Day 28 - Ft. Smith/Van Buren to Henryetta

 "On the plaaaines of Oklahoma..." The Jason Aldean song, "Fly Over States," played in my head as I deflated my thermarest and stuffed my sleeping back into its compression sack. Today was the day of our first century, an 106 mile ride from Arkansas to Oklahoma. As beautiful as Arkansas has been, we were all excited to get into another state. We crossed the border only 6 miles into the ride and it was amazing at how quickly the culture changed from southern to more western. Corn fields gave way to range lands dotted with horses and cattle. Ranches dominated the landscape and we passed by picturesque farmland on rolling hills. 

Josh, Rae, and me by the state sign

Oklahoma surprised all of us. I think we were all expecting flat land but the eastern part of the state is definitely all hills. All of us have gotten so much stronger compared to how we were only a couple weeks ago so the hills were not a bi problem. They broke up the landscape very nicely and made the ride more interesting. 

Long Oklahoma road

The weather was perfect for a long day. It stayed overcast and cool for more of the day and we even had a slight tailwind which made the ride exponentially easier. The difficulty of a ride is directly reliant on the weather. We were shredding today. I rode with Emma and Josh and we left around 6:15 and made it to second lunch at mile 70 before noon. That is awesome!!

Eliza and Ethan doing some stretches at second lunch. 

Dan pulling into lunch

The rest of the miles were surprisingly doable. My biggest complaint was my wrists which hurt from sustaining all the bumps my bike took today over the 107 miles. But they don't hurt right now and should be fine tomorrow. We reached Henryetta with time to spare. We DMed some Sonic when we got into town. 

Emma enjoying her free milkshake

Our hosts here are amazing. The church had a pot luck dinner and the whole community was invited. The food was incredible to say the least with the most delicious mashed potatoes and gravy I have ever tasted.

Styrofoam plates seem pretty small after a long day of riding!

Funny story of the day: Kat and I were sitting at dinner chatting up the locals when she suddenly got up and left. I continued talking thinking she may have gotten sick or something. There have been some viruses going around. She came back after about 10 minutes and I asked her what was up. "My tooth fell out!" she said and opened her hand to show me the false crown of her molar laying in her palm. Naturally, I asked the most pressing question, "Can you eat???" She shrugged and then asked the people we were sitting with if there was a dentist in the congregation. Sure enough, Dr. Jeremy Johnson steps forward and takes a look at Kat's mouth. He then suggests she get an X-ray and offers to take her to the office. She agrees to go and I volunteer to go with. 

After the X-ray, he decides that be remaining roots in her mouth need to come out because there is a large abscess on one of them so he calls up his assistant who is off duty to come in. Kat and I are in hysterics because we never thought that this 100+ mile day would end in a tooth-pulling! The dentist asked if she was ready before numbing her mouth. "If I can ride for 106 miles, I can do anything!!" was her reply.

Kat at the dentist

We went back to the host after the procedure was over and shared stories. So many strange things happen on Bike and Build, but there is never a dull moment!

5:00 wake up call tomorrow for our 92 mile day. Sometimes, I fall asleep mid-blog but not tonight! Goodnight all!