I woke in the motel this morning and had trouble getting going, between the wet and cold outside, the horrible stale smoke inside, and a new pain in my left knee.  I put on a new knee bandage I had bought yesterday at the phone nurse's recommendation, but it just bunched up immediately and became more painful than the pain it was supposed to treat!

I decided I would ride as far as Norman and then seek urgent care there, reasoning that a football town would be familiar with sports injuries.  But by the time I had stopped at a bike shop in Norman for parts, my knees were feeling better, as was my overall outlook.  I agonized over whether or not to go to urgent care and finally decided to stop by on my way out of town.  Surprise: the address I got from Blue Cross was a hole in the ground!

Fortunately I was feeling so much better that I laughed it off and went on down the road (US 77).  In Purcell I was tempted to stay in a motel, because the day had gotten quite chilly and the night promised to be below freezing, but the motels were expensive, so I kept going.  In Wayne I asked at a few houses, but the people suggested I try the town park, and I was unable to reach the police to ask if it was OK.  I wound up in a fallow corner of a field of winter wheat south of town.  Between the wind and the cold it promises to be quite a night!  At least it's not raining.

41.0 mi