The Epileptic Cyclist

Leaving Arkadelphia, I decided to take a detour and go sightseeing in Hot Springs, home of Bill Clinton.  It was about a 20 mile ride from Arkadelphia to Hot Springs so I got there around 11 and checked out the downtown area, and stopped by Parkside Cycles to chat with the guys there. After filling up my bottles from some natural cold springs I was on my way, heading up highway 7 towards Little Rock. This was the most climbing I've done so far on this trip, sitting on the edges of the Ozarks, so I was doing some mild mountain climbing and I was very thankful for the low gearing I had put on my bike. With rain in the forecast I was trying to get to Little Rock before the bad weather, but it wasn't looking good. I made it to Benton around 2 in the afternoon and grabbed a quick snack at a gas station, then jumped right back on the bike. My Godfather was nervous about me camping in Little Rock and so generously got me a hotel for the night, which I really appreciated. About ...

I didn't really have a set town in mind for the end of the day, just the idea that I was going to ride until I wanted to settle down somewhere. I'm only riding one road all the way through Arkansas, so I hopped on highway 67 and started rolling. The highway has an amazing shoulder, in some places smoother than the actual road, and I felt comfortable all day.      Compared to the hills of East Texas, my route was fairly flat, and though it was still windy, it wasn't as strong as the first day. I made it to Fulton after about an hour and a half and crossed the red river on my way to hope.  I stopped at a Tailgaters Burger Co in hope about an hour later and sat down to escape the heat and fill my stomach. Looking at my map, I was thinking that I would stay in Gurdon for the evening, so I had about 35 miles to go. As I walked out of the burger joint, my rear tire was completely flat, and I discovered the wire bead on my tire had come loose and stabb...

This kind of blew up online, so for all the people I don't know, I apologize once again for my poor writing. Leaving from home I had a little send off with my family, and started pedaling at about 9 o'clock in the morning, starting in the North side of Longview.  I had ridden or driven through a lot of this country before, so while there was a bit of sightseeing, I mainly focused on putting in mileage. However, if you've never been to East Texas, I really do recommend it. The countryside in East Texas is gorgeous and full of lush natural scenery.  For this trip I have a goal of averaging 100 km a day (63 miles), which would put me there in 2 weeks, but I'm not really afraid to push on further if I feel good, which is exactly what I did. I didn't anticipate how hard the first day would be though, I was pushing into a 13 mph headwind and the entire route was rather hilly. Even considering that, I felt like I was going slower than normal, and later ...

I'm a little proud of my bike. My Specialized Secteur is not the highest end of bikes, is not really designed for trips like this, and many people are scared to tour on carbon and aluminum, but I think she's beautiful. This is the bike that got me into cycling, the bike that I did my first race on, the bike that I won the collegiate season with at UNT, and will be the bike that I ride 930 miles across 4 states from Longview to Chicago. I've made a few changes since I first got her to make touring a bit more comfortable and feasible, including swapping out the rear derailleur for a mountain bike rear derailleur to fit a huge gear on the back, and swapping to bar end shifters instead of brifters. Some of this is going to get really technical to people that don't know much about bikes so I apologize in advance. Specs: Frameset: Specialized Secteur Crankset: Shimano Claris compact double Front Derailleur: Shimano Claris Rear Derailleur: Sram X9 10 s...

Howdy. My name's Kanten, and while I'm generally making this blog for friends and family to be able to keep up with my upcoming trip, I figured I'd introduce myself a bit too. I don't really have any experience blogging so I'm sorry if this is a total bore, but hopefully not!  Me at the World Series in Chicago-29th of October, 2016 I'm 20 years old from Longview, Texas and attended UNT for the past two years, but I'm not planning on returning in the fall. I'm a competitive cyclist that struggles with epilepsy but still harbors dreams of being a pro cyclist one day, so in the fall I will be training and racing with the Williams Racing Academy based out of Wimberly, Texas.  I decided at the beginning of this summer that I wanted to do a bicycle tour of some significant length, and with my love for Chicago and The Cubs, I felt that The Windy City would be the perfect destination. I'll be riding a Specialized Secteur, which I'll...