Our 2004 Route
Route miles - 393
Have Tent, Will Travel
By Laurie Allshouse
It was with great anticipation that FreeWheel
veterans looked forward to the annual weeklong bike ride from Texas to Kansas.
When Jim and I heard that Amy Poarch and Greg Metcalfe were going on FreeWheel
for the first time, we were doubly excited to have someone new discover Oklahoma
by the seat of their pants. Weeks were spent planning what to take and
what to leave behind. Jim and Johnnie Lerma put a top on our utility
trailer. It has two doors that lift up to store luggage in the trailer.
When you close the doors, up to eight bikes can be stored on top. Jim and
Arletta Webster, Johnnie and Diana Lerma, Jim and I would be taking turns
driving the van and trailer from one town to the next and finding a suitable
camping spot for our circle of friends. This circle also included Gary
Cannon, Greg and Amy, Gary Pershall and Don Wilson.
Cold showers, a gourmet dinner complete with live music in the middle of
nowhere, and a tent destroying wind storm that enticed our tent to take a ride
of it’s own rounded out the week.
Saturday, June 12th
we loaded the trailer with luggage and the van with six people and headed south
to Duncan. Some of our OBS friends were cycling self-contained to the
start and we felt for them as the south wind blew against us all the way to
Duncan. We passed a group of the loaded tourers as they were leaving
Chickasha, their Friday overnight stop. Pulling into the Simmons Center,
we spotted Greg and Amy with their tent all set up. Amy’s brother had
driven them to Duncan and would pick them up the following Saturday in Anthony,
Kansas. Greg rode the entire week with loaded panniers while Amy let the
FreeWheel luggage truck take her bag to the next night’s stop.
With that strong south wind it didn’t take much talking
for Jim to offer to drive seven of us to the Texas border to enjoy a 36-mile
tailwind ride back to Duncan. We crammed eight people in the van and away
we went. At noon we were unloading our bikes at the Red River. I
don’t remember much about the ride except that I was HOT. We haven’t
ridden much this spring in hot weather and I really wasn’t acclimated to the
heat. About 5 miles from Duncan, here came Jim and Gary Pershall riding
towards us. Jim was waving my squirt bottle and asking what I would give
to have that to cool me off. Once we were back at camp, the showers were
tepid at best. Little did we know that they were going to be the warmest
showers we would experience for several days.
We rode the official mass start on Sunday morning at
6:30 a.m. Then we circled back to load our gear on our trailer.
Diana chose Sunday to drive and get her obligation out of the way. We
enjoyed a cool morning with light rain that didn’t even mess up my glasses.
It remained cloudy until 10:30 when we stopped for lunch in Sterling. At a
Girl Scout rest stop in Fletcher, I ate the biggest pickle I’ve ever seen in my
life. Pickles are good for heat exhaustion and cramps. I never had a
cramp for the rest of the week. We had a strong east wind that worked to
our advantage for our mostly west 51-mile ride into Apache. We made it
into camp by 12:30. Once we were off the bikes, I really noticed the heat
as we put the tents up. Signs posted around camp bragged of hot showers at
a school that shuttle busses would take us to. It was false advertising.
The showers were ice cold. Someone forgot to turn on the boilers to warm
them up. This was Amy’s introduction into a public group shower.
She’s a labor and delivery nurse and sees naked women all the time. Now
she got to see the shoe on the other foot. We joked that maybe we should
have enjoyed a cold adult beverage or two before jumping on the shuttle bus.
But we survived both the public display and the brrrrrrrrrr cold shower.
Apache was voted by participating cyclists the favorite FreeWheel 2004 host
town. I think it must have been because of the co-ed showers. There
were two showers that were advertised as cold but no need to ride the shuttle
bus. There was a divider between the two showers but when Esther saw men
and women standing in the same line, she turned tail and headed for the bus.
Our crew set up a tarp for some shade. Just as I
started to pin a wet towel up to the guy wire, the poles fell and hit Johnnie.
Ouch!
We ambled over to an outdoor stadium that was providing
entertainment for the tired masses. Cowboy Calvin was performing rope and
bullwhip tricks. He was quite impressive but what really took the cake was
his trusty horse. That horse never flinched when the bullwhip cracked near
him. When the rope missed his neck once, you could swear he said, “You
missed me, dummy”. That was quite some horse.
After the performance we were walking around in hunt of
cold water. Tod came up and started telling us that he used to teach with
Cowboy Calvin’s wife about ten years ago. She would complain about
supporting her rope throwing husband and his horse. Now Calvin has made
quite a name for himself and has appeared in movies and even has a gig in Las
Vegas.
Johnnie decided to drive the van on Monday. The
weather promised to be a hot one so we started out about 6:30 to try to beat as
much of the heat as we possibly could. The plan might have worked if I
hadn’t run over a 3-inch nail. About fifteen miles into our ride, we had a
closed road that riders seemed to be ignoring and riding ahead on. A white
pickup was off to the right and I was wondering if he was going to pull out in
front of me or just watch the riders. I heard my front tire hit something
and then a clickety clack strange noise as that dreaded hissssssssss of a tire
losing air. Diana and I both shouted, “Jim! Flat tire!” at the same
time. The guy in the pickup heard the commotion and jumped out to help.
He was just sitting there telling people to ride on the closed road. A
rusty nail was protruding out of my new back tire; in one side and out the other
side. Diana said I took the bullet for her. She had been right
behind me and if I hadn’t hit the culprit, she would have. A water stop
sag pulled over and brought us a floor pump as we decided what to do next.
Diana had a tire boot and that worked well. When we pulled into the Fort
Cobb rest stop, a roving bike shop mechanic was set up and Jim asked him if he
had a tire for my bike. All he had was a top-touring tire that holds only
80 pounds. We took it since we weren’t sure how long the boot would hold.
My front tire had 120 pounds and the back only had 80. It was like cycling
with a flat. We made it to the lunch stop at Highland Park Methodist
Church twelve miles north of Fort Cobb. After that the heat started taking
it’s toll on me and I got slower and slower. I kept asking Jim if my tires
were flat but he always assured me that they were both up. We urged Diana
to go ahead into camp. I was stopping every three miles to try and get
cooled down. Finally five miles from town for yet another vain attempt to
cool off, I spotted a sag vehicle headed our way. I hit the top of my
helmet and almost fell into these two guys’ van. The air conditioning felt
wonderful. By the time we got to camp in Cordell, I was feeling somewhere
near normal again. After yet another cold shower, we walked to a local
restaurant named Pecan Creek for dinner. Afterwards we spotted a park
across the street and two guys were playing 70’s rock and roll in a small
amphitheater. Libby had her 7:00 meeting and Jerry Neville announced Crazy
Day on Tuesday. Exhausted we went to bed early and it cooled off nicely
for the best sleeping we enjoyed all week.
Tuesday was my day to drive. The heat had really
sapped my strength and I wasn’t even nostalgic as I watched my riders take off
for the 67-mile ride to Cheyenne. My driving route wasn’t that far and I
was setting up camp by 8:00 under cloudy skies. I chose a hilltop
overlooking the field where food vendors and other tents would be pitched.
We had four trees that promised afternoon shade with a cooling breeze. The
gymnasium was also on the hilltop so the hike to the bathroom would be short.
I took a shower before the riders started arriving and finally got some warm
water. When the riders started arriving, I heard that the water pressure
dropped and the showers were cool.
Crazy day found four young boys in riding in pink
tutus. I saw them as they were loading their bags on the luggage truck.
I believe they won the contest. I also heard about Jerry riding the triple
with two blow up dolls that sported “I love Jerry” on their arms.
Greg and Amy came riding in about 11:30. Jim,
Johnnie and Diana arrived shortly thereafter. We were all looking forward
to an evening of activities which included a bus ride to the Black Kettle
National Grassland and the scenic red hills of the upper Washita River Valley
followed by a winery tour and gourmet dinner. Since June 16th,
the next day, was Jim and my 31st
anniversary, we felt this would be the perfect way to celebrate. At 3:00
we boarded a school bus that was not air-conditioned. I’d guess there
were about 30 people participating. We threw open all the windows and
tried to catch a breeze as we waited for the latecomers. Water bottles
were passed around as we sweltered in the heat. One man assured us that
Julia would be coming along shortly. At 20 minutes after 3, a perfectly
quaffed longhaired, meticulously made up, Julia arrived. As she made her
appearance on the bus, she asked so innocently, “Were you waiting for me?”
As the bus pulled onto the highway, we had a nice cooling breeze that resembled
riding in a convertible. My hair was whipped one way and then the other.
There went Julia’s coiffure. She tied it up into a ponytail. We took
off on dirt roads in the Black Kettle Grassland and got a little dusty but we
were cool.
Turkey Creek Vineyards was down a long, dusty road.
Situated on the edge of 70-acre Ross Lake, Tony & Elaine Adams served an
assortment of cheeses, fruits and crackers along with many of their own wines.
They had retired from a busy life in Houston, to this desolate land. Their
vineyards were planted by hand and are irrigated from their private lake.
Their beautiful house overlooks the property. Tony was an architect
in Houston and Elaine was the head of some business that I’ve since forgotten.
They didn’t seem to be effected by culture shock, but I’m sure I would have
been.
Our next stop was the Metcalfe Museum. We viewed
the paintings and drawings of famous “Sagebrush Artist” Augusta Corson Metcalfe.
This woman had a compulsion to draw and did so on all sorts of everyday
materials. When her son went off to war, she drew on the envelopes and on
the paper she wrote her letters on. I enjoyed her drawings more than I did
her paintings.
Tables draped with white tablecloths and formal
dinnerware awaited our seating. Carol and David Jenkins played violins as
we settled in for our gourmet dinner. David Cunningham, director of
the Metcalfe, came by and wished us a happy anniversary. Several other
people gave us their congratulations. David moved to Durham about four
months ago from Springfield, Missouri. He seemed to be experiencing some
culture shock. The museum is a beautiful facility but it really seemed to
be in the middle of nowhere. The brochure says it is 26 ½ miles northwest
of Cheyenne and just a short drive off Historic Route 66 and I-40. It’s
worth the trip. I’d like to go again and walk around the outside. It
just seemed too hot to leave the air- conditioned comfort we were enjoying.
Our dinner started with cantaloupe and prosciutto ham.
It was delicious and I normally don’t like cantaloupe. Then we had salad
with shrimp. Amy gave me her shrimp so I had a double amount. Then
we had pork tenderloin with asparagus. Jim got double asparagus since I
don’t enjoy that vegetable. There were three kinds of dinner rolls being
passed around and they were all delicious. The wine, iced tea and water
were all refreshing. Later we learned that EVERYTHING, including the water
had to be trucked in. This was the museum’s first dinner of this kind but
you couldn’t tell it from the service or the food. Right before dessert
was served, Jim and I were presented with a Happy Anniversary heart shaped
balloon tied to a heart shaped cake and a card from the Metcalfe Museum.
Our musicians played Happy Anniversary while everyone sang. It was really
special for our 31st celebration. What a wonderful evening with
friends!
The evening had cooled as we dined and the windows were
shut for the bus ride back to Cheyenne. We got to camp about 9:20 and most
everyone was already in bed. Boy, bike riders are a rowdy bunch ;-)
On Wednesday, June 16th, Jim drove the van
to Thomas. I rode the 66-mile route with Johnnie and Diana. We got
an early start on a cool morning that thankfully, stayed overcast all day.
I didn’t have any heat problems. We bypassed the official lunch stop and
got into camp just in time for lunch. As we were relaxing in our
camp chairs, Jim brought us back hamburger lunches with chips and beans and
chocolate cake. We lounged around camp as Johnnie and Diana rode the
shuttle to the brand new laundromat in town. I remember I overheard
someone mention storms in the area that evening but I didn’t think much about it
except that maybe it would cool down a bit. As I was drifting off to
sleep, I heard Esther and Andy coming into camp. Esther had ridden home on
Monday for a family emergency and Andy talked her into joining back up with
FreeWheel for the rest of the week.
It did finally cool down and I was sleeping well, when
I vaguely became aware that the wind sure was blowing. Jim told me to get
up and get dressed. I was confused. I had shorts and a t-shirt on.
Wasn’t I dressed? So I put on my Tevas. He told me to run for the
van. His voice was urgent but I was rather befuddled. I grabbed my
money pouch from my camelback and grabbed my alarm clock. Okay, I was half
asleep. I’m not quite sure what the alarm clock was for. As I
unzipped my side of the tent, Jim yelled he was right behind me. I
had put my headlamp on my head and I ran for the van. Once I got the door
open, the wind almost took it out of my hands. I struggled and struggled
and pulled and struggled to get the door shut. This was a windstorm from
hell. Was it the edge of a tornado? And where was Jim? I was
getting really concerned that a van was not the place to be in a tornado.
Just as Jim was getting into the van, I saw our tent go air borne. We had
two duffle bags weighed 40 – 50 lbs each and they were now flying through the
air with our belongings. It seemed that when I exited the tent, the tent
flew up over Jim’s head and he had to struggle to find a way out. We
were shaking and scared. Jim turned on the radio but could only find
music. There was no weather report. There was a knock on the side
door. We opened it and Esther and Andy took shelter with us. We
could see Johnnie and Diana’s tent flattened. Johnnie was trying to get
out but couldn’t find the door. Finally they ran for the van. All he
had on were his shorts and he was wet and cold. He wrapped up in a blanket
I had in the back seat. Diana was wearing her helmet and kept apologizing
for the mess they were bringing into the van. After 35 minutes the
windstorm finally passed. Emergency vehicles appeared all around us.
The electricity to the whole town went out and all we could see was lights from
the ambulance and fire trucks. Men were going around making sure there
were no injuries. Our tent had blown up against a fence that circled the
football field. It was right behind Tod Langford’s van and near Tom
Russell’s tent. Tom remained in his tent even when it turned upside down
on him. All of our 10 inch nail type stakes was gone except one that we
found. Where did they blow to and why wasn’t someone hurt? I fully
expected to see our bikes blowing by us but they remained tied together and
covered with a plastic tarp. They moved the length of the trailer but
seemed unharmed.
Jim and Arletta stayed in their tent. The newness
had just worn off and they had to duct tape a few tears. Esther’s new tent
was ruined. Johnnie and Diana’s new tent was damaged. Greg and Amy’s
tent stayed intact. When we had the window down, someone said something
and we all laughed. Amy very timidly replied from the depths of her tent,
“It’s not a laughing matter.” That made us laugh even more.
It was now about 3:00 in the morning and I had to go to
the bathroom. A row of porta potties had been placed not far from our tent
site. As I walked to their location, I notice that they had all blown down
on their doors, except one lone building stood at a queer angle. I decided
to walk to the gymnasium that had been opened during the disaster. It was
packed with people and crying babies. I found the bathroom. As I was
exiting I heard that a man had been trapped in one of the porta johns. He
couldn’t get out since it landed on the door. Someone rescued him and he
ran for the showers. Some enterprising soul told him they’d sell him a bar
of soap for $40. Many comments were made about being glad we didn’t have
the job of cleaning those porta potties the next day.
We left our tent until morning when we could see
better. Everyone in the van fell asleep for a couple hours.
The next morning we assessed the damage. Jim
asked me if I wanted to go home. “Heck no! It just getting
interesting now!” We decided to load the wet tent into the trailer and
ride to Fairview where we would find a laundromat to get things cleaned up and
dried out. Jim Webster had volunteered to drive and Arletta decided to go
with him to get things in order again.
We had a warm breakfast at the Baptist church. We
tried to find the Methodist church, since John Wente’s brother-in-law is the
minister there, but none of the streets in Thomas had street signs. That’s
small town America for you. Their population had been doubled when
FreeWheel rolled into town. As we drove down the streets we noticed many
downed tree limbs and children’s play toys scattered about. We learned
that Barbi and Lynette had a window blown out of their vehicle. We noticed
many tents left in trash bins as we rode out of town.
Thursday we had our latest start after picking up all
the debris of our campsite. Johnnie and Diana rode the triplet (bicycle
built for three) with Jerry. Jim and I rode with Gary Cannon for the 53
miles to Fairview. We had a great ride. The day remained somewhat
overcast which helped keep it on the cool side. We stopped in
Longdale for lunch. When we got to Fairview, we headed for the laundromat.
We had to get our towels washed and dried before we could shower. It was
about 5:00 when we made it to the high school. The water was warm and the
water pressure was great. I just wanted to stay standing in the warmth.
Fairview’s showers were voted the best of the week.
Jim and I went to the Coast to Coast to buy new tent
stakes but they only had the flimsy kind. We bought 6 screwdrivers instead
and got a new 15 x 20” tarp for shade.
We set up our poor tent. The tent poles curved in
a continuous S shape. Once it was up, it looked like Picasso had designed
it. Gary didn’t even recognize it as our tent. It wasn’t very stable
but I went to sleep right away. Wednesday night had just been too short.
Just as I was dozing off into neverland, Jim came over
and said another line of storms were on their way. Our tent couldn’t take
much more, so we started taking it down. Esther was using Gary Pershall’s
tent but she was moving in the building with us. Gary had gone home after
the storm. He had a previously planned engagement to attend to but had
left his tent for anyone who needed it. Johnnie and Diana were using Gary
Cannon’s big tent that we had taken down to Duncan for him. Gary used his
little tent he had packed on his bike for the ride to Duncan. Jim and
Arletta took down their tent. Wilton Berry said he wasn’t staying out in
another storm. We all moved into the show barn near us. The entry
way was cement and we put down our thermarests and covered up with a sheet.
It was a barn and had the accompanying smells. To say we had a good rest
would be stretching it a bit. The only two tents left in our circle was
Greg and Amy and Gary Cannon. When Amy got up the next morning she
panicked for a moment when she saw all the tents were gone. Then she saw
our van and knew we must have gone inside.
Two nights in a row without sleep and a sunny head wind
day ahead of me, I decided to drive to Cherokee in air-conditioned comfort
again. Tod and Susan also drove and we all set up a camp with a fence
nearby to hang a tarp for shade. Greg had ridden the 100-mile optional
route. He made it in before Amy had completed her 51-mile ride. He
hurried to get their tent set up before she arrived. Gary Cannon and I
were just hanging the tarp, when up rode Amy, Diana, Johnnie and Jim. I
heard a commotion and then noticed that Amy had what appeared to be a case of
beer on the back of her bike. She had a 24-ounce Coors Light in one water
bottle cage and a Smirnoff’s Ice in the other. The other three cyclists
had Coors Light in their water bottle cages. They were laughing and carrying on
as if they had been partying the whole ride. The case of beer turned out
to be an empty box turned upside down on her bike trunk. We set our chairs
beneath the shade and I sat in amazement as I watched Diana down 24 ounces of
beer. I’ve never seen her drink one beer, let alone that much.
Pretty soon she got up and went to her tent to capture her sleeping mat.
She drug it under the shade, laid down on it and went to sleep. We
strategically placed a can by her head and documented the occasion. We did
the same to Jim when he fell asleep in his chair. Greg proved his love for
ice cream when he consumed 2 root beer floats and a hot fudge sundae to recover
from his century ride.
Arletta drove the last day to Anthony, Kansas.
After eating pancakes in the school cafeteria, we rode off in a light mist that
rapidly became a steady rain. No chance of getting heat exhaustion today.
We rode 48 miles in rain and head wind. We proudly took pictures at the
Kansas state line and again as we entered the town of Anthony. Greg and
Amy had completed their first FreeWheel with flying colors. They survived
the windstorm, and the cold showers and proclaimed they enjoyed it all.
We all got something to eat and the closing ceremony
was held inside a gymnasium for the first time since we’ve ridden FreeWheel.
We waited patiently for Libby to call our numbers for the door prizes that were
given away. I think Briannon was the name of the little girl who had
celebrated her 7th
birthday on FreeWheel and was running the gifts to the recipients. I won a
hat from the Kansas Lottery. I think I’ll keep this one. Jim
confiscated the last one I won several years ago.
Betty Palmer, 77 years young, rode her 14th
FreeWheel this year and proclaimed she was retiring. Her son, Grif, came
from California to ride with her. Maybe he can talk her into riding
another year. She’s an inspiration to us all. One of her favorite
says is, “You never get too old to play. You get old from never playing.”
It’s always sad to head for home but the promise of
clean towels and a hot shower and a soft bed always sounds inviting. Jim
drove as the rest of our crew fell asleep for the ride back to Oklahoma City.
Western Oklahoma was a new area for FreeWheel to ride in. Everyone was
friendly and seemed happy to see us. Libby did an excellent job of finding
low traffic roads. But then if Libby Stalter puts on a ride, you KNOW it
is going to be a good one.
Click thumbnail for larger view of photo. Captions below
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||
Here are some fine pictures from Johnnie Lerma
Click thumbnail for larger view of photo. Captions below
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Hope you enjoy this, WE did.