Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Pic of the day
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
No ride today (Scott City, KS)
The weather this morning was misty with wind gusts up to 35 mph, so we bagged it. By early afternoon it had improved, but by that time it was too late to start the 55 mile trek to Ness City, our next stop.
So we walked around town some more and toured the local history museum (El Quartelejo). It was great. The museum is located in a new building and covers everything from fossils of the animals that inhabited the inland sea that once covered this area to the history of local indian tribes, the lives of the pioneers, farm equipment, barb wire types,* etc. They are adding a new wing to showcase the paintings (wildlife and western art) of a local artist who apparently has done very well. And best of all for you cheap skates like me - it is free.
So we walked around town some more and toured the local history museum (El Quartelejo). It was great. The museum is located in a new building and covers everything from fossils of the animals that inhabited the inland sea that once covered this area to the history of local indian tribes, the lives of the pioneers, farm equipment, barb wire types,* etc. They are adding a new wing to showcase the paintings (wildlife and western art) of a local artist who apparently has done very well. And best of all for you cheap skates like me - it is free.
*For reasons I do not understand, barb wire is a big deal in the west. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of different varieties. In LaCrosse, which we plan to pass through two days from now, there is an entire museum devoted to barb wire. As hard as it must be to make a living ranching/raising livestock, you would think those guys would have better things to do with their time than fiddle around trying to create a better mouse trap?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tribune to Scott City, KS
49 miles. Our shortest ride thus far proved to be one of the best. The weather warmed up to nearly 80 degrees, and while we had a brisk cross wind the entire day it was more of a nuisance than a real problem. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. There was a lot more traffic, particularly BFTs (Big Friggin' Trucks), than in any of the past several days. But the truckers and other drivers have been great about going out of their way to give us plenty of room when passing.
As usual, we stopped along the route several times to take breaks and enjoy the scenery (yes, as you can hopefully see from the pictures, there actually are some things worth looking at out here other than the horizon.) We saw several dead pheasants in the road, evidence that the grasses in this area provide enough cover to support the birds. Speaking of birds, despite the wind we again heard what sounds like millions of them. But Penny observed that they generally stop singing the minute the sun goes behind a cloud, then rev up again once the sun comes back out. Does anyone have any idea why that is so? Perhaps we should contact Doctor Science to ask him.
Storm clouds in Scott City
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Rest Day in Tribune, KS
We didn't plan on taking a day off so soon into our trip, but we are tired and the weather forecast for today is that rain is likely. Our physical condition is fine, but we have ridden nearly 240 miles in 4 days while pulling a heavy load. That translates into an average of 6 hours a day on the bike. In short, our butts and our psyches need a break.
Some of you have asked why we are riding so many miles so early in our trip. Study the map of eastern Colorado and western Kansas and our photos of the scenery along the route. Unless one plans to sleep in a field of wheat stubble, there is no choice. Its a long way between real towns out here.
Tribune is one of those, a town of perhaps 2,000 people in western Kansas. It is obviously dependent on oil and gas, farming, and livestock raising (I have lurking suspicion that yesterday's encounter with the "rotten cheese" truck had something to do with the latter). Tribune appears to thriving, with a number of businesses in addition to the typical cafes, grocery store, etc. The people here have been uniformly nice to us, consistent with the small-town experiences we have had elsewhere.
There no doubt it's a western town. For example, last night as we left the bar where we had dinner (it was taco night, and they were good - all 9 of them!) we saw two other patrons riding away on horses as the sun was setting.
We're staying in a lovely little cottage that is available for rent to cyclists like us. We've not met the owner, only chatted on the phone, but she never asked for a credit card number or the rent in advance. Instead, she simply told us to leave the $ and the key when we depart tomorrow. They may not have many of the things that we enjoy in urban areas, but I don't think anyone here worries about drive-by shootings, home invasions, child abductions, etc.
Eads, CO to Tribune, KS
59 miles. The first 28 miles to Sheridan Lake were very hard. The wind chill was in the low 30s when we pulled out of Eads and it didn't seem to warm up much until the afternoon. And there was a quartering wind out of the northeast, so it was very close to a head wind. By the time we struggled into Sheridan Lake we were very tired and discouraged (more about the psychological aspects of long-distance bike touring in a later blog). I seriously thought that we might need to try to flag down a farmer or trucker to give us a lift the remaining 30 miles to Tribune.
Fortunately Sheridan Lake* has a new convenience store/sub shop (adjacent to the auto parts store), the only retail businesses for nearly 60 miles. The owner/clerk was a very friendly young lady who made us fresh sandwiches and hot coffee. She told us that they see a lot of cross-country cyclists in the summer months, most of whom sheepishly admit to 'cheating' by having someone in a vehicle "sag" them (i.e., follow along with them carrying their stuff, giving them a ride when they are tired, etc.)
Duh, no wonder this seems so hard!
*Sheridan Lake is named after the civil war general who supposedly went fishing there once, which is hard to believe since the lake itself is about the size of a typical midwestern farm pond.
The lunch stop re-energized us and the weather improved to the point that we actually enjoyed most of the remaining ride into Tribune. We had already resolved however to take a rest day there, which turned out to be a good idea for other reasons, including: (1) the weather forecast for Tuesday was not good; (2) Tribune is a very nice town; and (3) they have beer here.
While we were stopped for a break near the Kansas border a photographer pulled up to take our picture. He claimed to be an honest-to-God tornado chaser and was very excited as he said he had yesterday photographed the only tornados in the country (don't worry, Mom, they were in Oklahoma). He thought we were foolish for riding alone through the central plains during tornado season, which we thought was a strange comment coming from someone who intentionally tries to FIND tornados.
As we were nearing Tribune a truck coming the other direction went past us smelling like rotting cheese. As the truck blew past us, it swept a trail of dirt and God knows what else over us. I felt something solid fly into my mouth. Despite immediately spitting it out, I spent the next half an hour trying to rinse the disgusting taste away. I have followed bugs before while riding, but this experience was a whole new level of gross.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Towner, CO
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Western Kansas pic #
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Oasis
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Oasis
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Pic of the day
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Our hotel in Ordway
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Park in Haswell
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Penny chats with the outhouse caretaker
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Ordway to Eads, CO
63 miles
Despite the distance, it was a really nice ride today. The weather was near perfect - overcast and cool in the morning, then into the low 70s by the afternoon. Best of all, we had a tailwind nearly the entire way, so we pretty much cruised along and were not nearly as fatigued at the end as we were yesterday.
It is hard to describe the remoteness of our current route. Nor do the pictures adequately convey the scenes we saw today - miles and miles of treeless plain nearly empty of human habitation. We carried extra food and water today because there were no services of any kind along the route (with the exception of the Arlington outhouse, described below). Tomorrow's 57 mile ride will be similar, except that there is an auto parts store in Sheridan Lake (about 1/2 way) that also sells snacks. The flip side is the quiet such vacant spaces hold. We had no more than a couple dozen vehicles pass us the entire way, so we were able to ride in the nearly the center of the road most of the day without worry and just enjoy the songs of the thousands of Meadowlarks and other birds.
We took a break in what used to be the town of Arlington, now reduced to one house occupied by the caretaker of a restored wooden outhouse that sits in a little wayside across the street. Inside the outhouse, which is very cleverly designed, is a logbook for cyclists to record their names and destinations, etc. (I need to explain that we are currently following one of the established cross-country routes for cyclists. However, there was only one other logbook entry for this year and we've not yet seen any other riders. That may sound odd until one realizes that most people start these trips on one coast or the other, not in the middle of the country as we are.)
We stopped to eat our lunch in the city park in Haswell, which was fine. But there wasn't another soul in sight on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, only an amazing volume of tumbleweed.
Eads is - in a word - disappointing. We rolled in about 3:30 in the afternoon to discover that the only thing open (other than our motel, where we appear to be the only guests) is the gas station/convenience store where I am sitting and writing this after we finished our reheated frozen pizza. And they do not sell beer on Sundays or any other day. Eads is the county seat of Kiowa County, Colorado and has a U.S. highway running through it. There are a couple of cafes, a grocery store and a bar, but the whole place shuts down on Sunday.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Pueblo to Ordway, CO
Via Hwy 96. 55 miles. A long day for some reason we can't quite figure out. It was cold leaving Pueblo (wind chill of 38 degrees) even after we delayed our departure for over an hour to let things warm up. Then as we were leaving town a truck passing us hit a bump and a large piece of metal flew off the back into the street ahead of us. Fortunately it was not in our direct path but it shook us up a bit.
We stopped in Boone to each lunch (consisting of sliced salami and cheese) at a little store where they also sold hardware and auto parts. The clerk was very friendly and pretty soon we had heard her life story. As we were leaving I met a guy outside who looked like he played guitar with ZZ Top. After I explained what we were doing, he told me a that girl rode through town last summer on a similar cross-country trip - only she was riding a unicycle while wearing a backpack! Proof positive that there are people out there dumber than us.
We are spending the night in Ordway, on the eastern plains of Colorado. This is cattle and ranch country where people wearing cowboy hats don't look phony. There is a large feed lot just east of here (which we'll ride by in the morning) and when the wind is out of the east the smell is pretty potent. But the people are extremely nice and even the tavern crowd have genuinely wished us a good trip.
Tomorrow will be another long day - 60+ miles to Eads and virtually no civilization between here and there.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Lunch stop today
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, April 24, 2009
Colorado Springs to Pueblo, CO
Via Hwys 115 and 50. 62 miles.
We've launched! We feel so fortunate to be doing something we have always dreamed of. Most people never achieve their dreams, mainly because they never get the opportunity to try to reach for the brass ring. We may or may not succeed in crossing the country in this way, but we feel very blessed that we've been given the chance to try.
The ride today was 62 miles, from our home in Colorado Springs to Pueblo (via Hwys 115 and 50, not the freeway). It was a little windy for about the first 30 miles but generally a very nice ride to Pueblo. Three of our friends from El Paso, Sergio Villa, Rex Adams and Bill Carter accompanied us to Penrose (a little over 1/2 way). A weird guy in a convenience store who looked like he may have just been released from one of the many penal institutions in the Canon City area asked us if we were on a hike. "Of course," I said "on our way to California." We saw a herd of buffalo, lots of groundhogs and some former squirrels (at least I think that's what they were) stuck to the pavement.
I will upload some pics from today.
We've launched! We feel so fortunate to be doing something we have always dreamed of. Most people never achieve their dreams, mainly because they never get the opportunity to try to reach for the brass ring. We may or may not succeed in crossing the country in this way, but we feel very blessed that we've been given the chance to try.
The ride today was 62 miles, from our home in Colorado Springs to Pueblo (via Hwys 115 and 50, not the freeway). It was a little windy for about the first 30 miles but generally a very nice ride to Pueblo. Three of our friends from El Paso, Sergio Villa, Rex Adams and Bill Carter accompanied us to Penrose (a little over 1/2 way). A weird guy in a convenience store who looked like he may have just been released from one of the many penal institutions in the Canon City area asked us if we were on a hike. "Of course," I said "on our way to California." We saw a herd of buffalo, lots of groundhogs and some former squirrels (at least I think that's what they were) stuck to the pavement.
I will upload some pics from today.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Invitation to other cyclists to join us
We are a week away from our launch and busy trying to get ready to "get out of Dodge".
Even though Penny and I plan to do this trip 'solo" (i.e., unsupported) we would love to have any of you join us for parts of the route (on a bike). You could ride for a day, a week or whatever. Call me if you are interested (719-238-7971) and I can give you more specific information about our route and expected timing.
For those technically minded types/equipment freaks, you may be interested in our rig. We will be riding a custom Rodriguez tandem. The steel framed behemoth was built for us over 20 years ago. Then last year Bilenky Cycle Works retrofitted the bike with S+S couplers, replaced the original oval tubes with round tubes and repainted it (it took them damn near an eternity to finish, but they did a great job). We have lowered the gearing for this trip, with our crankset now sporting 22-34-44 chain rings, giving us a low of 17 gear inches and a high of 108. Yes, this means we spin out sooner in the top end but the weenie gears are sure nice to have going up steep grades.
We will be pulling a BOB (one wheel) trailer behind the tandem with about 50 pounds of gear in it, including camping equipment, tools, spare tires, etc. We will also be carrying two panniers (bicycle bags, for those nonriders out there) with rain gear, energy bars, etc. Both of us will be wearing hydration packs (Camelbaks) filled with water/energy drink and other assorted stuff. The bike + trailer is at least 20 feet long end-to-end and God only knows how much the whole thing weighs. We have done several runs fully loaded and everything seems to work fine so we are hoping we'll have fewer mechanical problems than on our trip to Minnesota three years ago (11 flat tires, a pump that did not work and a tire than would not clear the rear fender).
Monday, April 6, 2009
Plans to Ride Across U.S.
Hi everyone. This is an initial post to let you all know that Penny and I plan to launch our cross-country tandem ride on April 24th. We plan to do the trip in two phases. On the 24th we will leave from our home in Colorado Springs and ride to Mashpee on Cape Cod, hopefully arriving there in mid-June. We will be self-contained, hauling our clothes, etc. in our BOB trailer attached to the back of the tandem. We are taking camping gear but mainly plan to use motels where available. This part of the route will take us through eastern Colorado, across Kansas and most of Missouri. Outside of St. Louis we will turn north along the Mississippi River, crossing into Illinois then into Iowa and back to Illinois again from Muscatine, Iowa. The route then goes across central Illinois and Indiana into Ohio, where it runs along Lake Erie from Huron all the way to the Buffalo, New York area (including through downtown Cleveland including the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame). From the Buffalo area the route turns east across New York state, not too far from Cooperstown. We plan to spend at least part of a day there visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. I also forgot to mention that in Illinois and Ohio we plan to spend a day with Steve's brother and sister, respectively. Once across New York state, we will enter Massachusetts near Pittsfield, where the Berkshire Mountains will present our toughest climbs of this leg of the trip (they tend to be not very long, but very steep). We will stop in Amherst to visit Penny's niece and her husband, then finish the trip leg 3 days later on Cape Cod. This part of the trip will be over 2,500+ miles, as the route winds around quite a bit in an effort to take in the sights and avoid major highways.We plan to return to Colorado Springs and rest up for a couple of weeks in late June-early July, while entertaining several of Penny's sisters, brother and their families. Then we will either fly to Oregon to begin the second leg of trip (back to the Springs) or take off from home again for the Oregon coast. More on that part of the trip later..I will be periodically posting updates as our trip progresses, including photos, so be sure to check this site from time to time for updates. Once I figure out how to do it I will add a link that shows our route more precisely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)