Half Way And Nowhere

Elk City to Chickasha OK. 5000' climbing 128 .miles and a temp of 40f at the start. We had cross winds right out of the start. With a group of 7 we were a rather unruly bunch. We did have a shoulder at first so it wasn't as obvious how bad we were. The navigation today was going to be really complicated. Our cue sheet was 2 columns on the first page and finished on the back of a second page. In order to show the whole route it took breaking the map into three segments. The course profile was on the last page and looked like a down hill roller coaster ride. So we are out on the road with the idea that we would keep the group together. The pace was steady though we had to keep reminding some of the to watch their speed when they came to the front of the echelon. An echelon is when each rider is to the side of but just slightly behind the rider closer to the wind. Since there were 7 we had to have two rows in the echelon to stay on the shoulder. Now comes the part where we pushed the envelop on what is prudent. We turned off the road with the shoulder to a two lane with no shoulder. We were riding 3 abreast, this is against the law in every state but we do it all the time when we can get away with it. We get to the first SAG and all is fine it has warmed up and every one is putting extra items in the "lost and found" bin. So much that at the end of the day we had a large garbage bag plus the bin. Sorting it all out at the motel on a day like today can be quite a challenge. We leave the SAG and now we are 9. We form up into three rows of three on a diagonal. Now it gets a little sticky. In order for this mass to move down the road we are doing a 9 person zig zag echelon. This is like a 9 person volleyball rotation. Except the front right person doesn't drop straight back. They go from the from front right to the rear left. Everybody else advances one position towards the front. Like a segmented snake. We are doing this switch every mile. So this happens about every 2 minutes and 30 seconds. There are ONE or two in the group that are having a little trouble with the concept and on each rotation have to be told where to move to next. Even after 2 complete cycles. Just past 50 miles we turn off the two lane on to a single lane road. We are moving along nicely. We are so far over the line on what is prudent behavior it isn't funny. Yet we roll right along. Lucky for us no cars are on this road. Then we are busted by Mike. We come over a narrow bridge followed by a right hand turn and there he is in the van. Well you know there is going to be hell to pay for this. We single it out and very soon after we come to the spot painted in the road to mark the half way of our trip. Yipee. The lecture we get for our bad behavior isn't to bad. So photos are taken with every camera available by Mike who is standing on the bike rack on top of the van. Great shot. We continue on to our lunch SAG single file. We have lunch at a turn in the road. We are really in a rural spot. It is just beautiful. All day everything around us is green. A far cry from the dried out scrub of the high desert. After lunch we had a manageable group of 5. The winds have dropped and we are rolling along at a comfortable pace. We made a 2 mile detour because a sign we were looking for was missing. No big deal. At 82 miles we ride over Ft Cobb Lake Dam. Very inviting but we don't stop. A few miles later we pass a storage tank on the side of the road that says NOWHERE, OKLA. Now Mike claims it says Now Here but I don't think so. We make it to the motel. At rap Mike asks that the peleton stay after all the rest have been dismissed. This is to show us pictures of what we looked like on the road today and a friendly reminder of how dangerous it can be. Dinner then get ready for tomorrow. Our signature day according to Mike. By signature I think he means the longest.