Henryetta, Oklahoma City

Sweep baby Sweep! This was the attitude of the day as I was with my good friend Abby serving as the individuals responsible for herding the cattle(as in bikers). We knew it would be a long day when we set out of the church and had no expectations for when we would arrive. We said to ourselves that we have 105 miles to go until Henryetta and who knows when we will be there.

As we crossed the Arkansas River into Oklahoma, we checked out the local Farmers Market but there was no food edible along our ride. We just talked to some locals and they wished us the best. Abby and I continued to ask cliche questions to each other in order to pass the time, as we picked up stragglers along the way.

There are two great ways to pass time on a bike: talking to your fellow biker and hills. So when hills came along our route, they took up our mind for a long time and before we knew it we had covered some serious mileage. Our two lunch stops were rewarding as we received plenty of Air Conditioning in the local gas stations/convenient stores.

I realized the importance of not eating too much food during a lunch break, as my stomach would be rumbling the next five miles after lunch. As sweepers, we had to wait until everyone is finished at lunch so therefore it can take a lot of time. Our second lunch was over an hour long, as we waited for nappers.

By the time it was 6:30 PM we slowly made our way into Henryetta, and were ready to eat some food. We met the group at the local park where we met the congregation of the church we were staying. There were great burgers, great beans/rice and great people. It was a very nice community dinner, one that I wish we could always have. The people told us about the history of their town with the stories of Jim Shoulders (famous Rodeo Cowboy) and Troy Aikman (hall of fame Quarter Back for Dallas Cowboys).

It was a long day, just sure am glad that I am driving the van to Oklahoma City!