Fayetteville AR – Hattiesburg MS
July 9, 2018
(~1087 miles)

I was up with the alarm and packed in a jif. Swallowed a half cup of coffee from the lobby, knowing it would force me to pull over at least twice in the first couple hours, but wanting to jumpstart my alertness level for the day. First stop was about an hour away, a few miles over the border in Sallisaw OK, off I-40. This was a easy shot of the pre-Civil War cabin right along the main road, with no traffic to speak of at the early hour.

I continued west on I-40 about 30 miles and turned north into a confusing grid of paved and unpaved county roads around the town of Rentiesville. I was on a three mile stretch of gravel road (apparently CR 4230) when I noticed animals in the road up ahead. They turned out to be several dogs that apparently lived at the house I was going by, and they took umbrage at my passage through their front lawn. I read the expressions on their faces as they slowly identified me and tried to gauge my speed as I slowed to avoid them. Just as I went by, I gunned it a bit – bumping around on the gravel surface – to get out of range as they gave half-hearted chase. I said a few choice words aloud and hoped to hit pavement soon, which eventually did come to pass.

When I arrived at the bonus location, another rider was there already going about his routine. He pointed at the gravel surface of the small parking lot and made a comment about getting used to the gravel. I asked him if he’d been chased by the dogs back along that long stretch of unpaved road and he looked at me sorrowfully, saying that he’d gotten there on all paved roads! Oy vei, this Garmin was going to be the death of me!

As I watched this rider photograph a nearby marker sign, I wondered why, since the bonus description I was reading said I had to walk a short distance down a paved path to find a green-colored marker. After wandering around for a few minutes looking for such a path, I returned to my bike, puzzled, until I realized I was looking at instructions for the next bonus (I had added this one to the route last minute). He must have wondered what the hell I was doing! Sheepishly, I turned to and verified the correct bonus description (which is of course part of my checklist for every bonus, if only I’d follow it) and got the shot of the monument to one of the first African American regiments.

To get out of here, I did NOT want to ride past the dog house on that gravel road again, but that’s how Garmin wanted me to go. Rather than obey, I spent the next 10 minutes wandering the grid of farm roads, looking for where the pavement did NOT end, based on the intel from my fellow competitor. I finally exited the maze west through Rentiesville out to US-69 which dumped me back on I-40.

I zig-zagged south on state routes 2, 31, and 82, watching a beautiful sunrise in the hills of eastern Oklahoma. I’d not expected to see such a landscape in this state and soaked in the beauty as I rode, enjoying the cooler morning air. US highways 270 and 271 took me to the entrance of Ouachita National Forest and onto the western end of the Talimena Scenic Byway. The next bonus was an historic marker in one of the pull-off lots on Winding Stair Mountain (and the green marker I’d been seeking at the last stop!).

Now I really got to enjoy some great riding on this byway through the forest, as SR-1 led me a merry chase along countless curves and a few twisties, with no traffic to speak of. This was one of those magical moments during a rally when you can just enjoy the road and forget about timelines for a few minutes. I almost dialed the rally phone just to thank the rallymasters for getting me on such a road, but figured they may need extra sleep in case it had been a long night.

I emerged onto US-259 by the southern edge of the forest and pulled into a lot with two other riders, looking for the next bonus which was supposed to be one of Peter Toth’s Whispering Giant sculptures. All that was there was a big pedestal with three tubes sticking straight up out of it. We shrugged at one another and someone got on the phone to the rallymasters. Lucky to have a signal by all later accounts from other riders, we were told that the rally book had the incorrect coordinates for the Whispering Giant bonus and so we could simply get a photo of the monument there in front of us, appropriately titled “Three Sticks”.

I crossed back into Arkansas via SR-4 to US-59 and followed US-278 to a fuel stop in the logging town of Dierks, where I also donned my cooling vest once again, as the day was heating up. I pulled in to the village of Center Point for the historical marker there, roughly 80 miles from the previous bonus.

Another hour and a half on a south heading, mostly on US-59, took me through Texarkana and into the far eastern reaches of Texas, new territory for me. The next bonus was a mural in Linden TX, whose claim to fame is being the birthplace of a few famous musicians including Scott Joplin, T-bone Walker, and Don Henley.

I split off from US-59 in Marshall TX onto SR-31, which I followed down to the Louisiana border. Historical signs designated the site of the last remaining international border marker within current US borders. Apparently, off in the woods close by is a 10 foot granite monolith that marked the border of the Republic of Texas in 1840. I called the rallymaster to be sure we didn’t need to bushwack to the actual granite marker and he confirmed the roadside sign was all we needed, since there was deep sand around the actual block. Man, these TeamStrange folks are NICE…east coast rallymasters be like throwin’ riders into the quicksand, laughin’ and shit….

A quick turn in Logansport LA made my first ride into that state extremely brief, and I was back in Texas heading south on US-96 parallel to the western border of the Sabine National Forest. Turned east toward Burkesville and the marker for Burr’s Ferry at the bridge over the Sabine River, which marks the state border.

I left Texas for good this time and picked up LA-28 in Leesville, after stopping to take on more fuel. This was a long stretch of road in the middle of nowhere with some handy passing zones, and I made quick work of it to the next bonus. I found my way up to Colfax LA via SR-1200 and SR-8 for an easy roadside stop and photo of this historical marker about the race riot that occurred here.

Though Basecamp had wanted me to follow LA-8 east for 70 miles or so, the GPSes took me back south on US-71 to skirt Alexandria and back northeast on LA-28, dodging the occasional pop-up shower and at one point enjoying a huge rainbow plastered across the sky. Along with the spooky cowpath back in Missouri, this was another lost photo opportunity I now regret. I pulled into sleepy Harrisonburg for another historical marker.

As I left the town on the same road I’d entered it, my radar beeped warningly, and I checked down my speed immediately. I saw bright headlamps make the turn back behind me in the distance and my spidey-sense told me it was a LEO (since he wasn’t disappearing in the distance). There had been no radar blips on my way in on this road, so I know he was prodding me with radar to see if I was going to hightail it out of there (which I otherwise probably would have done).

I wondered if other riders had been through and fallen victim. Sorry to disappoint you officer – I kept things right at the speed limit for the next several miles as he followed behind me and caught up. Eventually he became impatient and passed on by (confirming it was a Sheriff’s car) before we reached Jonestown, where he pulled off to a gas station. Hooray for Valentine1 – I was very glad I’d put the effort in to get the radar audio working again!

I crossed back over the Mississippi River again, this time into Natchez MS, where I wound through the picturesque but worn-looking downtown area to find a small historical park marking the site called Forks in the Road, the second largest slave auction site in the country at one time.

I turned south on US-61 toward Baton Rouge for about 90 miles, and lucked out with a super-fast rabbit in a jacked-up pickup truck. He was going so fast on the two-laner that I didn’t want to maintain his speed for very long to keep up, but at least I knew he was up ahead and would gain the attention of any present law enforcement before I came cruising through.

I allowed Waze to guide me through the unfamiliar city and they led me unerringly through all the construction and landscaping work to Louisiana State University’s stadium for a photo of their tiger mascot.

Interstates 12 and 55 took me east and north back into Mississippi for fuel in Magnolia and then on to the town of McComb, near the birthplace of Bo Diddley, a founder of rock n roll. Had more fun with Garmin, as it routed me along the rutted road next to the railroad tracks rather than just staying on the main thoroughfare for six more blocks and making an easy right into the train station lot to get the photo of this cool sculpture. Sigh.

Another hour or so brought me into Hattiesburg and I decided to head straight for my hotel to start my rest, and get the nearby bonus in the morning on my way south to Mobile. I got a receipt and a sandwich from the Exxon station next door at 23:54 and checked in for the next eight hours. By my count, I’d crossed nine state borders today and was able to check Louisiana and Mississippi off my states-ridden list (just a few northwestern states to go).

I set my alarm and then turned attention to route tweaking for the last day’s ride. I was already resigned to having to drop a bonus or two, to ensure I’d be able to get all five remaining stadiums that I needed for the big combo and get in to the checkpoint by midnight to secure the early Leg 2 pack handout. My original route was calculated to take about 16 hours, which would put me right on the line for the midnight cutoff, and I still had to go through Nashville, right around rush hour. Cutting bonuses out early in the route was my best option to save time, so after doing the math, I dropped three bonuses in southern Alabama, worth 800 points but saving about 1.5 hours off the route ETA.

By looking at the group SpotWalla page, I knew that a few riders had ventured out further west than I had, to scoop up bonuses near Tulsa and Houston. I saw that a great majority of riders were staying focused in the central area of the playing field, probably scooping up tons of bonuses left and right. I liked my route, but had that nagging voice in my head like I always do, telling me that I missed something obvious. I had to work with it at this point, and I was glad to have a plan settled for tomorrow’s ride.

Leg 1, Day 2