IMPRESSIONS

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MONDAY    JULY 14, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
53	LARNED	14.2		1936

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE IN KANSAS

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Hugh’s tire went flat. His tube stem was no good and cracked. It was nice and cool this morning and the winds were virtually non-existent as we pedaled our way first South, then West.

Observed the horizon getting darker and darker so re-doubled our efforts to finish the ride. Well into the morning it stayed cool and we were happy. Dick started out later than we did, which is his usual. I think he enjoys playing a game with himself wherein he leaves later and then sees if he can catch up. And he usually does. Boy, is he a powerful rider! He just powers down the road as if it were nobody’s business.

Rode through the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and saw lots of egrets. Captured a photo of sunflowers at sunrise, too. Very pretty.

It kept getting darker and by this time Dick had already passed us but we caught with him while he was chatting with some farmers. They told him the storm we were watching was about 70 miles and an hour away. If we hurried we’d make it to Larned.

We’d already decided to bypass the route to Hudson and shot straight west. Another smart decision. The route went through Hudson for only one reason: food and other services. The road was eight miles, very good and smooth. Made a bet with Hugh that we’d get into town without getting wet. He took me up on it. By the time we approached town we came across a mini-mart but I told him I did not want to stop nor did I have to pee. Really, I just wanted to get another ˝ mile further down the road and be, technically, in town before the rain began. So we pressed on. Soon as we to the city limit it began to sprinkle!! When we got in the hotel it began to pour. I am so amazed we are able to keep avoiding storms. Sooner or later we’ll get nailed. And but good! later on Hugh bought me the coffee we bet.

Dick was already waiting for us so we got our room, unloaded our gear, waited for the rain to stop and went to tie on the "all-u-can-eat" food bag at the Pizza Hut.

Also decided to lay over here for a day and then press on for six days to Pueblo.

Considering today’s low temps, no winds, and cloud cover, I can hardly believe we were in Kansas.

Along the road I saw considerable patches of wild marijuana. It’s the hemp variety and worthless for those of you who think you can go and get a buzz. So there! It IS good for hemp, though!

Larned has a Scout Museum as well as the Fort Larned Museum which we were told was very good. Also noticed the TVs in the rooms do not have VH-1 or MTV. Just country. And there are lots of Sonic drive-ins, too. I remember them from Austin as it was at a Sonic that I first took Sheila topless. Had a friend who worked at the apartment complex with me. It was fun!

Did some grocery shopping and even took a 2 hour nap. Then went out and got to see real, live newspaper boys making deliveries. Another small-town America tradition bringing back memories of when I used to do same.

Hugh packed up his tent, sleeping bag, and a bunch of other stuff to mail back tomorrow.

Noticed on the maps that we will be climbing (gaining in altitude) 250-500 feet per day. We’ll also be paralleling the Santa-Fe Railroad track all the way to Pueblo—about 340 miles. By the time we get to Pueblo, we’ll be at 5000 feet in altitude.

Ran into a father and son team going east. They ran across Dennis, Kurt, and Merle but had no messages to pass along. Too bad as that is the perfect way to get news to those following behind. All the more reason I doubt I’ll ever see those guys again.

TUESDAY    JULY 15, 1997

Although I was up early because I heard some thunder, I stayed in bed until almost 7 AM. Just being lazy.

Went into town and mailed some stuff back home and Hugh mailed his boxes. Then I did some grocery shopping, got back to the Motel, degreased my bike chain and finished some other periodic maintenance.

Went back to the trough to eat lunch after which Dick, Hugh, and I carried our bags across the street, like bag men, to the Laundromat. The soap machine did not work nor did several of the washers and dryers. Don’t know why that bothered me but it did.

Heard we should have 100 degrees tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY    JULY 16, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
64	NESS CITY	15		2000

THE DOUBLE MILLENNIUM

Today is the 38^th riding day with 38 to go. At the end of the day I’d logged 2000 miles. The day was relatively uneventful yet I made the best average speed so far---15 MPH. That includes 15 miles with a 10 MPH tailwind, 10 miles with south westerly winds at 10 MPH, and 40 miles of southerly winds at 10-15 MPH.

We were warned about the road to Timken being pretty rough and torn up so Hugh and I went 7 miles further west on Route 156 to 183 north to Rush Center. Dick took the normal route and confirmed the road was in bad shape.

Climbed about 1000 feet and gained 200 feet in elevation. From now on I do not need a map until I get to Pueblo. Straight west on Highway 96.

Finally hit the wide, open prairie area of Kansas. Miles and miles of vistas to the North, South, East, West. Everywhere there are wheat fields. Found out that wheat planted in September is harvested in June. Milo and sunflowers are then planted and harvested after the frost. For one year afterwards, the land lays fallow to recuperate itself.

The Adventure Cycling maps do not indicate restaurants as being available in either Rush Center or Alexander but there are eating establishments there. In Rush Center the gas station on the west side of 96 lost my business because they had a sign which said "No Bicycles Loitering." Must not want our business. I went across the street and gave them my money.

Hugh did much better today after losing 15 pounds and having a rest day. We pressed pretty hard to beat the heat and did a good job of it.

In Ness City we met David and Tracy, east bounders about to take the Katy Trail in Missouri and then will head north along the St. Lawrence Seaway.

We checked into the Derrick Inn which is a very nice motel considering it is in the middle of virtually nowhere. It has an indoor pool, spa, game room, etc. Reminded me of a motel in Minot, North Dakota where all the rooms were indoor accessible because of the cold.

Walked around town and saw the Prairie Skyscraper, the tallest building in Kansas and surrounding areas during the late 1800s. It is 4 stories tall! It is a beautiful and ornate structure reminding me of the Manueline architecture found in Portugal. There are also lots of "rock" fence posts in use here left over from late last century and early this century. Since wood is hard to come by, the farmers would use "posts" chiseled out of the ground.

Had lunch at Pizza Plus and then went to the IGA to shop for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast. If I’d gone to IGA first, I’d have bought all sorts of stuff I would not be able to carry.

THURSDAY      JULY 17, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
54	SCOTT CITY	15		2054

HORIZONS ‘R US

Like the old Byrds’ song, we "could see for miles and miles" today. Visibility was easily 20 miles and when you spot something on the road ahead it could take over an hour to get to it by bike. Cars that passed us would take forever to get out of sight and no cars could sneak up on us as we could hear them from miles away, too. There was nothing to shield their noise. Route 96 is a real joy to ride on with pleasant sights to look at and birds to listen to.

Had a pleasant ride today, gained 740 feet in altitude and averaged 15 MPH. Our climb occurred in what seemed to be steps. We’d go up, ride level for a while, climb, ride level, and so on. It’s also fun watching for approaching trucks from behind and then try to draft off them. They give us a nice push that can last up to a quarter mile.

The morning was nice and cool while at times feeling cold due to the sweat evaporating off my jersey.

Stopped in at Dighton but could not find a restaurant. Eventually found out the mini-mart at the corner of 96 and the main cross street was a café/deli, too. Stopped in and listened to the locals talking about how they were losing 20 kids a year from the school system at a cost of $5,000 from the government for each child. "It’s hard to bring business into a town that’s losing population", one of them said. "What sort of incentive do companies have to come to this area?", another said. Their biggest problem was figuring out HOW to get people to come there. They are hours away from anything, desolate, windy, no arts/theater/culture. As I discovered later on in the day, it all boils down to water and whether you have it or not. Dighton does not. Scott City does.

Got offered a job to teach at the high school where I plan to move to but told the interviewer I chose not to make the interview as I was in the middle of a trip of a lifetime. Maybe some other time. Not too sure I want to teach right now. Definitely do not want a full time job.

Decided to stay at the Athletic Club Hostel. Costs $4.50, has no A/C but does have a shower, a fan, cable TV, and the staff are friendly. Hugh stayed at a motel.

Went to the City Hall to leave a message for Dick. He was not feeling well so started later than we did. The staff was very friendly and I met a gentleman named Darrell, in charge of economic development for the area. He’s the one that clued me into the water situation in the area and the problems some of these towns are having. He’s retired from the USAF and came here because his Dad died and his Mom needed help with the farm.

Also went to the library to try and get on line but no luck. They didn’t even have a Wall St. Journal, Barron’s, Value Line or anything of that nature. I was bummed. While at the library I talked to a lady who worked for the investment company Edward Jones. She said I could stop by their office (around the corner) and check on stock prices. I did. And met the broker, Bill Hickock. We chatted about all sorts of investment topics and he said I should try to get a job with them as I seemed to know what I was talking about. So he sent me some paperwork to the Florida address. I saw him later on at the hostel where he’d come in to play racquetball with his son.

Turns out I was the only one in the hostel. It started getting warm towards the evening but it was OK. Also discovered someone lives in an apartment above the club’s gym floor. Pretty unusual to me but it must be good for security.

Also met three kids who I chatted with a couple of hours. They told me all about feed lots, slaughterhouses, local newspapers, etc. Made a phone call to Bill and we will meet on Sunday in Ordway. Must have hit the jackpot because along with talking to my parents I also was able to talk to my son. He still plans to meet me in Wyoming. Hard to believe that visit is less than two weeks away. I am looking forward to it.

FRIDAY    JULY 18, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
47	TRIBUNE	14.5		2101

THE THINNING

Very humid when I left this morning. No rain last night but the air is still thick with moisture. Very unusual for this part of the state and the people comment on it constantly. I, too, could use a little drier air.

Found out from Hugh that Dick made it to Scott City yesterday but plans to lay over as much as four days to clear his saddle sore problems and get over the indigestion/flu symptoms he has. So now the group is thinned by one more member and in a few days it will be only me. Unless I miraculously hook up with Dennis or Kurt. If I do make the rest of the trip alone I plan on taking no rest days and just finishing the trip. That will get me to Florence on the 26^th. I’ll know better by next week. In the meantime, I called Amtrak and reserved the 28^th.

The trucks are getting to be a real pain in the ass. Some pass very closely and the ones going in the opposite direction buffet us a great deal.

Saw lots of feed lots and even saw a contraption that shredded huge bales of hay for loading into feed trucks. I suspect the stuff is used to lay in the feed yards to absorb moisture and eventually be turned into some sort of fertilizer. I could be wrong. If anyone reads this and knows the right answer, drop me a line.

Everywhere we go, though, it smells like cow manure. Can’t get it out of the air. Must be because the farmers use it to spray on their lands as fertilizer. YECH!! What smells shitty to us is perfume for a farmer trying to grow crops so I didn’t complain out loud.

Heard about and saw a group of eight people making the trip East bound. Here’s an interesting story. A 70 year old lady decided to celebrate her birthday a little more unusually than most. She wanted to ride a bike across the US. So she called her friends and told them, then she ran ads. Got 7 other takers with the oldest being 76 and the youngest 55. They take rest days by driving a sag wagon. The only problem with that is none of them truly does the whole country by bike. But at their age, who’s going to quibble. I should only hope that when I am 76 I can do some of these things. One by one we waved to them as they passed us by. Cool idea, really.

That gave me pause to think about doing fully sagged trips across the US. Folks would ride their bikes and in the evening sleep in my motor home. Might be a possibility there. Definitely niche market stuff.

Able to maintain a good rate of speed for most of the day and had a good ride. Ended up the day at 3570 feet elevation. Stopped in Leoti for breakfast.

Weird photo-op today: a whole fence line topped with old, worn out boots. Bizarre looking sight. The farm belonged to someone who used to be a shoe repairman because we saw his old sign out front. Still can’t find Dorothy or Toto but I did find the remains of the Tin Man. Took a pix of it. Unfortunately, all that is visible is the top of his head. Like the wicked witch, he, too, is "melting" into the ground.

Got to Tribune and went to the town’s only motel (Trail’s End Motel). It was only about 1045 when we came across the manager who seemed put out that we had arrived so early. Tried to explain to her that we did not need to have the rooms right away. We could go eat lunch, go grocery shopping, etc. and then come back later. She must not have been listening and ranted on about a group that came early yesterday (the group of 8). Even when we went to pay she acted put out with taking Visa. If she had any competition in that town, she’d be out of business.

Found the local library and it had internet! I almost fell over in surprise. I hooked up and sent email to several folks back in Virginia and also to my cousin, Marco, in Florida who really wants his own moment of glory on the internet. The library is very nice and has a cozy little reading nook.

Most of the restaurants in town folded for some reason so we had no place to eat except the local VFW hall. Except the librarian advised us it might not be such a good idea. The food there supposedly sucked. Called Fermon. He’s now married, moved on base, is happy.

SATURDAY    JULY 19, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
57	EADS, CO	15.8		2158

BLACK HOLE OF KANSAS

Another night of air conditioner troubles. These small hotels with A/C problems are really bothersome. Last night it would shut off automatically but never come back on so we’d begin to swelter and I’d have to get up to turn it back on. What a pain in the ass. However, when it worked, it worked really well.

Got up at 5 to get the hell out of there by 545. Took almost two hours for the high overcast and fog to burn off. Very humid, too. Unusual.

Crossed into Colorado after about 18 miles. The road got worse and we were disappointed in that it made riding rougher on our hands, shoulders, and butt. It also slowed us down by about 1-2 MPH. Then all of a sudden they got better and at one point I was cruising along at 20-22 MPH.

Stopped in at the café in Sheridan Lake for coffee. It’s on the north side of 96 at the intersection of Route 385. Since they were out of cinnamon rolls I ordered 3 pancakes. The waitress brought me back one but I didn’t question it as I thought they were taking creative license to use 3 pancakes’ worth of batter on one pancake. It was big enough to look like it had the batter for three in it. When I went to pay the bill I was charged for ONE pancake. This thing was a monster! And to think I thought the ones at the Plantation House Restaurant back East were big. This thing put those to shame. Had I ordered three I’d be there until 12 o’clock trying to finish eating them. It easily overlapped the sides of a large dinner plate by one inch and was a full ˝ inch thick all around.

Riding along, I’d get a perverse enjoyment watching cars pass us and see them slowly disappear into the horizon, getting smaller and smaller until they finally disappeared from line of sight as if being sucked into a black hole. It took, literally, 15 or more minutes for them to be lost from sight. Figure line of sight was 20 miles where something as small as a car could be seen for at least 10 of those miles. Then, with their forward velocity of 60 MPH and ours of 20 reducing theirs to 40, 10 miles would take 15 minutes to be traveled. Hey, you math wizards out there, are my calculations right?

Soon as we crossed into Colorado we lost the farm fields and saw lots of scrub brush similar to what can be found in most deserts. Saw a few farms, too.

Kept hearing these pinging and rattling noises, not really paying attention to the road surface but when it started getting more and more frequent I realized I was in a grasshopper zone. I originally thought I was picking up small pieces of gravel, rolling it under my fenders, and then they exited at angles sometimes catching my spokes. These insects seemed to be lining the road. Many of them turned into sacrificial victims for cars, and now bicycles. Quite a few did not make it through the spokes (which were causing the pinging sounds.)

Pulled into Eads, elevation 4220 and the hostel was no longer open because some cyclists trashed it. So Hugh and I stayed at the Country Manor Motel. Hugh picked up the tab. I thought that was nice of him. We ate at the restaurant across from the hotel.

Did it again! Soon as we were in the motel, the skies darkened, winds whipped from west to east, picked up speed to about 30 MPH and all I could think of was having it as a tailwind. Wow! Now that would be interesting. Had lots of lightning and rain.

SUNDAY    JULY 20, 1997

MILES	DESTINATION	AVG MPH	WEATHER	TOTAL MILES
60	ORDWAY	15		2220

THE BUGS

It was clear and cool this morning and we made a good average despite the fact we were climbing all day. Had no place to get anything to eat until Sugar City. Pretty desolate. Found water in a park in Haswell. Maybe it because all the places that normally would have been open were closed either for Sunday or that it was harvest season and everyone was in the fields. Who knows?

For entertainment I count railroad cars. So far the longest one is 102 cars pulled by a single locomotive. They were empty coal cars or else they’d have required another couple of engines.

Eastern Colorado is much more desolate than Kansas. I’d go for miles and miles and not see a tree, a house, NOTHING but

It must have been mating season or something but we kept running into huge clouds of small flying insects that would stick to our clothes, get in our hair, eyes, and mouth. I was literally covered from head to toe with them. Pulling into Ordway I was still finding them crawling around my leg hairs or in some crease in my clothes or on my head under the helmet where I could not get to them. They didn’t bite or sting. Just irritated by crawling around.

Stopped at Sugar City for coffee and a piece of pumpkin pie. Chatted with the locals and after a half hour did the last 5 miles into Ordway.

Noticed that the muscles I used for climbing are different that those used for pounding away at flat surfaces. My shins hurt after about an hours of pedaling away at 17-18 MPH. I need to rest or else become a wreck.

Hugh finally convinced me to send back my cooking gear. I really have not used it in days and days. I can eat yogurt, grab coffee, eat lunch at a restaurant or deli and then have sandwiches in the evening.

Pulled into the Ordway Hostel and BOY were we surprised!! It is very nice. Clean and large lobby with reading materials and TV, the biker rooms, although not having A/C, have a sink, bed, and desk. Showers are down the hall. For $5 you can not beat it. I could stay there for days. Spoke with the owner and her son quite a while.

I was on the phone to my parents when Bill pulls up. It was nice to visit with him again. We chatted for a while and then went to lunch at the Saucer Block Restaurant. The finest restaurant we’ve eaten at so far. The one at Breaks was nice; the one at Jenny Lake was nice; the one on the approach to the Tetons was nice. But this one was nicest. Linen on the table, cloth napkins, western decor/motifs, and-------------Jazz on the sound system!! Talk about visual and aural conflicts! Got a chance to sign their visitor log and had a lot of fun talking to the owner/manager and our waitress.  The waitress is 17 and extremely poised and self assured. Joked with us and had a good knack for selling her product. We all had the prime rib. Was it $12.95? No. Was it $10.95? No. Was it $8.95? No. Was it $6.95? No. Try $5.95. What a deal!! An excellent cut of cow. Very tasty and very highly recommended. Best so far. Also found out that Ding’s Café, where we intended to get breakfast, was closed. The owner died and new management still does not have the place open for business.

Bill is getting a transfer to Turkey (base close to the border of Syria) to be the Deputy Chief of Supply in an organization going to full contractor support and phasing out the military members.

Did it again, dammit! Beat out the rain. I am in room 212 and when writing this day’s journal was watching it rain cats and dogs. Beats the hell out of being in a tent.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks in the high country. Should be cooler in the evenings and much drier. Also observed the greater Hispanic influence in this part of the country. Dennis, Kurt, and Merle had been through here. Merle on the 16^th, the others on the 17^th. Still no messages. Tomorrow I will know for certain what I will do and when I can expect to be home.

Did laundry at "The Junction", a mini-mart, restaurant, gas station, game room, laundry facility. Also picked up two small flags to put on my handlebar bag.

BACK PEDAL

PEDAL ON TO WEEK 8

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