Dateline: Mountain View, AR

Slept OK in motel parking lot. Drove away to less populated parking lot for bfast, Hit Home Depot for growler. Found propane. Headed out on rt 9 back road to Mountain View for the Syllamo trail, however it started to rain on way. Forecast is for possible strong t-storms. Stopped @ RS for beta, reiterated 2 of trail loops are closed because of January ice storm tree fall. Loops comprise almost 1/2 of system making it a 1 day ride if it doesn’t rain tomorrow.

AR is hilly. Saw several tornado shelters dug into an earth bank. I bet that tornados are such a crap shoot in that actual path is narrow. Imagine hearing a warning and then hunkering in your shelter or basement if you have 1. Imagine living in a mobile home w/ no basement and no underground shelter. What is your view on a warning?

Believe I found source of wiring problem in upper cabinet when I slide stuff towards the back a wire is forced loose.

Off to find primitive camp spot near TH.

PBS is airing a show on Appalachia tonight. If you can, see it. Cities of America have taken the land from the people by making fun of them, calling them Hill Billies and minimizing their existence. This makes it better for some of us to rartionalize mountain top removal to get @ the dirty coal underneath to fuel power plants that spue CO2 & heavy metals into the air so some of us can crank on the air conditioning and otherwise excessively consume, nay waste, the energy. Celebrate the lifestyle of these folks. Some day somebody might make fun of us citified people.

UNC won the NCAA Bball dance. Zags lost to them @ sweet 16.

Dateline: Laundromat outside Hot Springs, AR

Two nights ago slept on shore of lake @ TH of Womble. A bit windy & temp dropped into low 30s. AM was blue bird day but chilly.

Decided to ride today in AM cold to allow for long day. Greased bike up. Left after 9:00 wearing wool long underwear, tights, & long fingered gloves. Trail climbed up thru woods. Narrow ST bench cut into hillside. Trail is hiking trail that was in disuse until mtn bikers discovered & cleared it out. I am riding on the Ouichita Challenge course from past Sunday. Amazing little damage from all bike tires except in muddy areas, In a short while those tracks will disappear. Tires seem to roll the earth where as a hiker’s foot post holes it. On & on the trail climbed & descended and then went fairly flat. I needed to ride from mile 37 to mile 17 to complete trail, 40 miles out & back. As going out starting wearing me down I debated options of how to return or even to cut ride short. Made turn around where I camped the night before. Did ride a short section of road till I rejoined the trail and rode trail all way back for 39.21 miles, 4264′ vert 5 hours ride, 3607 calories burned w/ average HR of 123 bpm. Found a big morel mushroom but only 1 so i let it grow.

Caught up w/ 2 riders ahead of me on way back. Saw their tracks on rocks after water crossing. Chatted with them off & on as we all rode towards end of trail.

Called Gracie 2 nights ago and left her a message before I drove out of cell phone coverage. On my ride I carried my phone and left it turned on. About 4 miles from finish as I was starting to struggle w/ effort of big ride, my phone rang. It was Gracie. She got 5th @ Tsali behind 30 yo women. She was pleased.

Finished ride ran out of h2o too soon. Shot a goo for a burst of energy but too little to quench my growling tummy. Know the corrections to make.

Next stop is Syllamo trails up in NE corner of state. Today is chore day for laundry, groceries, seek electrical solution for 2 lights not working,Turner shop in Little Rock for possible bushings replacement, & whatever.

Saw several beagle type dogs, 1 @ camp site and a bunch on trail, not sure if they were abandoned or simply didn’t return to hunter. The 1 @ camp ran away from me. I wasn’t interested in rescuing them.

Last night I splurged for $14 to stay in XG where I got showers. Too tired to want to deal w/ dirtbagging.

Flies are in van outside laundromat.

Lots of poison ivy lining trail. Tread was narrow and rocks were more of small size. Maxxis tire hooks up better than paddle type like velociraptor.

Mount Ida, population 931, is dry. Grocery store lacks lots or some really healthy foods. Remote towns don’t have the foods I need to live healthy.

Succeeded in no treats yesterday. Did stop @ Dairryette for ice cream cone. I asked for a hand dipped hard ice cream and girl said yes they had it. She handed me a soft ice cream cone. I took a bite without really comprehending what she gave me. I gave it back for my $ return.

Van filled w/ drying clothes. I think the low temp drying I did this winter burned the stretch out of shorts. Damn.

Update: Conley, AR in a parking lot yet to be discovered.

Drove to auto repair shop to check on malfunctioning lights. Guy climbed in van, I switched on the light to show and it worked. Loose wire somewhere. I drove off. Some time later I turned it on again & it didn’t work, but then it worked again.

Found Competitive Cyclist in N Little Rock to score a bushing rebuild kit for the Spot instead of trying to mail 1 from Turner. Something about the store that I couldn’t place. It is an internet store and I bought stuff from them in the past. Nice people they let me use a bike stand and actually offered assistance for my R & R bushings. I think the looseness came from the shock reducers that I could not remove, but they did. We also tried the King bottom bracket grease tool but the grease gun was beyond us. New Bushings, bikie felt tight in parking lot.

Called PUSH in Loveland, CO and made appointment for 4/21, 22 to overhaul the fork & shock b4 heading West. Jimmie said he spoke w/ someone who told of this guy…. . Must have been a rider I met last weekend in OK as he has had his stuff PUSHed.

Comment to all light weight riders reading: Get your suspension PUSH Industries.com tuned for your weight, bike, & riding style and your ride will move to a higher more enjoyable level. I did. The Spot turned into a different bike, way better. I am a better rider as a result. Tell them you heard it from me.

Bought a digital voice recorder @ Best, need to learn  how to make it work.

I have driven thru or nearby former Civil Rights battle sites. How could we have been that way? But we still are in other ways against other groups, be it a sports team or religion or you support dog fighting.

Mono: I finally bought Bruce’s newest. Different tact in his life, no biting social cause.

Hey you Spokane readers: I have an idea of spending the winter back home skiing and am looking for a house sitting position for a no rent place, or maybe swap some minor chores for a place to stay for the winter. Should you know of a place please email me. Thanks. Going to brush @ 49 for pass again.

Tomorrow is Syllamo trails further North. There are multiple loops in this 50 mile system but several are closed from ice storm damage. Might stay there for 2 days and then the long drive across Kansas. Still tracking for Fruita festival.

Moving on. Good night, Gracie.