I can hardly believe it, but today is the 10 month mark of the trip. It doesn't feel like we've been gone for that long just because the time has gone so fast. With every day an adventure, there is never a dull moment to let us get really really homesick, which helps. However, as we look back over the last 10 months, the first few states, and even Alaska seem almost like a different trip. We've seen so much and gone so far that it's sometimes hard to believe it. But it's easy to say that the last 10 months have been nothing but incredible. We started out our day today having a great nights sleep and a good breakfast of hot chocolate and granola cereal. Susan was home today, but had a conference call she had to be on, so we only saw her for a little bit. John on the other hand, decided that he would join us on our ride to and through Little Rock. We were pretty excited because it is always so nice when our host joins us on the ride. The best part is that we have our own personal tour guide, which makes it twice as fun (and equally stress free). The weather is much better than yesterday. Although it was said that it would rain the entire day yesterday, it was mainly cloudy for a good portion of the day. There were a few times that it did rain, but not as bad as they said it would. Either way, we are glad we stayed the extra day. Although there were still clouds in the sky, it wasn't as cold and the sun was actually shining!! Once we were all packed and ready, John jumped on his single speed bike, and the three of us were off. He took us on a very enjoyable route through some neighborhoods with some beautiful homes so that we could avoid the busy roads. For quite a while we rode along the Arkansas River, part of which was on the river front trail. That trail was so nice to ride on: it was smooth and didn't have too much trail traffic on it the day we were on it. At one point we passed by the longest pedestrian bridge in the US. It was built right over the Big River Dam and was probably close to a mile in length. As we rode along enjoying the sunshine and having our own tour guide to tell us what was what, we drew closer and closer to downtown Little Rock. The first thing we saw was the capital building across the river. When we got to where we could see the main downtown section, it kind of reminded me of Portland, OR simply because it was across the river and there were a bunch of bridges. John took us across the old rail road bridge that they had converted into a pedestrian bridge. That was a very nice ride across the Arkansas River- no traffic! Right on the other side of that bridge was the Clinton Presidential Library. As we rode along, we couldn't believe how small downtown Little Rock really was. We were in and out before we even realized it. As we were sitting at a stoplight, John said that if we weren't in a rush, which we never really are at this point, he would treat us to hot cocoa at one of his favorite cafe's there before we left. Of course we couldn't turn down hot cocoa and the chance to chit chat a little longer with John before parting ways. Along with our hot chocolate, all 3 of us got a little treat. John got a very yummy looking brownie, Joey got a donut, and I got a cupcake (since just the other day I was saying how yummy a cupcake would be!). It was so nice to have a little extra time with John today. As John showed us the way out of the city, we stopped and saw the house where John and Susan used to live since it was right on the way. Once we were pretty much out of the city and John had gotten us to a spot that we couldn't get lost, we parted ways. Hopefully someday they will decide to come to NY and ride around there- maybe the Erie Canal Trail! We had such a great time with them- I'm so glad that he decided to stop us on the road a couple of days ago! As we headed south, there was not much of a shoulder on the road we were on, but the traffic was pretty respectful. We went from being in the city area to being a good way out of the city very quickly. Almost right away after John left us, we were in a country like area. At one point we saw a McDonald's, which was a little unexpected, so we stopped there to look up how to get to our Warm Showers host's house for tonight. On the way from Little Rock to Sheridan (our destination for the evening) we rode through a couple small towns. When we got a little closer to Sheridan, we turned onto a different road that had a nice big shoulder. At one point, we got a little hungry, so we stopped for a granola bar snack. A little while later, I rode up to where Joey was stopped waiting for me. But this time, he wasn't just standing there waiting, he was taking off his back bags. That could only mean one thing- there was a flat on Joey's back wheel. We are pretty sure it was another of those wires from the truck tires that did the damage. But the other part of it is that the back tire with the bulge in it is officially done. Joey put on the back-up Pannaracer, and threw the Schualbe tire on top of his bags where it rode for a couple thousand miles earlier on in the trip. With the tire all fixed, we were ready to roll again. We stopped at a gas station for a quick break and I fell in love with this dog that was hanging around there. He had a collar on, but seemed like he was pretty skinny. I wish I could have just taken him home. We made it to Sheridan just as school let out. There was a HUGE parade of buses, I couldn't believe it. The line just kept going and going. I didn't think that this town could be that big, but they probably bus in kids from all over the place. With our directions in hand, we headed out to find the street that our host lived on. From the main light in town, they were a couple miles out. Without any trouble, we found their street, or so we thought. From the map online that I looked at, their house should have been relatively close, at least within a half a mile. We rode for over a mile thinking to ourselves that we couldn't possibly be lost. As we were looking, we saw a church. Since we were early (Kurt, our host, said he wouldn't be home until about 4:30) we decided to take a little break outside of the church. We figured we would look at our map on the computer in a little bit and see if we could figure it out even without internet. We didn't sit there too long before someone came walking along with a big smile on her face. She said that "I bet I know who you are, you've ridden from NY all the way up to Alaska and you are on your way back!?!?" Sure enough, she was right- that was us (but I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be too many other people riding around this area on loaded bikes at this time of year). Trish introduced herself and told us that we were going to be spending the night at her house tonight; she was Kurt's wife! What a perfect thing- we were lost and now we were found! She told us that their road makes a huge loop, so from the main road, there are 2 entrances. Somehow, we didn't notice this when we looked at the map before. Either way, she pointed us in the right direction and said we could head on over and that she would be done with her walk soon. So, we ended up taking the long route to get to their house, but we found it just fine after talking with Trish. Less than 5 minutes after we got there, Kurt rolled in on his bike from his ride. He's into Ultra-distance cycling and had done Race Across America (and got 7th place!). Now that is just completely amazing to me. I could tour all day at our speed on our 100+ pound bikes, but I could never do something like that. First of all, I am just plain slow, but even more so- I like sleep way too much. When they do RAA, they hardly sleep at all. I cannot imagine how hard that must be simply to fight the sleep deprivation. It is very hard to ride when you are tired. The day we left Yellowstone, I was completely exhausted and had gotten hardly any sleep. I was almost falling asleep on my bike (hence why we called it quits and got a hotel in West Yellowstone, MT that day), it was just so hard to keep going and stay on the road that day. It would be aweful to have multiple days like that. Long story short- Kurt is a very in shape, tough guy. The world of touring is very small, but the world of Ultra-distance cycling is even smaller. Kurt knows Jim Finger, a host we stayed with in GA on our last tour (and might stay with again on this tour), which we thought was pretty neat. Once we got settled, we each took a shower, and threw in our cycling clothes with a load Kurt was doing. That worked out really well because we didn't really have much laundry to do except for what we had worn today. When Trish got home from her walk, we had some awesome chili and salad for dinner with their son Allen and one of their daughters, Katelyn. For dessert, we had some marble cake drizzled in milk. At first, I was surprised when I saw both Kurt and Allen pour milk right onto their cake. Then they explained that it was kind of just like having ice cream on it in a way. This was their usual routine when it came to cake. Now I just had to try that after seeing them do it. It turned out to be delicious! I don't know if it would have the same effect if there had been icing on the cake, but this is something that I will have again for sure. After our yummy dinner, Joey and Allen (and Kurt, too) played a little wii sports. It was pretty funny to watch- especially the boxing match. The guys got so into it, it was hilarious. Trish, Katelyn and I worked on a puzzle that Trish had started already. By the end of the night, the three of us completed it! That was a lot of fun. It's been a long time since I've put together a puzzle. Before bed, the 4 of us watched a movie, some of the group didn't make it all the way through it because bed was calling, but it was still fun anyways. What a great day. It is crazy how it worked out that we had two Warm Shower's in a row. That doesn't happen very often, especially since we didn't plan it that way. Either way, it was a wonderful day. 54.39 miles was the total for today.
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