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Published: June 17th 2018
Today was a short day in mileage, but the hills and heat made it a tremendous challenge.
I have not seen this kind of up and down since Eastern Kentucky, and the “Real Temp” factor of 105 made it a very challenging day. The lumpy roads never let up and often the pitch was over 12%.
The hills were relatively short climbs, (with two longer exceptions), but it was very difficult to get in any kind of rhythm, As soon as we topped a hill we rapidly decended to a hollow and began another climb. We probably did that 20 times!
The temperature was off the charts and Bruce and I were very relieved to arrive in Eminence where we will take tomorrow off.
Eminence is a resort town that primarily makes its living catering to folks wanting to float the Current River. It is so appealing because the river is spring fed and crystal clear.
Once we arrived, we noticed the Dairy House and treated ourselves to a milkshake. It was quite a treat!
Our quarters at the Rivers Edge Resort are very nice and the air conditioning make it worth every penny!
We both relaxed for awhile before venturing out into the heat again to explore.
After walking for about 1/4 mile to find a restaurant we marveled at how we were able to ride 29 miles in that heat!
(My theory is that when one starts out at a cooler time of day, the temperature increase is so subtle that we don’t really realize how bad the heat has really become!
We both agreed that we able to avoid heat exhaustion by gulping icy cold water from our water bottles during the ride!)
After our walk in the terrible heat, we arrived at the restaurant to find it did not open for another two hours.
The owner, Theresa, allowed us in and served us a couple of coors lights. ( What can I say? It was cold.)
Then Teresa offered to take us over to Wendy’s River Tube rental, to arrange for our float trip tomorrow.
She waited about five minutes for us and dropped us off at the Hotel again. Another example of a genuinely nice person! Everywhere I go I am constantly amazed at the offers of kindness from complete strangers.
Needless to say, we walked back over to Eagles Landing Steak House at 5 PM and had a great Steak dinner.
We are both really looking forward to floating the Current River tomorrow!
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Jim Goldberg
non-member comment
Persevere!
Hey Bob, the good news - the Ozarks with the toughest part of the trip when I led a Bikecentennial group in '84 (W to E)! Glad you're meeting such generous locals - love your stories! PS- I rode with your buddy Jim Robinson today here in MA and NH.