We had a challenging bike ride today in Oklahoma City, and it was not because of the very easy trail. Wind was a constant 25 mph with gusts over 40 mph, making it our second hardest ride. We covered over 20 miles today on portions of three different trails, and as Sue said, “We learned to just keep on pedaling and not have to be super-fast against the wind. It feels exhilarating to conquer the adversity in difficult conditions, one pedal at a time.”
The Katy Trail (Oklahoma) began several miles from our campground and most of it was an abandoned railroad line past the Remington Dog Racetrack, the USA Softball Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Fire Fighters Museum, the Botanical Garden, and the Oklahoma Railway Museum, and a golf course where players “hit in the wind” (to almost quote a Jim Croce song).
That trail merged into the Bricktown Canal Trail which brought us to an historic warehouse district which has been redeveloped with the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (OKC Dodgers), a Johnny Bench walkway (14-time AllStar), a San-Antonio-like boat canal, and a bunch of BBQ places, including ‘Earl’s Rib Palace’ where we enjoyed lunch!
We then biked the Oklahoma River Trail and found ‘heroic sized’ bronze statues of horses and riders fording a river that is called the “Oklahoma Land Run Monument” honoring those who participated in the western expansion. These sculptures are up to 15-feet-tall covering an area 365 feel long by 36 feet wide, and includes 38 people, 34 horses, 3 wagons, a dog and even a bewildered rabbit.
After such strong headwinds during the first half of our ride, we were ever so grateful they turned into our tailwinds that allowed us to speed back at a blazing 34 mph – our new speed record!
One of the great blessings of traveling is the opportunity to visit with dear ones who live far from us. A special treat in Oklahoma City was the chance to have dinner with Aly, an alum from the Fremont High School Class of 2011 who Sue knows, and her husband John. What a dear couple!
We our hoping that nothing will come of the tornado watch for Oklahoma City this evening. If you read a future blog from us, you will know that we made it. (update on Saturday: no problem.) Meanwhile, here’s the ReLive video Sue produced: