He Would Have Loved Tent City

My first year of FreeWheel was 2000. Dad said, "You can do it. I'll pick you up when you get tired" And he did. We had a great trip! Dad got us a hotel everywhere we went. My Dad loved to plan trips...especially if he could get everyone in one car...with him driving of course. "So then I will pick you up in Glencoe and we will drive over to Tish and then we will get with your sister and then we will head out etc, etc etc" And he had this one planned out completely...ending with himself taking a Greyhound bus from Stillwater to Ardmore. I would have driven him home but no! Afterward, he said the bus driver must have been a retired drill instructor...he was scared the whole ride home! Dad took this photo of me when he came to pick me up in Glencoe. My Toyota was just a baby then..probably only had it a week or two.



That was my first and last FreeWheel with Dad. He passed away in March 2001 (lung cancer). He loved the trip so much. At his funeral all of his employees said, "Your dad loved that bike ride...you're still gonna go aren't you?" And it was like my Sister and I had to go. For Dad. And so we did. June 2001: I hitched a ride with the Red Dirt Pedalers to Hugo Oklahoma and brother-in-law to-be dropped off Sister. No truck back up for me this time. No hotels and hot showers. Tents and bikes. That was it. It was bittersweet. We laughed and cried the whole week. But we survived and rode again for the next four years although we added husbands and Mom for the last 3. And so fast forward to 2009. I've been riding a stationary bike for a year and a half and felt it was time to get back on the road. Mom said she would go with me. No one else is quite ready to get back out there. So here we go.