Day 17, Tuesday, September 24

Today was hard because we had strong head winds all day and I had to draft people. I tried to ride on my own for a while but there were times when I was barely going the required minimum thirteen miles per hour so I thankfully got picked up by a paceline. Tomorrow and the next day should be more of the same, except a little harder, then we get a short day again. Then we have another hard day, then the last four days should be easier than average. Of course, whether we have head winds or tail winds and how strong they are changes everything. I've been feeling a little burnt out lately and, frankly, hope these last days go by as painlessly as possible.

Blurry Arkansas cotton fields offered little protection from the wind.

We crossed over the Arkansas River in the morning, and the Mississippi River just before pulling into the hotel in the evening. We spent most of the day riding by gigantic fields, many of cotton. We even got to see a cotton-picking machine at work at one point. In the morning a crop duster airplane was spraying the fields and even flew right over me at one point. It was very scenic, with the sun shining, blue sky, and wispy white clouds in the background. In the afternoon, I was relieved to turn around after crossing the Mississippi River to see the Arkansas state line sign behind us. It's just nice to get more state under our belts, and for some reason, Arkansas got on my nerves.