May 23, 2022
Day 3, Cedar Lake to Wister Lake State Park
Dinner at the Bait Shop
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Climbing Today; 1,414 ft Climbing to Date; 5,377 ft
(Note that Doc and I didn't ride the entire route shown above today - we ended near the point where you first encounter Wister lake, and will ride the remaining 6 miles when we start tomorrow's ride - now you know)
Last night the temperature was perfect for me in my lightweight summer bag, flannel pajama bottoms, and merino wool top. Doc complained about it being cold, which means it was less than 80 f :>). I was moving slowly and took longer than usual to break camp and pack it all up.
Today we had toasted bagels and coffee for breakfast, once again courtesy of Cindy and Thomas. We knew there was a good breakfast cafe at mile 14 on today's route, but with the climbing involved to leave the lake area it could be almost 2 hours before we got there - and so, we looked forward to the cyclist's tradition of "second breakfast" later today.
There were some steep climbs leaving the campsite, but they were short in duration - today was mostly a very pleasant roll. I thought it most likely that I would spot Bigfoot somewhere in the forest early this morning as we are probably about as deep into the woods as we will get, so I was tuned in and had the radar on high alert for all large animals - but there were no Bigfoot sightings today. I wasn't feeling 100% - I think my allergies were reacting to the Oklahoma spring pollen - and at the time it appeared likely that we could wake up to rain showers tomorrow. Neither Doc nor I were happy with the thought of having to break camp in the rain tomorrow morning, so we called ahead and managed to secure a cabin at Lake Wister State Park. They refunded the amount I had already paid for a camping spot, so the $74 cabin only added a net cost of $51 to us - that seemed like a bargain to get us inside tonight.
We enjoyed a great second breakfast in the little community of Hontubby, then rolled into Heavener shortly afterwards. It was way too soon for lunch after the substantial breakfast we just had, but we stopped at a bakery and each bought pastries for first breakfast tomorrow morning. We learned that Bud and Carolyn had to drop out of the tour and return home due to a family emergency -safe travels and best of luck to them.
An option for today would have been to climb the mountain and visit the Heavener Runestone. First documented in 1923, for many years it was thought to be evidence of an early Viking presence in Oklahoma. Alas, that doesn't appear likely to be the case; Oklahoma Runestones. You should note that the experts don't totally dismiss the possibility that the stone could have been of Viking origin, and one thinks that maybe it's a 20% probability. I think the runes were probably carved by Bigfoot in an attempt to distract us from looking for him. Anyway, I've seen it before so I had no desire to cycle up the mountain to view some fake Viking runes.
From Heavener we rolled north to Howe, then west to Wister Lake. We rode across the dam, then checked in at the park office. The first cabin they gave us was infested with flies - there had to be more than a hundred in there - so we got another one and it was fine. The cabins are "rustic," meaning that they are old and in need of some updating, but ours would do fine for our needs tonight.
Due to our late second breakfast, we skipped lunch today and headed out at 5:00 for dinner at the nearby combination bait shop and diner. As was stated in our pre-tour packet, "you know you are a redneck when you eat lunch at a bait shop!" D&J Bait 'n Grub isn't a fine-dining experience, but they make a decent fish and chips or burger basket, and we were glad for the convenience.
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We left the bait shop and returned to the cabin. We had beers, and I made dessert from 1 of the 2 pastries I had picked up earlier. It was nice to have cell service, so I worked on this journal till 9:30 and then turned in. Although this is only a short tour, I find that I'm pretty tired at the end of the day. G'nite everyone...
Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 112 miles (180 km)
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I hope your "grub" didn't have worms or minnows in it.
2 years ago