what pancake was CNN riding?
Day 42 - 7/26/06
Started: Syracuse, KS
Stopped: Garden City, KS
Today's Miles: 54.20
Total Miles: 2252.10
Today's Total Ascent: 502
Today's Total Descent: 790
When I made my last post, I was really excited to be in Kansas. Kevin Spence, a Dartmouth friend who rode across the country after graduation, has been singing the praises of this state for months. Definitely, here more than in the mountain states one gets a sense of the wide open road, and when you get into a rhythm, the miles can fly by. Also, in most Kansas towns travelers are allowed to camp in public parks for free, most towns have municipal pools where bikers can shower and cool off, and some routes are highly trafficked by cross-country bikers, so there can be a strong community of cyclists. Despite these exciting characteristics, Kansas has been for me easily the most difficult state I've yet encountered. The heat most days was unbearable, the wind was almost always a challenge, and as I traveled east I quickly learned that Kansas is not nearly as flat as I had anticipated. Coming out of the mountains I - maybe naively - thought the riding would become much easier. My average speed has risen a bit, but riding more even terrain, I've found, can be sometimes even more tiring than climbing the hills. The wind plays a significant role, but I think it may be attributable to the very steadiness of the task. Climbing hills there is a lot of variation in cadence and resistance, so I was using different muscles in different capacities throughout the day. On this terrain, I don't think the operative muscles get nearly as much relief.
A few words about Syracuse: After posting my last message I dropped by the post office to pick up some mail and was surprised by my first care package. I've picked up several scheduled drops throughout the trip, but in Syracuse I found a package from Rob Fank and Harold Liss full of food, dog treats, a couple letters, a book of crossword puzzles, some fortuitously necessary toothpaste, and a couple other good things. Of course, I am glad for all the support I've received by email and on the website message board, but it is really great to get a package. Thanks guys! You made my day.
The park in Syracuse turned out to be not nearly as great as I hoped. It was a very hot day - as all of them have been in Kansas - so I left the front flaps of the tent open. This was a problem when the sprinklers came on that evening. Everything in the tent got doused before I was able to close the flaps, including the floor of the tent. I got it cleaned up, and the wind and heat helped dry it out. But I was surprised with an encore performance in the wee hours of the next morning. Apparently the sprinklers are on a 12-hour cycle. Also, the tent was incredibly buggy - full of mosquitoes and flies. I simply couldn't operate outside the tent, even wearing mosquito repellent. While dinner cooked I paced, wiggled, and slapped at bugs, then hastily retreated to the tent to eat. One of my tires had a slow leak that I intended to fix that night, but I simply couldn't do it, choosing rather to spend the next day stopping every hour or so to pump the tire up again. And packing everything up the next morning was incredibly frantic and uncomfortable. While I rolled the tent, secured the panniers, and pulled together all of my things I could feel the bugs eating my flesh. Not a good experience.
It was a hot day, over 80 degrees when I began the ride at 5:30 and over 100 when I reached Garden City. There I stopped at a bike shop to pick up some chamois butter and a patch kit. (When I started my trip I had two patch kits. Fixing a previous flat I had used the last patch in one of the kits. Though I hadn't yet fixed my tire, I discovered in Syracuse that I had stupidly discarded the complete kit and held onto the one I had exhausted.) Anyway, I had been planning to push about another ten miles to Pierceville, but I learned at the bike shop that Pierceville is nothing but a grain elevator. My options were Cimarron (about 30 miles to a small town, about the size of Syracuse - maybe a restaurant, maybe a hotel, a public park, and a gas station convenience store) or Dodge City (about 50 miles to a town with fast food, a grocery store, and multiple lodging options). On a cooler day I would have continued to one or the other of them, particularly since the wind wasn't strong this day, but Coltrane and I were both hot.
Day 43 - 7/27/06
Started: Garden City, KS
Stopped: Dodge City, KS
Today's Miles: 52.08
Total Miles: 2304.18
Today's Total Ascent: 733
Today's Total Descent: 929
The temperature didn't bother me so much this day, but that's probably because I had the benefit of a strong breeze, right in my face. We rode southeast into 15-mile-an-hour winds all day. We made surprisingly good time, but I couldn't have gone much further at the end of this day. And I was excited to have a little time to explore Dodge City. I had hoped it would feel more old westy than it did. I didn't make it to Fort Dodge, but downtown is not terribly impressive. There is a block called Front Street that is a sort of replica of the storefronts of 19th-century Dodge City. But the fronts are not original, and they really are only facades. They are also part of a museum complex, set behind a fence, and Coltrane wasn't allowed in, so we only looked at them from a distance. Each night in the summer they enact a gunfight on Front Street, but it's a little kitschy and unimpressive. Still, it is fun to imagine the lawmen that used to walk the streets of Dodge, to think about life in the old west. Of course, I don't really know what it was like, but Kansas often has me thinking of old Clint Eastwood westerns.
Day 44 - 7/28/06
Started: Dodge City, KS
Stopped: Great Bend, KS
Today's Miles: 82.65
Total Miles: 2386.83
Today's Total Ascent: 564
Today's Total Descent: 823
The ride out of Dodge was really wonderful. The ride to Great Bend follows a mostly northeastern course, and the wind was coming out of the south, so I didn't have any of the resistance of the previous day. But the greatest thing was that I got an early start, and the road was shrouded in an impenetrably thick fog. For about three hours I rode in a fog so thick that I couldn't probably see more than about 20 feet in any direction. Fortunately the shoulder on the road was wide. The clouds kept the temperature down, and the moisture kept me even cooler. The limited visibility kept me from seeing the sweeping vistas of the plains, but it was a beautiful effect to look out over the fields and see them disappear into the mist. And for some reason I found it thrilling when a long freight train emerged from the fog to pass me on the tracks beside the road. In the afternoon the clouds burned off and the temperature rose, but the winds remained favorable, and I really had a wonderful day. This day convinced me that riding through Kansas could have been an entirely different experience than on the whole it was. It is thrilling to have the wind at your back, a cool mist on your skin, and the smell of freshly mown fields in the air.
I passed through Kinsley, KS, which apparently has the distinction of being exactly equidistant - by highway - from New York and San Francisco.
About ten miles out of Great Bend a car passed to my left making a lot of noise and smelling like burning. The driver seemed pretty oblivious until about a mile up she pulled onto the shoulder with an absolutely shredded tire. The driver and her passenger, both teenagers had no idea how to change a tire. They couldn't even find the spare, which I revealed for them under the deck of the trunk. They had an inflated spare and two jacks but no lug wrench. Another driver stopped to offer his assistance, but he didn't have a lug wrench either. In the meantime, I jacked up the car, hoping someone with a wrench would arrive shortly. And soon enough a highway patrolman arrived to offer his help. He and I worked together to change the tire before I returned to my ride. The girls didn't express much appreciation for my help, but I think it was probably good that I was there; they seemed pretty clueless.
Day 45 - 7/29/06
Started: Great Bend, KS
Stopped: McPherson, KS
Today's Miles: 64.07
Total Miles: 2450.90
Today's Total Ascent: 1340
Today's Total Descent: 1467
This, I think, was my most miserable day of riding so far. The ride was almost due east. The wind was coming directly from the south all day at 20 to 30 miles. The weather was hot hot hot. And the terrain was beginning to get hilly. Jen Bettano, who will be joining me tomorrow for the ride across Missouri, has told me a couple times about a news report several years ago on CNN. Apparently it has been scientifically proven that Kansas is flatter than a pancake. I don't actually know what a pancake would look like if you blew it up to the size of Kansas, but Kansas is not really flat at all, at least not in the east. It's a series of rolling hills, some of them quite steep. Also, what the CNN report seems to have ignored is that if you were to roll your bike over a pancake, the pancake would get even flatter. Kansas, however, remains hilly.
I really had hoped to push about 20 miles further today, to finish at McPherson County Lake State Park. I didn't make it.
Day 46 - 7/30/06
Started: McPherson, KS
Stopped: Council Grove, KS
Today's Miles: 89.41
Total Miles: 2540.31
Today's Total Ascent: 2483
Today's Total Descent: 2625
This was another hot day. And the wind was still gusting strongly from the south. The first half of the day, however, was a good one for several reasons. First, I got off the highway. For the western two-thirds of Kansas the ADT doesn't actually follow the highway. It meanders along the Arkansas River on dirt roads. Because I have found dirt roads not much fun to ride on this trip I had been sticking to the highways that most closely shadow the river and the trail. But this day I jumped off the highway (for the first half of the day), still not on the ADT's dirt roads, but still shadowing it as it bent to the north. The result was that I spent about 30 miles traveling northbound with the wind at my back. As before, I found the experience of riding with the wind immeasurably more pleasurable than the experience of fighting the wind. When I reached Herington Lake, where I had intended to stop, I just wasn't ready to wrap things up. With some regret I decided not to stay at the campground at Herington Lake, which was quite nice. We did stop briefly so Coltrane could wade in the water and cool off.
The push to Council Grove was more difficult than the morning ride, but I'm glad we did it. We ended up at a small motel on the east side of Council Grove. When I checked in the proprietor inquired about my trip, then told me that a young couple who had been walking across the country from Delaware had checked in earlier that evening. As it turned out Jakob and Tamar Teitelbaum, who are hiking the ADT, were also at the same motel. (A link to their web page is on the sidebar to this page.) It was great to meet people on a similar venture, to trade stories, and to hear about the trail ahead. Of course, their experience is quite different than mine. I honestly can't imagine walking the trail. This was my 46th day; it was their 95th. They cover about 20 or 25 miles in a day and talk about how every house along the way represents water and potential place to stay. Like me they were seeking respite from the heat and staying in hotels more than they anticipated. They gave me the names of some of the hospitable folks they had met, particularly along the Buckeye Trail in Ohio, and they gave me an exciting dehydrated meal, a recipe they swear by but I haven't yet tried. I'm saving it for a night when I need something good. It was really encouraging to meet these guys. Naturally, I wish them good luck and good health as they move forward. I hope we'll all be in touch again.
Day 47 - 7/31/06
Started: Council Grove, KS
Stopped: Ottawa, KS
Today's Miles: 68.97
Total Miles: 2609.28
Today's Total Ascent: 2077
Today's Total Descent: 2508
Shortly into this days ride I was overtaken by a lone biker, riding cross country from Oregon to New York. After we parted ways I realized I never got his name, though we shared a conversation for close to three hours. He is 24 years old, just graduated from college, majored in history, and about to move to west Africa with his fiance. He grew up in Lawrence, KS, and was quite an advocate for the state. He was riding an old refurbished bike outfitted with budget equipment. And curiously he chose to ride with his panniers gaping open. He explained that he liked to be able to grab stuff out while riding. He was an interesting guy, clearly an experienced outdoorsman, apparently an avid hiker, but pretty new to biking. His pattern was to sleep in a bit and take his time in the morning but to ride until nearly sundown, and he was covering 100+ miles most days. He liked to ride hard and spent most of his time off his saddle. We parted ways at Osage City, where he turned north toward Burlingame, and I continued east.
I stopped in Osage City at about noon to buy some lunch. A very nice woman at the grocery store gave Coltrane ice and water while I nibbled on fruit and watched the temperature guage in front of the store climb - in just 20 minutes - from 90 to 94. About an hour and a half later I passed Vassar Lake. Coltrane and I found some shade to rest in. I don't know what the temperature was then, but it was hot. With just about 20 miles to Ottawa I was concerned that I'd need to rest 2 or 3 more times and I could feel the heat taking a toll on my energy.
We didn't end up taking those rests because somewhere between Vassar and Pomona, still about 15 miles out of Ottawa, a car pulled onto the shoulder in front of me. A woman wearing scrubs asked if I'd like a ride. I thanked her but assured her we'd be ok. Ottawa wasn't too far distant and wouldn't take more than two hours to get to. The woman, whom I thought must be a nurse, was insistent that it was too hot for both me and my dog and would not be dissuaded from giving me a ride. When I suggested there was no way we'd fit the trailer, the bike, the bags, and Coltrane and me into her car, she countered that we could find a way. If we refused the ride she would worry all day. So we relented. We had to take the weels off the bike, it took some maneuvering, and Coltrane had to sit on my lap, but we fit everything in. Janice, I discovered, was not a nurse, but works in housekeeping at the Ottawa hospital. She was very pleasant and obviously was concerned particularly about Coltrane. She enjoyed her job and had lived nearly all her life in Kansas. She felt sometimes unappreciated at work. Anyway, she dropped us off at a Days Inn on the south side of Ottawa and waited to be sure we were settled in before continuing to work. I took a little while to shower and relax before stepping into the heat about an hour later. As soon as I opened the door I was glad we'd taken the ride. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was too hot to cross the parking lot to take a dip in the pool. I didn't leave the room to grab dinner until the sun had begun to set.
Day 48 - 8/1/06
Started: Ottawa, KS
Stopped: DeSoto, KS
Today's Miles: 49.98
Total Miles: 2659.26
Today's Total Ascent: 1619
Today's Total Descent: 1769
This was a short day of ups and downs as we approached Kansas City. The weather was very hot again, and I was wary because of the previous day. We didn't need to cover much ground, so we ended early when it became clear that Coltrane was feeling the heat and panting hard.
Day 49 - 8/2/06
Started: DeSoto, KS
Stopped: Grandview, MO
Today's Miles: 51.40
Total Miles: 2710.66
Today's Total Ascent: 1746
Today's Total Descent: 1788
This was a really fun day of winding through a series of bike trails on the Kansas side of Kansas City - first along Mill Creek, then along Indian Creek. The day wasn't quite as hot as the previous few days had been, and the trails were largely shaded. It was nice to be off the road and to work our way through a couple of suburban neighborhoods. A little bit to my surprise, I found myself thinking Kansas City might be a pretty nice place to live. Of course I say that still not having seen downtown or eaten at a local barbecue joint.
Shortly after crossing the Kansas-Missouri state line I departed from the ADT to find my way to Grandview, where I would stay with Josh and Sarah Motlong, friends of my brother-in-law's brother. I found their house fairly easily. Neither of them was yet home from work, but Josh gave me directions to get into the house, and I made myself at home. Coltrane was glad to meet their two dogs, Mec (a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix) and William (an Airedale).
Josh and Sarah work at a place called the International House of Prayer. It is a community of Christians dedicated to prayerful living, specifically praying for revival and the return of Christ. It is a more pious sounding community than I have been a part of in a very long time. Still, I really found myself admiring Josh's and Sarah's faith and their commitment. They impressed me as thoughtful and caring people who are simply convinced that God, as expressed in the gospel, really changes lives and can work miracles. Josh told me that he routinely spends as much as four hours a day in prayer. Additionally, he manages an extensive sounding music recording and production program for the House of Prayer. Sarah is a singer who is going to school full time for a degree in voice, working a retail job, and also serving on a couple worship teams for the House of Prayer. We spent several hours speaking this night about theology and faith, about their experiences and mine in the church, about prayer and worship and the way God works. I found them to be very gracious. They were interested to listen to the way I find faith and academics interacting, and I was somewhat convicted by them to cultivate more my own life of prayer. Josh made me a great breakfast this morning and invited me to return any time. I hope that I will see them both again.
Day 50 - 8/3/06
Started: Grandview, MO
Stopped: Kansas City (KCI), MO
Today's Miles: 51.33
Total Miles: 2761.99
Today's Total Ascent: 2106
Today's Total Descent: 2392
I got back on the ADT for a while today to work my way through Raytown and Independence. Then I jumped off the trail to work my way toward the Kansas City Airport. Jen Bettano is flying into Kansas tomorrow. She will join me for the ride through Missouri and will fly out of St. Louis on the afternoon of August 9. I am really looking forward to her company for the next week.
Started: Syracuse, KS
Stopped: Garden City, KS
Today's Miles: 54.20
Total Miles: 2252.10
Today's Total Ascent: 502
Today's Total Descent: 790
When I made my last post, I was really excited to be in Kansas. Kevin Spence, a Dartmouth friend who rode across the country after graduation, has been singing the praises of this state for months. Definitely, here more than in the mountain states one gets a sense of the wide open road, and when you get into a rhythm, the miles can fly by. Also, in most Kansas towns travelers are allowed to camp in public parks for free, most towns have municipal pools where bikers can shower and cool off, and some routes are highly trafficked by cross-country bikers, so there can be a strong community of cyclists. Despite these exciting characteristics, Kansas has been for me easily the most difficult state I've yet encountered. The heat most days was unbearable, the wind was almost always a challenge, and as I traveled east I quickly learned that Kansas is not nearly as flat as I had anticipated. Coming out of the mountains I - maybe naively - thought the riding would become much easier. My average speed has risen a bit, but riding more even terrain, I've found, can be sometimes even more tiring than climbing the hills. The wind plays a significant role, but I think it may be attributable to the very steadiness of the task. Climbing hills there is a lot of variation in cadence and resistance, so I was using different muscles in different capacities throughout the day. On this terrain, I don't think the operative muscles get nearly as much relief.
A few words about Syracuse: After posting my last message I dropped by the post office to pick up some mail and was surprised by my first care package. I've picked up several scheduled drops throughout the trip, but in Syracuse I found a package from Rob Fank and Harold Liss full of food, dog treats, a couple letters, a book of crossword puzzles, some fortuitously necessary toothpaste, and a couple other good things. Of course, I am glad for all the support I've received by email and on the website message board, but it is really great to get a package. Thanks guys! You made my day.
The park in Syracuse turned out to be not nearly as great as I hoped. It was a very hot day - as all of them have been in Kansas - so I left the front flaps of the tent open. This was a problem when the sprinklers came on that evening. Everything in the tent got doused before I was able to close the flaps, including the floor of the tent. I got it cleaned up, and the wind and heat helped dry it out. But I was surprised with an encore performance in the wee hours of the next morning. Apparently the sprinklers are on a 12-hour cycle. Also, the tent was incredibly buggy - full of mosquitoes and flies. I simply couldn't operate outside the tent, even wearing mosquito repellent. While dinner cooked I paced, wiggled, and slapped at bugs, then hastily retreated to the tent to eat. One of my tires had a slow leak that I intended to fix that night, but I simply couldn't do it, choosing rather to spend the next day stopping every hour or so to pump the tire up again. And packing everything up the next morning was incredibly frantic and uncomfortable. While I rolled the tent, secured the panniers, and pulled together all of my things I could feel the bugs eating my flesh. Not a good experience.
It was a hot day, over 80 degrees when I began the ride at 5:30 and over 100 when I reached Garden City. There I stopped at a bike shop to pick up some chamois butter and a patch kit. (When I started my trip I had two patch kits. Fixing a previous flat I had used the last patch in one of the kits. Though I hadn't yet fixed my tire, I discovered in Syracuse that I had stupidly discarded the complete kit and held onto the one I had exhausted.) Anyway, I had been planning to push about another ten miles to Pierceville, but I learned at the bike shop that Pierceville is nothing but a grain elevator. My options were Cimarron (about 30 miles to a small town, about the size of Syracuse - maybe a restaurant, maybe a hotel, a public park, and a gas station convenience store) or Dodge City (about 50 miles to a town with fast food, a grocery store, and multiple lodging options). On a cooler day I would have continued to one or the other of them, particularly since the wind wasn't strong this day, but Coltrane and I were both hot.
Day 43 - 7/27/06
Started: Garden City, KS
Stopped: Dodge City, KS
Today's Miles: 52.08
Total Miles: 2304.18
Today's Total Ascent: 733
Today's Total Descent: 929
The temperature didn't bother me so much this day, but that's probably because I had the benefit of a strong breeze, right in my face. We rode southeast into 15-mile-an-hour winds all day. We made surprisingly good time, but I couldn't have gone much further at the end of this day. And I was excited to have a little time to explore Dodge City. I had hoped it would feel more old westy than it did. I didn't make it to Fort Dodge, but downtown is not terribly impressive. There is a block called Front Street that is a sort of replica of the storefronts of 19th-century Dodge City. But the fronts are not original, and they really are only facades. They are also part of a museum complex, set behind a fence, and Coltrane wasn't allowed in, so we only looked at them from a distance. Each night in the summer they enact a gunfight on Front Street, but it's a little kitschy and unimpressive. Still, it is fun to imagine the lawmen that used to walk the streets of Dodge, to think about life in the old west. Of course, I don't really know what it was like, but Kansas often has me thinking of old Clint Eastwood westerns.
Day 44 - 7/28/06
Started: Dodge City, KS
Stopped: Great Bend, KS
Today's Miles: 82.65
Total Miles: 2386.83
Today's Total Ascent: 564
Today's Total Descent: 823
The ride out of Dodge was really wonderful. The ride to Great Bend follows a mostly northeastern course, and the wind was coming out of the south, so I didn't have any of the resistance of the previous day. But the greatest thing was that I got an early start, and the road was shrouded in an impenetrably thick fog. For about three hours I rode in a fog so thick that I couldn't probably see more than about 20 feet in any direction. Fortunately the shoulder on the road was wide. The clouds kept the temperature down, and the moisture kept me even cooler. The limited visibility kept me from seeing the sweeping vistas of the plains, but it was a beautiful effect to look out over the fields and see them disappear into the mist. And for some reason I found it thrilling when a long freight train emerged from the fog to pass me on the tracks beside the road. In the afternoon the clouds burned off and the temperature rose, but the winds remained favorable, and I really had a wonderful day. This day convinced me that riding through Kansas could have been an entirely different experience than on the whole it was. It is thrilling to have the wind at your back, a cool mist on your skin, and the smell of freshly mown fields in the air.
I passed through Kinsley, KS, which apparently has the distinction of being exactly equidistant - by highway - from New York and San Francisco.
About ten miles out of Great Bend a car passed to my left making a lot of noise and smelling like burning. The driver seemed pretty oblivious until about a mile up she pulled onto the shoulder with an absolutely shredded tire. The driver and her passenger, both teenagers had no idea how to change a tire. They couldn't even find the spare, which I revealed for them under the deck of the trunk. They had an inflated spare and two jacks but no lug wrench. Another driver stopped to offer his assistance, but he didn't have a lug wrench either. In the meantime, I jacked up the car, hoping someone with a wrench would arrive shortly. And soon enough a highway patrolman arrived to offer his help. He and I worked together to change the tire before I returned to my ride. The girls didn't express much appreciation for my help, but I think it was probably good that I was there; they seemed pretty clueless.
Day 45 - 7/29/06
Started: Great Bend, KS
Stopped: McPherson, KS
Today's Miles: 64.07
Total Miles: 2450.90
Today's Total Ascent: 1340
Today's Total Descent: 1467
This, I think, was my most miserable day of riding so far. The ride was almost due east. The wind was coming directly from the south all day at 20 to 30 miles. The weather was hot hot hot. And the terrain was beginning to get hilly. Jen Bettano, who will be joining me tomorrow for the ride across Missouri, has told me a couple times about a news report several years ago on CNN. Apparently it has been scientifically proven that Kansas is flatter than a pancake. I don't actually know what a pancake would look like if you blew it up to the size of Kansas, but Kansas is not really flat at all, at least not in the east. It's a series of rolling hills, some of them quite steep. Also, what the CNN report seems to have ignored is that if you were to roll your bike over a pancake, the pancake would get even flatter. Kansas, however, remains hilly.
I really had hoped to push about 20 miles further today, to finish at McPherson County Lake State Park. I didn't make it.
Day 46 - 7/30/06
Started: McPherson, KS
Stopped: Council Grove, KS
Today's Miles: 89.41
Total Miles: 2540.31
Today's Total Ascent: 2483
Today's Total Descent: 2625
This was another hot day. And the wind was still gusting strongly from the south. The first half of the day, however, was a good one for several reasons. First, I got off the highway. For the western two-thirds of Kansas the ADT doesn't actually follow the highway. It meanders along the Arkansas River on dirt roads. Because I have found dirt roads not much fun to ride on this trip I had been sticking to the highways that most closely shadow the river and the trail. But this day I jumped off the highway (for the first half of the day), still not on the ADT's dirt roads, but still shadowing it as it bent to the north. The result was that I spent about 30 miles traveling northbound with the wind at my back. As before, I found the experience of riding with the wind immeasurably more pleasurable than the experience of fighting the wind. When I reached Herington Lake, where I had intended to stop, I just wasn't ready to wrap things up. With some regret I decided not to stay at the campground at Herington Lake, which was quite nice. We did stop briefly so Coltrane could wade in the water and cool off.
The push to Council Grove was more difficult than the morning ride, but I'm glad we did it. We ended up at a small motel on the east side of Council Grove. When I checked in the proprietor inquired about my trip, then told me that a young couple who had been walking across the country from Delaware had checked in earlier that evening. As it turned out Jakob and Tamar Teitelbaum, who are hiking the ADT, were also at the same motel. (A link to their web page is on the sidebar to this page.) It was great to meet people on a similar venture, to trade stories, and to hear about the trail ahead. Of course, their experience is quite different than mine. I honestly can't imagine walking the trail. This was my 46th day; it was their 95th. They cover about 20 or 25 miles in a day and talk about how every house along the way represents water and potential place to stay. Like me they were seeking respite from the heat and staying in hotels more than they anticipated. They gave me the names of some of the hospitable folks they had met, particularly along the Buckeye Trail in Ohio, and they gave me an exciting dehydrated meal, a recipe they swear by but I haven't yet tried. I'm saving it for a night when I need something good. It was really encouraging to meet these guys. Naturally, I wish them good luck and good health as they move forward. I hope we'll all be in touch again.
Day 47 - 7/31/06
Started: Council Grove, KS
Stopped: Ottawa, KS
Today's Miles: 68.97
Total Miles: 2609.28
Today's Total Ascent: 2077
Today's Total Descent: 2508
Shortly into this days ride I was overtaken by a lone biker, riding cross country from Oregon to New York. After we parted ways I realized I never got his name, though we shared a conversation for close to three hours. He is 24 years old, just graduated from college, majored in history, and about to move to west Africa with his fiance. He grew up in Lawrence, KS, and was quite an advocate for the state. He was riding an old refurbished bike outfitted with budget equipment. And curiously he chose to ride with his panniers gaping open. He explained that he liked to be able to grab stuff out while riding. He was an interesting guy, clearly an experienced outdoorsman, apparently an avid hiker, but pretty new to biking. His pattern was to sleep in a bit and take his time in the morning but to ride until nearly sundown, and he was covering 100+ miles most days. He liked to ride hard and spent most of his time off his saddle. We parted ways at Osage City, where he turned north toward Burlingame, and I continued east.
I stopped in Osage City at about noon to buy some lunch. A very nice woman at the grocery store gave Coltrane ice and water while I nibbled on fruit and watched the temperature guage in front of the store climb - in just 20 minutes - from 90 to 94. About an hour and a half later I passed Vassar Lake. Coltrane and I found some shade to rest in. I don't know what the temperature was then, but it was hot. With just about 20 miles to Ottawa I was concerned that I'd need to rest 2 or 3 more times and I could feel the heat taking a toll on my energy.
We didn't end up taking those rests because somewhere between Vassar and Pomona, still about 15 miles out of Ottawa, a car pulled onto the shoulder in front of me. A woman wearing scrubs asked if I'd like a ride. I thanked her but assured her we'd be ok. Ottawa wasn't too far distant and wouldn't take more than two hours to get to. The woman, whom I thought must be a nurse, was insistent that it was too hot for both me and my dog and would not be dissuaded from giving me a ride. When I suggested there was no way we'd fit the trailer, the bike, the bags, and Coltrane and me into her car, she countered that we could find a way. If we refused the ride she would worry all day. So we relented. We had to take the weels off the bike, it took some maneuvering, and Coltrane had to sit on my lap, but we fit everything in. Janice, I discovered, was not a nurse, but works in housekeeping at the Ottawa hospital. She was very pleasant and obviously was concerned particularly about Coltrane. She enjoyed her job and had lived nearly all her life in Kansas. She felt sometimes unappreciated at work. Anyway, she dropped us off at a Days Inn on the south side of Ottawa and waited to be sure we were settled in before continuing to work. I took a little while to shower and relax before stepping into the heat about an hour later. As soon as I opened the door I was glad we'd taken the ride. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was too hot to cross the parking lot to take a dip in the pool. I didn't leave the room to grab dinner until the sun had begun to set.
Day 48 - 8/1/06
Started: Ottawa, KS
Stopped: DeSoto, KS
Today's Miles: 49.98
Total Miles: 2659.26
Today's Total Ascent: 1619
Today's Total Descent: 1769
This was a short day of ups and downs as we approached Kansas City. The weather was very hot again, and I was wary because of the previous day. We didn't need to cover much ground, so we ended early when it became clear that Coltrane was feeling the heat and panting hard.
Day 49 - 8/2/06
Started: DeSoto, KS
Stopped: Grandview, MO
Today's Miles: 51.40
Total Miles: 2710.66
Today's Total Ascent: 1746
Today's Total Descent: 1788
This was a really fun day of winding through a series of bike trails on the Kansas side of Kansas City - first along Mill Creek, then along Indian Creek. The day wasn't quite as hot as the previous few days had been, and the trails were largely shaded. It was nice to be off the road and to work our way through a couple of suburban neighborhoods. A little bit to my surprise, I found myself thinking Kansas City might be a pretty nice place to live. Of course I say that still not having seen downtown or eaten at a local barbecue joint.
Shortly after crossing the Kansas-Missouri state line I departed from the ADT to find my way to Grandview, where I would stay with Josh and Sarah Motlong, friends of my brother-in-law's brother. I found their house fairly easily. Neither of them was yet home from work, but Josh gave me directions to get into the house, and I made myself at home. Coltrane was glad to meet their two dogs, Mec (a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix) and William (an Airedale).
Josh and Sarah work at a place called the International House of Prayer. It is a community of Christians dedicated to prayerful living, specifically praying for revival and the return of Christ. It is a more pious sounding community than I have been a part of in a very long time. Still, I really found myself admiring Josh's and Sarah's faith and their commitment. They impressed me as thoughtful and caring people who are simply convinced that God, as expressed in the gospel, really changes lives and can work miracles. Josh told me that he routinely spends as much as four hours a day in prayer. Additionally, he manages an extensive sounding music recording and production program for the House of Prayer. Sarah is a singer who is going to school full time for a degree in voice, working a retail job, and also serving on a couple worship teams for the House of Prayer. We spent several hours speaking this night about theology and faith, about their experiences and mine in the church, about prayer and worship and the way God works. I found them to be very gracious. They were interested to listen to the way I find faith and academics interacting, and I was somewhat convicted by them to cultivate more my own life of prayer. Josh made me a great breakfast this morning and invited me to return any time. I hope that I will see them both again.
Day 50 - 8/3/06
Started: Grandview, MO
Stopped: Kansas City (KCI), MO
Today's Miles: 51.33
Total Miles: 2761.99
Today's Total Ascent: 2106
Today's Total Descent: 2392
I got back on the ADT for a while today to work my way through Raytown and Independence. Then I jumped off the trail to work my way toward the Kansas City Airport. Jen Bettano is flying into Kansas tomorrow. She will join me for the ride through Missouri and will fly out of St. Louis on the afternoon of August 9. I am really looking forward to her company for the next week.
1 Comments:
Hi to Jen Bettano
Your mother told me about your trip...good luck.. keep cool and keep Coldtrain cool also
the acorn picker
aka Laura D.
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