Day 17 100 miles again (barely) 7-1-18

Chandler, OK to El Reno, OK

I had to wait for a fairly significant thunderstorm to pass this morning, before I could even start the day.  My plan was to again start riding at sunrise, with the hopes of beating the afternoon sweltering heat.  But as Mike Tyson so eloquently put it "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face".  I waited for over an hour, and then tried to pick out a small opening in the storms.  I really would prefer to avoid being struck by lightning, if at all possible.

The morning was a great ride, other than the two torrential downpours of about 10 minutes each.  I made it to Arcadia, which was home of The Round Barn, a really neat structure they have turned into a museum.  It was really nice seeing all of the old machinery, and hopefully our kids (and Kelly and I) can appreciate just how easy we have it with technology, compared to over 100 years ago.

I then stopped at Pops, which was a gas station/restaurant with thousands of Pop bottles from all over the country.  I ordered a hamburger that had pulled pork, pepper jack cheese, onion rings and was on toasted jalapeno cornbread.  It was even better than it sounds!

While at Pops, I met with Channel 9 (news9.com), and had the first of my three(!) TV interviews today.  I had reached out to them in order to help promote the story, and all three were actually interested.  The other two were Channel 4 (KFOR.com), and Channel 5 (KOCO.com).  

It's amazing to think a dude from Paw Paw, and his son, can have this much reach.  People are really responding well to this story, and I am truly thankful you are taking the time to read these ramblings, make donations, leave comments, and help us spread the word!

The afternoon ride was a bit hot/humid, and I had my fourth flat tire of the trip.  The good news is I am now fairly proficient in changing a tire.  I was hoping to swing by a bike shop today, but all of them appeared to be closed on Sunday.  It was amazing to feel so strong yesterday after taking two days off in a row.  Today was similar, although riding over 40 additional miles took a bit of the "juice" from my legs.  Hopefully I can still have a good day tomorrow.

Miles today:. 100.4

Total miles: 873.3