Day 24 – 04/26/2012 – Conway, AR
Due to the change of plans yesterday, today we knew we would have a massive 67 miles to cover, plus a few we always ride either lost or getting in and out of places, etc. So we woke up much earlier than in previous days, at 7:00am. The coffee in the hotel was watery to the point where I could see the bottom of a large cup filled with it. No coffee for us. We had lots to do in the room organizing the things and were able to start the ride at 9:30am.
We rode 12 miles straight and then stopped to get a coffee and recover the energies from the heat. From that point on we rode on an intense rhythm all the time up to the point we reached 40 miles. During this period we rode side by side with a busy railroad where trains passed every five minutes or so. We saw many small houses and little ranches and escaped from a few dogs, too.
About 5 hours later we arrived to Cabot and looked for a Subway to buy lunch. We then moved on to cover the last 30 remaining miles. I was feeling good up to that point, but after our stop I started feeling a blistering pain on both legs caused by my pants and underwear rubbing on the same spots during all those previous 40 miles. The heat and the sweat helped the skin to bruise and the pain was very intense. For the next three hours and a half all I could think of was the pain. I didn't even feel tired, didn’t watch for dogs, nothing. Pedaling was a struggle and there was nothing that could be done at that point besides moving on.
At the end of the course we reached the thousand miles mark! We stopped, took pictures of the odometer and published in the blog right away.
Before getting into the hotel we stopped to buy things for dinner and breakfast, and then came to the hotel. We eat as quickly as possible in order to sleep early.
Day 25 – 04/27/2012 – Hot Springs, AR
This was a difficult day. We woke up 8:00am and were able to leave the hotel by 10:00am. Then we rode pretty much straight for about 20 miles when we arrived to a small city called Bigelow, which had just 329 habitants. We found a place to have lunch and decided to ask for the traditional plate. There was not a vegetarian option so we settled for the catfish dish. After eating we kept moving forward.
We then entered Ouachita National Forest and, what was a pleasant way to ride on became a path full of long and steep hills. We had to go down our bikes and walk them up hill several times. Fifteen miles passed that way. Then we entered a small road called Mt Ida Rd. The path started smooth, but the elevation was still intense with ups and downs all the way. We kept progressing when, for our surprise, the pavement ended.
We then endured about twelve miles of unpaved, uneven and rough trails that cut through completely isolated areas. There was absolutely nothing around us besides untouched forest. We passed through even broken trees blocking the road which showed how little traffic that road had. At a given point the path the GPS had indicated was just a little trail covered by vegetation which was just not suitable for crossing. We took a detour, which extended the course we had to cover.
When we finally went out of the gravel path the road was fine, except for the elevation which was still intense. We rode about 10 miles and reached the last road we had to ride on. That one was a last seven miles uphill, and we arrived on the hotel. There was a Family Dollar store right on the side of the hotel where we got our food and drinks. Then we headed to the hotel, eat and prepared to sleep as quickly as possible.
