Kansas, I Just Rocked Your World

Check this out:

Pittsburg to Eureka: 122 miles
Eureka to Sterling: 135 miles
Sterling to Ness City: 120 miles
Ness City to Eads, CO: 165 (yeah...that’s right)

So I cleared Kansas in four days of riding...not bad huh? I have to say though, luck was definitely on my side. I heard horror stories around every corner about bikers getting slammed in the face by 60mph headwinds, and barely being able to move. Most days I had some sort of tailwind, and if there was a headwind it was short and only lasted a few hours. Fine by me, but it makes me scared to ever attempt such an endeavour again...

Anyway, you may have picked up on this...

I’M IN COLORADO WHOOOOOOOOO

Safe and sound in Pueblo, CO. And I’m on vacation. The (bigger) mountains are looming, and I’m resting up before pushing on. It’s certainly going to be a tough road from here to the coast. Mountains, deserts, and sometimes both all mashed up together. Sounds fun, eh...good thing I’ve been training for the past 3,000 miles.

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Day 40:

One more huge thank you to Becky and her crazy (in a good way) family for welcoming me into their home and treating me like I could live there forever. I met two other bikers there named Tom and Angus, who both told me a ton about the road that lay ahead. Here's the crew:

Kicking off the day, I entered the flinthills of Kansas. These are basically small hills that try and prevent people from growing corn, but no one listenes. I head that it’s the most beautiful part of the state though, so I soaked it in for all it was worth...as I blew by at 20mph.

What I’ve come to realize about riding across the country, is that there are three types of towns:

1. Very Small - Sometimes there is a grocery store (this makes it a nice town)
2. Medium - Definitely a grocery store, maybe one fast food joints
3. Large - Every fast food restaurant you could ever imagine. Usually in these towns I get suckered into buying a very large milkshake

My big stop for the day was Newton...size #3. Here I stopped at a Walgreen’s to buy sunscreen, a decision I immediately regretted. It quickly turned into me getting into a fight with the Walgreen’s lady about how much I needed, and how much I was willing to spend. Long story story short...I lost, and now I’m carrying enough sunscreen to allow me to actually live on the sun. Dead weight at it’s finest.

Making up for it, I decided to spend even more money and feast for lunch. An entire cantaloupe, an entire box of cookies, and a huge peanut butter and banana sandwich later, I was moving on.

I pedaled through the blistering 120 degree heat to Sterling, where I stopped for the night. Nice town, but moderately podunk. Cooking dinner in the (very beautiful) city park, I may or may not have witnessed domestic violence, as well as child abuse. They let me swim in the pool though, so that was fine with me.

It was also that night I realized I have an incurable and unsatisfiable addiction to ice cream. I ate an entire pint in about 15 seconds flat and fully regretted not buying the half gallon. This does not bode well for the future.

Miles covered: 135

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Day 41:

This was a long day. In fact, Kansas is just long in general. Long, monotonous, and endless miles of flat land. And it’s HOT. When the locals are scared to go outside...that’s when you know you’re crazy. Did I mention it's flat?

And the seemingly endless road...

My morning kicked off with the Quivira Wildlife Preserve...AKA “There is Nothing Here. At All.” There is actually a sign that reads...“No Trees Allowed.”

Welcome to Kansas.

I ate lunch in Larned (size #2) where I made the awesome decision to forgo my usual peanut and banana sandwich in favor of a box of cereal. Yes, I ate a box of cereal and a half-gallon of milk for lunch. Delicious.

I finally made it to Ness City where I called it quits. I found the park, scoped it out, and was left utterly disappointed. The pool was closed. Who closes a pool at 6:00? So I jumped the fence and went swimming anyway. Win.

Having stupidly not consumed enough food over my long and tedious trek, I was absolutely starving after my renegade swim. Grocery store? Non existent...size #1, strike #2. Looking for a quick meal I b-lined it for a Cactus Club, a Mexican restaurant. For $15 I got a HUGE meal and accordingly proceed to stuff my face. It was so big they had to give me two plates...now that’s my kind of dinner. And of course I had to buy a pint of ice cream. Possibly overkill, but it just tastes so good.

My stay at the city park was less than spectacular. Some genius planner decided to put it in the only depression in the entire state of Kansas. While there were probably 25mph winds blowing the entire night, I was sitting in hot, stagnant air. I was sweating just laying down, which did not bode well for a good night’s sleep.

Miles covered: 120

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Day 42:

I knew in my mind that I wanted to get to Colorado, but what I’ve been taught is that planning is useless. Wanting to go tons of miles can quickly turn into not being able to move, if the winds are against you. Today, the winds were against me...or so I thought.

Southern winds are a funny thing. You think you’re up against a headwind, but then you run into an eastern-bound biker who says the exact same thing. As long as you’re moving forward...

I did plan with optimism in mind though. I was riding by 6:00, and made sure to eat a ton of food throughout. If I made it across the boarder, it would be a huge day.

100 miles into the day I was done though. Headwind or no headwind, I was hot, frustrated, and ready to settle down. I rolled into Tribune and went to the pool to cool off. Next, I tried to find a grocery store. The only problem? It was Sunday. Apparently Tribune takes Sunday very seriously. The only thing open was a gas station with overpriced food and a rude staff. Needless to say, the town had not won me over.

What I realized next sealed the deal - I crossed over to mountain time. I gained an hour, and that made it 3:30 in the afternoon. Also, an eastern tailwind was going to start at 4:00. Colorado? DONE.

This is how it broke down:

Tribune: Mile 100
State Line: Mile 130
Eads, CO: Mile 165

What’s between Tribune and Eads? A whole lot of nothing. I did snag this picture though, my favorite so far. Notice the flag:

I stocked up on water, said my prayers, and pedaled onward. At 8:30 that night I made it to Eads, and THAT was one to my proudest moments. Expecting nothing when I got there, I found a gas station alive and well. The women working was incredibly nice, and gave me all the details about where I could safely spend the night.

The park was nothing more than a strip of grass, but it had trees and I was beat. I quickly cooked up some couscous, strung the hammock, and crawled into bed. Slept like a baby.

Miles covered: 165...holy crap, did I just do that?

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Day 43:

I’ve got Pueblo on my mind. Pueblo is like the halfway point. Actually for me, it’s a bit over 3,000 miles. It’s also a city, so there’s everything you could ever want. I booked a hotel, and the hotel is even right next to the bike shop.

Do you know how hard it is to bike 115 miles knowing you have the equivalent of paradise waiting for you? It’s misery. I was ready to stop and hitch hike at least 68 times. But I sucked it up, and pedaled through.

I got another 6:00 start to the day to beat the heat, and made decent time throughout the day. The winds were awkwardly for and against me, so I took my time getting through. After lunch they were suddenly on my side though, and I was pushing 20mph closer and closer into the city.

Finally, I made it. But one problem - my directions stopped about 30 miles outside of town. I quickly found myself in a maze of interstates, highways, and traffic. I knew where I had to get to though, so I booted up the GPS and plotted a course...the wrong one.

Attempting to get across the river that divided the city, I wound up on the interstate, getting repeatedly honked at and riding over a sea of broken glass. On the scale of scariness, I would rank this #2 (only after the brier patch incident). I quickly got off the closest exit, and was safely where I needed to be...with no flats!

Of course when I finally found the hotel there was a much calmer road that crossed the river close by, but now I can officially say I rode my bike on the interstate. Anyway, I checked in, showered up, stopped in at the bike shop, and went to a buffet. Good day? I think so.

Well, there it is. I’m at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and I just rode my bike to freaking Colorado. It’s a long road ahead though so wish me luck, and stay tuned.

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One last picture. The thing about the endless Route 96 is that no one travels on it. That leaves a lot of room for tucks like these:

I was actually kicked off the road to make room for this guy and his 25 friends. Spiced up the day a little bit.