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Russellville AR to North Little Rock AR – 90.23 miles – 5265 ft climbing

The day started out packing up all of the items left to dry overnight. Then I was out just before the crack of dawn once again. The décor of the lobby caused Karen to comment – ‘Yep, we’re now in the South!’

I figured that this would be a recovery day. I was looking forward to finding a groove again. There were flashes of it, but I never hit a stride. The climbs leading up to Little Rock were not all that challenging, but I struggled up each and every one of them. I am not sure if I am just spent after so many days of fighting the wind. But with the wind at my back for a majority of the day, I expected to do much better.

The Co-Motion bicycle didn’t seem quite right. It was as if the brakes were dragging. I checked several times to be sure. I know the chain and derailleur were a bit creaky, so I will be lubing those up tonight. The tires also seemed a little low, but I just checked again and they seem fine.

Perhaps it was the weather which started the way it ended – chilly and grey. Just south of the motel was the Arkansas Tech campus.

After 20 miles or so, the clouds opened up a bit for the first glimmer of sunlight.

By the time I hit the rolling hills, the temperature actually seemed comfortable – as long as the wind was on my back.

The back roads were sparsely traveled with polite drivers. Road conditions were on par with back home rides. Even when riding on the macademized surface, it was worn down enough to provide a decently smooth surface.

The Pinnacle Mountain State Park segment featured dense woods that kept me in the shade most of the time so I wasn’t aware of the return of darkening skies until I exited the park.

By the time I reached the outskirts of Little Rock, the sky was a threatening gray once again and I even felt a drop or two. I ended up on a road that I really had no business being on – a heavily traveled 4 lane highway with no shoulder. The drivers (except a couple of them as usual) were extremely polite merging into the left lane for me. I stopped on a few occasions to let them all pass when I noticed a backup behind me in my mirror.

When I reached the turnoff for the road leading to the river, it was quite a steep decent. The gloom was enhanced when Karen called informed me she had booked the wrong motel location. Karen immediately went online and booked the correct motel. Through divine intervention she was able to secure the only available room – the largest suite in the place - with a two-person whirlpool tub. She might not have gotten it if she just called the front desk since they were unaware of the availability. She still had to repack the car and remount the spare bicycle on top of the car.

The bike path offered one of the only safe ways across the Arkansas River. The path also features lots more climbs than I was expecting.

The climbs didn’t let up on the residential streets. If fact, it got much worse. By the time I reached the Old Mill (used in the opening scene of Gone With The Wind), I was completely spent and unprepared for the 21% grade. I made it two-thirds of the way up and died. I have never had to walk a bike up a hill – until today. My knees where aching and I was a bit cautious since a near fall a few days back when I tried to start a climb from a dead stop and my right clip missed the lock. I finally reached a driveway and worked up a few feet into the driveway to get a couple of feet downhill slope for momentum and finished the last 20 feet of the climb pedaling. How demoralizing!