Stroud to El Reno OK: 51.2 miles
Edmond is a large, adjoining suburb to a very large Oklahoma City. The Route 66 ACA routing in Ok City is not charming, has very busy traffic, especially in the morning rush hours, and overall not the most fun. Here is where Google Maps using the “bike” routing option was a great help.
There is an excellent bike path that extends south, then west of Ok City and avoids all the crazy main street traffic associated with 66. The path adds extra miles to the trip because it goes well south of Route 66 and one ultimately has to wind one’s way back north to reconnect to 66 and pickup the westward way out of town. But we were able to do that using urban side roads and encountered some very cool inner urban neighborhoods, and an unbelievable bike shop.
The bike path takes one along a railroad museum.
The path is very lightly travelled (at least on a weekday); we saw no one. And it’s a quiet scenic ride, the only such experience we had on all of Leg 4, in contrast to the multiple bike paths we encountered during Leg 1 (Chicago to St. Louis).
Not to be missed on Ok City is the Schlegel bicycle shop. The place is huge, stocks just about everything, and the staff all were biking enthusiasts. Downside is their service department is busy and could not help us with a problem on Corky’s bike; it’s understandable given their need to manage huge customer volumes. The below pictures do not do just to the full size / scope of the place. One could drop a lot of money here.
Leaving Schlegel’s we had to admire this magnificent Indian Motorcycle. I think we’re talk $30K or so, so this is not a poor man’s toy. What was fun was we saw the bike and its rider, an old codger like us, perhaps even a little older, passing us a little later in downtown Ok City and then later on Route 66 heading west of Ok City, perhaps doing his own very plush version of Route 66. I hope is was so.
Ok City is the state capital of OK, and so it is a most appropriately named city. The Capital building is massively impressive. (If you do a web search on it, you will find many impressive images).
On the way out of Ok City we found a bike shop that was the polar opposite of Schlegel’s in terms of scale and decor. It was (also) a very friendly place, in a strip mall, with just some basic supplies. The very helpful aspect was that they were able to very helpful as we waited for some repairs. Big and deluxe is not always better.
As we left Ok City toward El Reno, we continued to encounter road kill, or as some good ‘ol boys call it, “the other white meat.” (Here a copperhead I think; plenty poisonous, hard of hearing, so easy to have an unpleasant encounter).
And, alas, we will all, in some way, become ‘road’ kill in the sense that our road will likewise end. (The universal statistic is: one out of one dies). But OK, like many places we saw along our Route 66 road, had ready reminders that the one out of one who dies has an undying after-hope, solely because of Grace.
Day 4 is here: