Ooooooooklahoma

Lord, today was a long day. After grabbing breakfast in downtown Bartlesville at Meeme's Cafe (diner?) I went and got new tires and an oil change. Then I was off to the trail. The trail was mostly great today. After some of the roads I'd been going over the previous day it suddenly seemed like Oklahoma ran out of trees.

The new Shiko tires also worked very well. At first I thought they were less grippy in the dirt than the Dunlops I'd been running. Then I realized I was going a good five to ten faster. Wonderful. Then came the sand. Without any warning the great roads turned into sand and I near lost it. By sand I mean talcum powder mixed with pea gravel. And it was plenty deep. This was almost as bad as the gravel earlier. Also along the way the Laminar Lip decided to fly off the windscreen and I had to turn around to get it.
Eventually I dropped into an area that was peppered with little creeks. Which meant more water crossings. One was a little sketchy with a somewhat slick bottom. But it was fairly narrow and no drama ensued. The one that took some work was nothing but mud. I took a bit of time and lined it with rocks to give me some traction. It worked out well and I scooted across. And then more sand.
The trail put me on highway 11 to get over Kaw Lake. I decided to ride to Blackwell and see what I felt like. Well, I felt like riding on to Woodward. Overall about a three hour ride. All told I rode for about 9 hours today. And it hurt. Especially highway 60 going through the plains with strong winds. I stopped at Glossy Hills for a break. I could only imagine what people on the highway though when they saw me walking around with my over-pants around my ankles. Did I mention it was hot. Someone told me it hit 105. It felt much hotter than that. Also along the way the Lamina Lip flew off again. This time while heading south on I35. No turning back for it this time.
I have to be honest. Every day I've been on the trail had ended with me wanting to quit and just take the interstates home. So far I haven't given in. But it's only going to get hotter, maybe. Supposedly it's going to cool down tomorrow. It also is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning. So, as usual, we'll see what happens in the morning.