Stuttgart, AR to Henryetta, OK

Once again, starting from today and working backwards!

Van Buren (Fort Smith), AR to Henryetta, OK. State line day, but I didn't get to bike the state line this morning. I woke up (at 4:30 am) with a horrible migraine to the point of feeling nauseous. I was going to bike to the state line then van it to lunch, but I knew I wouldn't make it. So I sacrificed it, but I did get my picture at the state line at least. At the first lunch stop at 35 miles I decided to get on the bike with Preston and Ride out the rest of the day. I unfortunately did not get my Century (100 miles) today, but I managed a good 71. Tomorrow is a 98 miler, so I'll be sure to tack on a few extra miles to hit my 100 mark.
On a side note, I figured I should inform everyone. We had a rider struck by a car this morning. He is doing fine. He was hit two miles into the ride, but rode Travis' bike (since he was driving the van) and finished the last 104 miles anyway. He broke his bike and was scraped up a bit. Dangers are out there, but we do everything we can to prevent them. Just keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe trip.

Russelville, AR to Van Buren, AR. 80 mile day and I busted ass all day long. Preston was on sweep so I decided to ride pretty hard this day, especially since i felt like my thigh was doing a lot better. I started out with Sebass, Scott, Tyler, Natalie Travis and Eugene (the fast group basically). I kept up for about 8 miles before I had to drop off, but I figured I'd keep pushing hard just to see how I could do. I made it to the first $ stop (B$'s dad is setting up in between stops for us on these long days to help out) pretty quick. I did the first 20 miles in 1hr and 15min or so. I left from there after the two fast groups left and rode by myself for the next 20 miles to the lunch stop. Pretty good scenery all day. I made it to the lunch stop where Ryan M., Eugene and Travis gave me a very warm welcome since I'm never used to seeing the lead groups at lunch. They were just as excited to see me kicking ass as I was. It wasn't about me getting their in front of anyone at all. It was definitely about me pushing myself and proving to myself that after a hard week of thigh issues and mental issues that I was still strong enough to do this. As Ryan M., Travis and Eugene were leaving they said 'Alright, Speedy Gonzalez, are you coming with us or what?' I wasn't really sure that I'd ever ride with them this summer, so I couldn't pass up the chance. I kept up at a 20mph average for about 10 miles or so managing to pull them in a paceline for all of 1 mile of it but still. It was fun nice to be riding at the very front for once. I definitely won't be up there much, but it definitely boosted my confidence on the bike. Thanks a lot to Ryan Miller, Travis and Eugene for the kind words.
Well, as for the rest of the day. After dropping off from the front pack I had my first flat tire of the campaign before the second $ stop. No big deal, I fixed it and kept going. After the $ stop I jumped on board with B$, Katie R, Katie K, Zac, Varun and Paul where we met up with Ryan Kern and Craig. They had managed to donation magic at a paintball field. We had an amazing deal and couldn't pass up some paintball games. Angela ended up joining in so we had some 5 v. 5 going on. It was such a fun time. To bad we wore ourselves out and still had about 20 miles of biking left. Angela and I finished out the day with Sonic milkshakes.

Little Rock, AR to Russelville, AR. 80 miles of riding. We crossed the Big Dam Bridge which is the largest pedestrian and biking bridge in the world that is specifically built for this purpose. We had some really good scenery getting back into some hills. Not much else happened that I can think of. I was having a great riding day though, I do know that.

Stuttgart, AR to Little Rock, AR and the day off in Little Rock. Leaving Stuttgart was flat flat flat with some headwinds. The day before I had some thigh pain still towards the end of our 95 mile ride. I decided since it was only a 50 miler I wouldn't take it too hard, but still push myself a little. Preston and I hit the rode and would alternate pulling each other through the headwinds for a bit. I noticed we were keeping up a very nice pace. We made it to the lunch stop at mile 25 and were told a lot of people were just heading into Little Rock to a pub for lunch since it was only another 25 miles away. So Preston and I just refilled water and gatorade and hit the road again. I was feeling really well and noticed myself breaking away from Preston pretty often. Without thigh pain I just like to move. We made it into Little Rock by 11:45am and got some lunch at this awesome Irish pub.

Now for the Day Off. I spent the day at Heifer International which is such an awesome organization. Their building is so awesome and beautiful. Afterwards, I went down to the River Market and ate some lunch. Met some really cool people interested in Bike and Build. Then made my way to see "La Petite Roche" or the little rock. Pretty unimpressive but fun nonetheless. I made it to the Clinton Library and Museum but it was just full of so much information it was hard to process everything. But the Highlight of the day by far was watching the sunset over the Arkansas River. It was just peaceful and calming. I loved it!

Well, that is it for now. Catch you in a week or two!.