This is my third time crafting the entire set of daily cycling routes for our adventure: once, almost a year ago, based on the assumption that Bicycle Route 66 was actually navigable.  Then again in the weeks before departure, doing a sanity check and linking to our accommodations.  And then now, daily, as we have completely tossed out the preceding routes, as our accommodations have changed, and the routes were just not safe enough. It is not an easy task to find roads to get from here to there safely.  There are inevitable tradeoffs – rural farm roads are less populated, but they tend to have high speed limits (55 – 65 mph), no shoulder, and a capricious and unreliable relationship with gravel. State highways often have shoulders, but they can disappear without forewarning, the speed limits are even higher, trucks are plentiful, and riding is generally miserable. The ideal is a dedicated cycling route, and we have found some great ones, but they tend to be isolated and too short to work for a full day’s ride.  I often end up trying to create a franken-route by stringing bike paths together with whatever roads I can find.  I am getting better at this, and AI is earning its strips.

Today, I didn’t do any of the foregoing and tried something new.  We took a tour of the parks, gardens and architecture of downtown Oklahoma City, starting with posh mansions, then winding through the cultural landmarks, stadiums (the OKC Thunder are in town tonight for Game 2 of their playoff series with LA), the arboretum and botanical gardens, and several art parks.  We made an impromptu stop at a bowling green to play a challenging game of Bockiball, and discovered some Chihuli glass on display.

Here is an interesting set of facts: 75% of the world’s tornados occur in the US.  Of those, the bulk occur in a corridor, called “Tornado Alley”, and of those, they occur most often in early May.  Tonight, we are in the bullseye – the right time, place and conditions for a tornado to occur.  For storm hunters, this is the big show.  Our plans for an afternoon ride were scuttled when black clouds invaded our bright blue sky, like an aircraft carrier moving into a small bay, and sheets of rain poured down.  We then watched the storm turn electrical and put on one of the most captivating light shows I have ever seen..

We were greeted on our arrival by Mike and Julie (and Benji), who have returned to help keep us moving. Thank goodness.