Wednesday at Lake Bixhoma

Kathy and I ran a flattish run at Lake Bixhoma, which included some bigtime hill work. How could this be so you ask? The gravel road circling the lake have a few minor ups and downs, but the road coming down to the lake is a beast!

This is one of my favorite places to run. There's not much in the way of single track, but its scenic and quiet. The gravel roads around the lake are ones you can zone out and put in the miles.Run as far as the road/trails go in each direction, and you end up with 3.6 miles. We added on some extra out and backs.


The road on the south side of the lake is gated off, and the weeds tall grass have enveloped the route--so much so we decided to not bushwhack through to the end. I have fed chiggers all summer long, and I've had enough.


Kathy agreed that cutting the south leg short was a good idea.


I ambled down the boat rand and drowned whatever chiggers that might have been dangling from my hairy legs.

From there, we climbed the hill out of the lake area and ran all the way to HWY 64.

We decided that if you had to live under a bridge--this would be a nice one.


Or if the bridge wasn't adequate housing--this might do in a pinch. If you click on the pic, you might see that my truck is already parked there!

We ended up with 10.67 miles, and over 750 feet of elevation gain. The hill out was 189 feet and steep. From the top down to HWY 64 was long and very runable down and not too bad running up.


Kathy was awarded the silver redneck award for completing the Bixhoma Challenge. I was jealous--I didn't get one. We got in some good Arkansas Traveller training.