Brutal 2 hour time zone difference from AZ. Woke up local time 8:00 @ airport.
Checked tire pressure & found rt rear was 7 pounds light which would explain some of the handling problems.
GPS wandered around looking for a grocery store before heading out. Local chain, no filtered h2o. Food choices are not as healthy here in south.
Today’s ride is @ Hobbs conservation area outside of Rogers which is next door to Bentonville, home of Walmart. Found TH. As I was getting ready 2 local riders finished their ride. Brief conversation netted me a ride date tomorrow @ Slaughter Pen outside of Bentonville.
Rode series of trails, nothing on tread for technical challenge but trail is all about pedalling thru broadleaf forest that is starting to leaf out. Red buds & dogwoods are blooming. may apples are opening their crown of leaves. Didn’t recognize poison ivy vines. Loblolly pines mixed in. 2 hour ride, 17 miles w/ 2178′ climbing. Elevation profile looks like ragged cuts from all the little ups & downs, never more than 200′ sustained. My Spot is built up for Sedona but these trails are under kill. My 21 psi tires might be too low as I felt the tires squish around. Need higher pressure for rolling. Pedaled hard & body felt it. have bad tendinitis in right elbow. Had trails all to myself. Well marked, Takes effort to cut trails here, no just ride thru the desert when looking for a connector trail.
Deep woods cover, can understand why vistas are so special
Needed a shower. Drove to visitor center where I viewed several exhibits, one on armadillos that can inflate their small intestines for buoyancy and can hold their breath for 4 to 6 minutes for swimming. Learned of a camp ground, Hide a way nearby that was opened & had showers. Drove twisty road up & down to XG. Met owner, Wayne, out repairing the in ground pool. I started conversation about armadillos and we went from there. he told me about Buffalo river national river. He said elk have been reintroduced, some from Idaho. Shower for $3.00.
drove back into Rogers looking for sleep spot. Tried airport but it was larger and had security cameras in the parking lot. Wandered around and am still unsettled for sleeping. Daisey B B guns are made just next door to where I am now.
South is strange in their alcohol laws, I am in a dry county, but Fayetteville just down the way is wet.
Lining up some of that tasty moonshine from Dalton, GA.
Gotta go to nail down sleep spot for night. Original spot was on same dirt lane shared by Daisey B -B gun factory and separated by a fence a rough apartment complex. Stayed in van until after dinner after dark. Got out to throw out dinner wash h2o and went for walk checking out possible sleep spots as present place was in factory parking lot. Checked out large office bldg w/ big paved parking lot. Back in van finishing cleaning up when a police car pulled in to lot. 3 officers got out and looked into bushes between me and apartment complex. I watched as they approached me. I greeted them and was asked to step outside to be talked to. They were responding to suspicious activity. It turned out it was about me. The apartment complex security person reported me. Conversed w/ officers, main guy ran my drivers license and wrote a report. I was not illegal, however the officer suggested that i not stay in area because of past nefarious activity. Main officer shared w/ force that I was in town and had been checked out. I asked for suggestions and he offered Walmart. I said no. He suggested checking w/ security person @ office bldg. I let that one go as I figured that the security person lacked authority. I GPSd Walmart and drove off looking for possible other spots. Right off main st in Rogers I saw a bank parking lot. I drove around block and discovered quiet side street. I parked in front of a for sale business between residential houses. I observed life for several minutes b4 settling down. No traffic on side street. I set my alarm for 7:00 AM so I could get moving b4 too much activity. Jumping to Friday as I drove away I found I was a block away from Rogers city hall. Slept uneasy afraid of rousting or criminal activity. Nothing happened. I did pick a bad neighborhood in factory area, my bad.