Yesterday Jason Shelfer and I completed our third TA110 bike ride. While I am not at all worthy of the full 110 mile route, I always feel a sense of accomplishment from doing the 77 mile course. It’s littered with hills and the hot, humid July weather ensures for a miserable experience. Yet I, and about 400 other people from places near and far continue to do this event year after year.

One thing I was proud of this year was that we didn’t get passed by nearly as many people as in years past. While we certainly weren’t leading the pack, we definitely held our own. I completed the route in 5h 35m, which is almost an hour faster than last year and a good 2 hours faster than my first attempt.

Spirits were high and the temps were low at 6:30am!

About 10 miles in…this isn’t so bad! Nice and flat!

This is the point of no return for the 110 mile route. There are always several groups of people stopped here debating which way to go. It is never a debate for me!

After the lunch stop is when things start getting tough.

Here we are near the halfway point of the ride, and the longest hill of the ride. It seems to go on forever. As has been the case in past years, Oklahoma drivers are the worst in terms of bikers. It doesn’t seem to matter how large the vehicle or what they are towing (boats, horse trailers, etc) they don’t slow down or pull into the other lane.

Looking back about 2/3 of the way up the hill. All…most….there…

This stretch along Bethel Road in Newton County is always tough for me. It’s long, has no shade, and the road is horribly rough for road bikes with 120psi tires. At this point I have about 60 miles under my belt and it’s starting to get very hot outside.

The last rest stop is always nice. There are no major hills left and we’re almost done!

Once again, we completed the Tornado Alley bike ride. I felt so miserable it was difficult to muster a smile, but deep down I was glad to have participated!

This week Marian Days, the catholic vietnamese festival is going on in Carthage. I always look forward to it, mainly because it’s about the only time I get to use chopsticks. Also, Jason Shelfer was able to snag a menu with english translations this year, so that made things a bit easier.

I am a big fan of Phở. Not sure what all is in it… probably best not to ask. Last year I had Phở Gà, this year I went with the chín (beef) version. It was splendid and very herbally, maybe from the fresh cilantro, basil, sprouts and jalapenos. Either way, I’m all about the Phở.

I think some of my friends, such as Grant would like eating at Marian Days. Colby on the other hand, would probably not.

Here is the stand where I got some Mango Boba… which was splendid. Across the way was a fruit stand selling all kinds of weird things including Jackfruit and my favorite, Lychee.

I am not sure what was going on here, but this event is actually a catholic gathering. It was pretty cool.

After the candle march they had some songs and stuff, maybe a mass or worship service. I will admit I am fairly ignorant on the ways of Catholicism.

Jason Shelfer, the man who brought you the “drum-tar” (a guitar merged with a drum) has now combined an old bicycle with a shopping cart. The idea was that he could ride from his house to Aldi, shop for groceries, checkout, and come back home without ever getting off the bike. That is assuming they don’t mind someone riding a bike in the store.

It was a brilliant idea in theory but still has a few kinks to work out. The main issue being that in it’s current form, the cartcycle can’t turn without falling over. Which is to be expected on a bike that has 5 wheels, 2 of which are fixed in the center and the two leading wheels twirl around like drunken sailors with complete disregard to which direction the ship is headed.

I can’t wait for the steering to be perfected so I can document the cartcycle being used to it’s full potential and I am fairly confident that Jason will soon become well known around Carthage as “that guy that rides a shopping cart”.

PS – At Jason’s request I will conduct a poll on whether or not my readers would like more posts about his strange contraptions and/or activities in the future. Since I am too lazy to install a poll plugin tonight, please just leave comments to indicate your preference!