Pac tour day 20

Off to the Talimena Parkway!

We had a gentle roll out of McAlester with most everybody in the entire group…until we came to a detour sign and learned that a bridge was out ahead. Lon then asked, “What kind of river are we talking about?” Visions of PAC tour riders forging the river with bikes hoisted over their heads ran through my mind…and then I noticed the group was pressing on past the detour signs to see what we would find ahead. This isn’t the first time we’ve entered a construction site on our trip. We came to the end of the pavement and started riding across the dirt and gravel, cyclocross style, but then switched to foot travel for a few hundred yards before finding some quiet pavement on the other side of the quagmire passing as a waterway.

After about 50 miles, the road started tilting up, and at 58 miles we started up the Talimena Parkway, a road that runs along the ridge of some improbable mountains jutting high above the rest of the land in this part of Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas. The first sign warned trucks of grades of 13% for the next 21 miles. Nice.

Indeed, the roads didn’t disappoint. If you get a chance, check out the profile under the elevation selection on the GPS site…we had significant climbs with grades well OVER 13%, and significant descents with speeds into the 40s (for me) and 50s for others, followed again by steep climbs. It was odd when 11% felt like a time to recover on the climb! The views off of the ridge were spectacular, overlooking an endless sea of trees to the North and South. Despite the hard work getting up the climbs, I saw tons of smiles on people’s faces due to the fun nature of the climbs, descents, and views.

The temperature was certainly hot during the climb, leading me to soak my head, back, legs, and feet with ice water. I did push it a bit on a section or two, and found that I could still get my heart rate into the mid 160s…which is pretty good (I think), considering that most people note the inability to achieve higher heart rates during extended endurance events such as this trip.

Pleasantly, we arrived at the Grand Queen Wilhelmena Lodge, and the Arkansas side of the Parkway, after 99 miles and over 7000 feet of climbing. The Lodge sits atop the ridge with views for miles and miles over the horizon…and is actually part of an Arkansas state park.

We enjoyed a pleasant southern buffet meal while enjoying the view, and hearing more about the cause that Brian (who left the tour) was riding to support. You can learn more at www.nevus.org regarding giant hairy nevus and, in particular, neurocutaneous melanocytosis – the condition which lead to the death of Brian’s son.

After enjoying the pleasant view from the deck of the lodge, I’ll join some other riders to nibble on some treats that Brian kindly sent to the group, and then snooze all night long, dreaming of a couple easy centuries ahead.

And yes, Greg did eat all of those deserts.