2)      Leg elevation: Pro – really easy way to drain the lactic acid from your legs.  Doesn’t hurt.  You can just lay there.  Con – can give yourself a heart attack if you have a ton of lactic acid flooding your heart.

3)      Streching: Pro – you look cool doing it.  Con: it takes awhile, and it hurts

4)      Beer: Pro – tastes fantastic after a long day in the saddle.  Con: doesn’t really work.

5)      Naps: Pro – really easy to do, and is favored by many people including Brian Dishong and Timmy Mitchell.  Cons – you are really sore when you wake up.  You may have nightmares

Counting sheep

6)      Games of kickball: Pro – really fun, and running helps flush out lactic acid.  Con – you can cramp up, and walk with a limp (may, or may not have happened to me)

7)      Updating your blog: Pro – can be a thereapeutic mental recovery if you had a rough day in the saddle. Con – doesn’t really help your legs, and you may develop carpal tunnel and poor vision

Intense debate on the ethics of Facebook

8)      Quitting: Pro – works indefinitely. Con – is there one?

After utilizing #1, 2, 3, 5, 7, (8?) for recovery, we had a lot of fun in Texarkana.  We stayed in a Methodist Youth building, and it was brand new and decked out with electronics.  People set up an internet café (important for #7), played basketball, and Wii.  The support team for the day did a great job with breakfast for dinner, and during our post-gluttonous state we had a journal club.

Kiss the chef

To further unwind from our stressful lives, a few of us enjoyed the Sandlot with the gigantic projector systems.  After that I slept F-O-R-E-V-E-R