3 July Ride: Riding the Roadies

An early wake up call as the plan was to head up to Hiwasse and ride with the Roadies.  The ride would cover three states, albeit by accident, and afterward a dip in Tim and Beth's poll with a picnic lunch.  This would be a challenging day for me, not because of the distance or topography, but, rather, I was challenging myself to refrain from stopping to take any photographs during the ride.  Not being the swiftest, I tend to fall back to the back of the pack and not wanting to fall completely out of sight, I made a promise to keep the camera packed away until stops.

A photo op came up before we left as I stopped to talk with Beth's dad.  I found it interesting to hear that he grew up in Hiwasse and he filled me in on a few tales.

 George, Beth's Dad.

 The Roadies preparing to take off.  There were about 30 people there today.

Riding in a pack certainly is much different than riding solo or even with one or two other folks.  The group becomes a single organism so that my attention to car traffic is considerably reduced.  However, my attention to what the other bikers are doing goes way up.  Once I became comfortable with the group, I did pull out the camera while riding for a shot.

 So far, so good as far as keeping up with the group.  I knew eventually I would be left in the dust but I enjoyed the group dynamics while I could.  I rode alongside Jack for a few miles and had a good chat with him.

This being the Fourth of July weekend, I thought I would try to capture shots that were theme related.  Lou was wearing a flag jersey so he was game.  

I mentioned that we rode through 3 states: at least some of us did.  At Gravette, some riders rode on ahead.  Beth said she hoped that they knew where they were going.  I went on and followed them.  As it turned out, the route being taken today was slightly different than in the past; it cut off a few miles and also only visited two states.  For the riders up ahead, it didn't make much difference since they were rather fast.  I still had a respectable pace but it certainly couldn't make up for the extra miles I needed to cover.  So, when I go to the rest area, the group was ready to push on.  No problem.  I enjoyed the extra miles, I got to see another state (Oklahoma) and there were a couple of others in the same boat as me.  After our brief stay in Missouri, we headed back.

There were, of course, plenty of flags along the way, however, I was trying to find theme related photos that would be a bit different.  The flag on the crane below struck me as interesting in that it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

 And, in all my bike travels, what perfect timing for me to stumble on Miss Liberty in someone's front yard.

 As it turned out, there were a couple of people behind me on the return leg.  This gave me the opportunity to stop and not worry that I might be holding up the group at the end.  I really liked this grain(?) tower in Gravette.

 As I was trying to steady my hand against a utility pole to take a picture of the grain tower, I spotted this grasshopper.  He wouldn't sit quiet still enough for me to really zoom in on him.  Click on the photograph to get a better look at his eyes.

Later, back on the bike, I was thinking about a new sport that would be a take off of the biathlon.  Rather than skiing and stopping to shoot a rifle, one would race a bike and have stopping points where the competitors would have to take a photograph with a zoom lens. Judging would then be based on one's speed but also how well a photograph was taken.

The face formed by the windows first caught my eye.  When I stopped, I saw that the subject was even slightly theme related with the red and white object in the window.

About a mile west of Hiwasse.

 On the ride out, I actually took a photo of this barn while on the move. But, now, with no worries about stopping, I was able to get a better shot.  This is also just west of Hiwasse.

Getting to Tim and Beth's, the dip in the pool felt great and lots of wonderful food was brought for a great picnic.  I forgot to ask Tim and Beth about their guardian buzzard that was perched at the entrance gate.

Today's Ride: 3hrs. 24mins.  51.24 miles.  78-94 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,134.57

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