To Roads End

Have you ever just wanted to head down a road to see where it ends? With the girls in Arkansas, and the boys in various parts of the world, I decided to take a little time and just see how far 1600 Rd., went northbound out of Iola. It was a great ride. I left a little later then I would have liked and I travelled with my overnight gear for two reasons. First, I did not know how far the road would go and I knew that I might have to find a spot to camp should it get too late. Second, I have been riding with a good bit of gear lately to see how the bike handles on gravel and dirt in preparation for another up and coming trip out west.

 

 

 

 

As I road north, I passed through Carlyle, which is a quaint little community just to the north of Iola. The gravel was pretty loose in spots but overall it was a pretty smooth ride. As I continued to ride north, I passed a number of farms and enjoyed the view of numerous corn and wheat fields. I even had a shallow low water area to ride through that was left from all the rain we have had in the last couple of weeks. I later came to an unknown creek where I stopped and grabbed a picture and a drink. Not from the creek but from one of my water bottles. I continued north and eventually crossed in to Anderson County. Once in Anderson County, I rolled on until I saw a sign ahead. It was a yellow sign that had an arrow pointing both to the east and to the west. Apparently I had reached the roads end.

 

 

 

Given the time of day, I decided to go ahead and wind my way back to the southeast and hope to eventually reach Welda and pickup the rail trail there. Knowing that it was going to get dark before I got back home, I figured it would be safer on the trail rather than the road. As I wound my way back to the southeast, I discovered a small community with a few homes, a church and the Mont Ida Meat Company which I previously new nothing of. I eventually made it to Welda after stopping to take a picture alongside a row of hay bales somewhere on 1100 road.

 

 

 

 Following a water refill I headed south. I arrived in Colony just after the sun set. After a short stretch I pressed on. It was a beautiful night and the wind died down a bit after darkness began to fall. Two deer, a raccoon, a turtle, a snake and several rabbits provided occasional company throughout the ride.

 

 Somewhere south of Carlyle, my legs began to cramp up a bit so I decided to walk for a while after crossing Twin Trestles. Shortly after I began to walk, I saw a light approaching from the north behind me. The light was bright enough that at first I thought it was an ATV or some other type of vehicle. As it got closer I could tell it was another cyclist out for an evening ride. I was delighted to discover that it was Randy Rasa peddling back from an extended excursion on his newly purchased single speed. We talked for a couple of minutes and he made sure that I had some lights to finish out my ride in the dark (thanks Randy), and he headed on down the trail. I walked to Rhode Island and then saddled up and completed the remainder of the forty eight mile trek home. After closing the day with a bowl of pasta I slept the night away. It’s a good life.

 

Enjoy the ride.