Today we woke up in Sulphur Springs in our motel room at 6am. My eyes were admittedly tired and did not want to open. Beds are quite comfortable! We packed up our stuff and loaded our bikes, and ate some breakfast. Our route would take us to Cooper Lake, and around the edge. This was where we had intended to reach the night before to camp, but it was nice to get some rest in Sulphur Springs and to sort out the trouble with Laurel's back tire. The road was good starting off, and the morning was moderate enough but not cloudy like the days before. This is the only day so far that we have NOT been rained on at some point, in fact. But the trade off is that no clouds means hot.
We turned off onto a tiny, narrow road passing between houses. Here, a group of dogs that looked to be behind a fence growled and barked loudly at us. And as it would happen, the fence was open at the driveway and they, like all their Texan brethren so far, made an angry bee line for us. This time they came darn close, and I even swerved off the shoulder a bit and into the gravel while shouting at them. Honestly. I'm so fed up with them. If I never see another dog again in my life, it will be too soon. Unlikely, though. Last night I also looked up some strategies for dealing with chasing dogs while biking. These strategies range from hopping off and walking your bike (that would be terrifying), shouting, carrying a stick, pepper spray, mace, etc. Let's just say I've got my eye out for some good pepper spray. I usually wouldn't ever think with relish about potentially causing pain to a creature, but I think it will be regrettably pleasing to use on the next batch of hounds.
After this short road, we reached the state park perimeter around the lake. This took us up onto a long bridge with a sweeping panoramic view of the lake and flatter surrounding lands. Starlings fluttered in large loops and clouds around us close in the sky on either side. After coming out of the park area, we took the road into the small town of Cooper itself, then on. The towns we passed through today were all very tiny, the roads all smaller highways or county roads.
As we went, trees became fewer and opened up increasingly into farmlands. So far, we have primarily been around trees or fenced pastureland and not as much cropland as might be expected. Today, we saw a lot more fields, starting with a field of sunflowers. The roads had some long gradual hills, ups and downs, with many sunflower and corn fields. The land is not exactly flat, but it is much flatter than we've had since the start, and also much more exposed and in the open. It's starting to look a lot more like how I envision Oklahoma --- which we are only a half day away from. The wind was coming at us from the side for quite a while, and this made slow going. When we were able to turn north on some sections, it made a big difference with the wind at our backs. As the day passed, it became hotter and hotter and sun stronger. We had really lucked out with the past five days of cooler temperatures, and we knew it would have to end eventually. I'm not so strongly affected by high temperatures, and though it was not especially comfortable, felt ok. Hills are what get me, but heat I can typically deal with. Laurel very much dreads heat, and this was our first taste of some of the long scorching stretches we might face as we go north through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska.
We went through teeny towns, like Pecan Gap and Honey Grove, without even gas stations and which were spaced rather far apart. By the time we reached the small, small town of Ladonia, we were feeling rather desperate! Luckily, there was a tiny, worn gas station on the edge of town, run by a man from China. There were also some interesting characters we stopped for gas--including a very, very lanky and scraggly man in cowboy boots.
The section from Ladonia onwards was very hot, climbing up into the mid 90s, and exposed. There were some nice long downhill parts, though. We finally came to a town that was slightly larger, and ate lunch at the gas station and chocolate milk. I also inquired as to where I might find pepper spray. The cashier suggested the Dollar General down the way. No luck there for pepper spray, but as we were locking our bikes we were approached by an older gentleman who looked much like a cowboy. He asked us how far we were riding, and we told him about what we've covered so far and our goal to reach the Canadian border at least, if we can. He was such a charming character. He told us adamantly that if we ran into any trouble or needed any help, we could call him and he gave us his card. Call for help anytime, no matter what he will give us a hand. What a truly nice man! He also told us that he is what is called a mule man-- he owns a bunch of mules, and for a few weeks he brings them up to Colorado to ride. He definitely put a smile on our faces, and I'm thinking that after we've covered more ground, I might let him know how far we get. He might be happy to hear!
We were about 15 miles from Caddo national grasslands, and it was darn hot. The road was smooth and comparitively quick at least! About 5 miles from the grasslands turnoff I looked down at my back tire and thought it could maybe use a bit of air. We tucked ourselves into the fraction of share we could find, and I tried to pump a bit of air in to top it off. Except that somehow all the air came out. Part of the problem is that our pump is for regular tires, and I have some sort of fancy pants (aka stupid and frustrating) "presta" tire tube. I have a little metal piece that is an adapter for the pump, but to be honest this presta style tube is down right obnoxious. I just couldn't get any air to go in, and it kept flatter the more I pumped even though it had just needed a bit of air and wasn't punctured, etc. I was really frustrated. Laurel gave her dad a call, who has a bike with the presta style tubes. He said that because it lost air after trying to pump it so suddenly, the nozzle had probably broken as they are very delicate. What useless things, if pumping it can damage a nozzle and ruin a perfectly good tube!!! So I think I will have to look for a presta style pump so that I hopefully don't have to fuss with it so much. I changed my tube, and with one spare tube less, we were started again. While we were fixing my tire on the side of the road, no doubt looking like a sight, a lady from across the street drove up and asked if we were doing alright. We said we were just fixing it up, but thank you, and she gave us a heads up that there might be a house up ahead with some mean dogs. Laurel and I both picked up some rocks to keep on hand, in preparation in case they were out. Luckily, they were elsewhere.
We found the turn off for Caddo national grasslands, and it said 4 miles to Coffee Mill lake where I knew there was a campground. The air itself was so hot, and though the road rolled nicely, we were ready to be there. At last we found the the tub off, and made it to a self-service tent camping ground at a boat launch on the lake. No showers, unfortunately, but drop toilets and most importantly water. It was about 4:30, and we lounged about in the encompassing heat, washed our legs at the water pump and tried to cool off. Later, once the jet skis and boats and swimmers at the small boat launch had calmed, Laurel swam in and I sat in the water to soak my knees. We swam in our undergarments, and indeed walked around in them awhile if you can believe it. We gazed out at the lake and enjoyed the strong breeze. As I looked out on the beautiful water, and thought about the green forests and grasslands and fields around us, I thought more about how much we place our earth in jeopardy--I wonder often how we are able to do so, and how some can feel so unmoved by love for the land.
After that, I took off my pedal to try to figure out what is making the now VERY loud and noticeable click coming from my pedal/gears area. It started a couple days ago and has grown worse. I thought maybe something was loose, but after tightening the pedals and looking things over, I have no clue. I don't know anything about the chain and gears or pedals of the bike, and I know the such a loud cyclic click is likely to signal big trouble down the line. Let's hope I figure it out and it is a simple fix.
We slept without the rain tarp on, and it was still rather uncomfortably warm until finally cooling off late. I could see glimmers of stars through the oak leaves above, fireflies twinkling past. I have also been able to sleep on my sweatshirt, a good strategy to sleep easier on hard ground.
Tomorrow, we cross into Oklahoma, on our way to Atoka! I will miss Texas! It looks like we've got some hot weather in the upper 90s for tomorrow. Yikes!