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Sunrise over the Quachita River
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Another cool morning start for today's run to Monticello. We are out of the mountains, but not the foothills of Arkansas, so we have 3,500 feet of climbing over about 100 miles. Let's get going!
We leave the hotel and jump on the very busy Route 7. We cross the Caddo River within the first mile, and the much larger Quachita River 5 miles later.
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Rolling hills of cattle and horse ranches
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Beautiful ranches with huge fields and perfectly maintained yards slowly give way to smaller spreads in various states of disrepair as we leave ranch country and head into the pine forests that will make up most of the ride.
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Miles and miles of pine forests
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Today is Sunday, so there was no logging traffic, but there were plenty of warning signs along the road with "Log Trucks Entering Roadway." From the road you could see where sections had been recently clear cut. All the pine trees were removed, only a few deciduous trees were left standing. Other sections had young trees and saplings of similar heights. While others looked ready to harvest.
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Nice shade in the forest
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Where the trees grew tall, we had a nice shady shoulder to ride on! Soon we were at the first SAG a few miles beyond Dalark at a fire department building (don't park in the driveway!). We grabbed some snacks and were on our way. Much more forest riding for the next 22 miles to the Red Truck SAG in Ramsey. It was to be in a church parking lot, but since it was Sunday, they move it up a mile or so on a logging road, set in the forest!
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Dallas County Courthouse in Fordyce
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Fordyce Redbugs
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Logging and high school football are apparently the mainstays of Fordyce AR. Not sure what a Redbug is, but it was plastered all over town, and kinda looked like a tic!
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Paul "Bear" Bryant's Childhood home
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Maintained but not occupied!
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Fordyce is also the childhood home of football coach Bear Bryant. Note the Redbug and Alabama football helmets on the sign!
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Chicken fajitas for lunch!
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Just a few more miles to a shady county park and the lunch SAG. Chicken fajitas beans, rice, and all the fixings! A great meal, and a great location, but there is still 35miles to go so we push out.
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New Edinburg
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Great mailbox in Warren
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We roll through New Edinburg and Warren on our way to the last SAG in a sports park outside Warren. Veronica is set up in a grove of pine trees for another shady stop. Which was good, because the heat was starting to build.
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Log mill
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Log storage near the mill
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After the SAG we passed a large log mill and storage yard. Passing the yard, it was clear that many trucks had passed through based on the amount of bark and other log debris on the side of the road. Yes, Sunday was a good day to ride this section!
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Wide quiet highways
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We made the final turn toward Monticello and added Michael B. to our train for the last 15 miles of the ride to Monticello. We arrived just a few minutes after 3 to put this one in the books at 7.5 hours.
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Today's board and progress map
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Today's ride puts us at 2000 miles so far, with 907 to go over the next 8 days! Tomorrow we cross the mighty Mississippi River and enter the state of the same name! Same post-ride routine, but with another dinner visit.
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Yours truly, Janet Nye, and Jeff at Ray's
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Janet and Alan Nye, great friends from my Summit Adventure days drove down from Little Rock to take us to dinner. We decided on the world famous Ray's BBQ and it was fantastic. Ever had a deep fried peach pie smothered in ice cream? You should!
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Two hours later I'm still full!
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