Ride report: 17.1 miles, 755.5 total miles, 12.5 mph avg, 1,489 calories, 1,558 ft. climbing.
What a day. But first a report on last night...
Turns out that the Lawton area was in a wind advisory. Now the lake we’re at isn’t that big but the wind was howling last night, rocking the RV all night long. There was little sleep to be had between the RV rocking and the wind noise. And the wind had the full run of the lake before getting to the East shore, where we’re located - prolly 50 ft. from the shore. Spray from the breaking waves was on our windows as I ate breakfast. Animals were lining up two by two trying to get in the door of the rig. At least the zebras were polite. They're the only ones who knocked. Oh - and I'm pretty sure that the baby geese I mentioned yesterday are in Eastern Tennessee tonight.
So - back to today...
Great fun this morning. Turns out that Frank (from dinner last night) is the Directorate of Museums at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Cool, but not especially surprising. He was a cannon-cocker from way back and retired after 27 years, with his last tour at Fort Sill. Anyway - he gave us a tour of the artillery museum on post. I have tons of cool pics of both modern and antique artillery pieces. It was pretty much a walking tour of the entire history of artillery, and not just the US stuff. Apparently after each war, hardware from the vanquished armies is brought back to the states for study with artillery pieces tending to come to Fort Sill since its the artillery training post for the Army. I think the legal term for this is, "To the victor goes the spoils." Lots of pics... That was the morning.
As for the afternoon, when I showed the reader pics of the "mountain" across the lake from us last night, I also Googled it. Turns out that its called Mount Scott and is apparently considered an "iconic" ride - at least for this portion of the country. This according to the one guy I found on-line who had blogged his trip up and then back down. Well then. Since I'm becoming a bit of "icon" myself (my eternal gratitude to the nine of you who regularly read my stuff) what would be more appropriate than an icon climbing an icon? Nothing - that's what. The wind had abated just a bit but was still running at 19 with gusts to 30. Hmmm...better go for it. Seems the wise thing to do. Besides, I'll prolly only be here with a bike once; and it is an iconic ride after all. So, off I went. The wind made the trip up interesting. This because as one works one’s way up the mountain the road basically corkscrews around the mountain twice in order to get to the top. So, half the trip up was wind assisted and half was into the wind. The hill itself is 2.7 miles of between 6.5% grade on the low end and 9.5% on the upper end.
The ride stats sort of hint at what was going on. Pretty much the opposite of yesterday’s ride which was above my usual mph average. Seldom does a ride of mine this short end with a 12.5 mph average. The culprit: climbing. Apparently my power plant is a diesel more appropriate for use plowing fields than for use in an F1 race car. But the views were absolutely stunning. From this I concluded that cyclists are like everyone else. We love the view from up there. But the effort it takes to get there? Not so much.
On to today’s pics...
These are the Medicine Creek bluffs. Considered sacred by Native Americans - located on Fort Sill.
Geronimo's grave. Yes - that Geronimo. And no, he never jumped off the previously depicted bluffs shouting "Geronimo" as myth holds.
Some big guns in the museum.
More big guns on the grounds outside the museum.
THE big gun - Atomic Annie. The only artillery piece to have ever fired an atomic projectile. It went 6.2 miles and exploded 500ish feet above ground. No reports on the welfare of the guy who pulled the trigger. Some might question the wisdom of this venture. But not the US Army, by golly.
And all that just in the morning. My daughter, Kelsy, was grateful we were doing this after retiring rather than as a family vacation when we had kids. I believe her exact words were, "Oh look! Another big gun!"
Now on to the afternoon's adventure. Where THESE big guns came out to play...
It went like this...
As we rode around the lake to get to Mount Scott, the Sequoia noticed that it was beginning to loom, but he was still eager to have a go.
When we got to Medicine Park, this was our path across the creek.
This is the creek.
We're sure that they are, and we plan to.
OK - we're committed now.
It appears that the mountain is equally as committed.
Half way up now. Why am I still smiling??? Wait for it... Because I'm NOT AT WORK!
We started out down there.
OK - this was just gorgeous. Not that I needed a break or anything.
From here the lake is looking smaller all the time. And since someone will ask, No - its not. My nose is just closer to the camera, that's all.
Just to give the reader some perspective on the slope - for 2.7 miles. Did I mention this?
My turn for a "we started down there" pic.
The summit, at which the Sequoia hogged the space at the rail. Clearly he's been hanging out with Delta too much. Prima Donna...
There are actually two lakes visible from the top of Mount Scott. This is the one we're not camped at. Note the burned out area. This was done intentionally by the Fort. No, I'm not guessing. There was a big orange sign. Despite what the obstinate highway guy said, I CAN read em.
I called Susan on the phone when I made it to the top. She took this pic of me waiving at her from there. Seriously.
I took this pic of Susan at the same time. The observant reader will see two white dots to the right quarter of the shore line. The eagle eyed, observant reader will note that Susan is in front of the one on the left.
On the way back to the rig. So there, Mount Scott. You don't look so big from here.
Till next time.
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