[tbc] my Kansas ride

[Moni]

After only cycling a day and a half, I gave up and called my daughter
to come and get me.

The rest of the story:

My daughter and son in law were planning on riding from Tulsa to
Kansas City, on their loaded tandem.  This would be Doug's first self
contained tour.  Lori on the other hand had done several with me, one
of them is listed on crazyguy under my name.

The "kids" live in New Mexico, with one set of parents in Oklahoma and
the other in Kansas City.

I was recruited to drive their vehicle to KC, which I promptly turned
in to a return trip via bicycle for me.  :)

On Monday morning I was lucky, as my daughter and son in law carried
my gear on their tandem across the first nine miles of hills. Then we
moved the panniers to my bike, and I rode south, while they went back
to his parents house.

Twas really nice riding for the most part, all day long. And it was a
long ride as well, 73 miles. To start out with, I back tracked the
route they had been on, last Saturday, and then forged on ahead of new
routes. I only had eight miles on a major highway, as there were
plenty of "old route" roads parallel about a mile or so either west or
east of the main highway (169).

In Garnett Kansas I paid for my first overnight camping, but was very
disappointed with a campsite with no water and no bathrooms, not even
toilets.  I already knew about the no showers, as I was told about
that at the Police Station where I had to go to get the camping
permit.  Asking about showers, I was told, well, there is a WHOLE
lake.  LOL

After an extra loop around the little lake I pitched my tent next to a
boy scout building, as there were toilets nearby.   I set up camp, and
headed to the lake for a clothes rinse, bath and swim.  Next I ate my
subway sandwich, of which I was really glad I had bought instead of
going to the grocery store as planned.  Finally some phone calls to
let family members know I got in and all was "as OK as it could be".
Then I headed out for a walk about, during which I find "no swimming"
signs.  What a dumb dude.... to tell me I could use the lake!
Unfortunately the toilets got locked up at dark thirty.

During the night it started getting windier and windier, and it was
all headwind for me the next morning. I rode to the trail head of the
Spirit Prairie trail and paid my fee (one dollar more than the website
had stated) and headed in to the wind.

ARGH!

It was so slow going.. and the weather forecast for strong
thunderstorms with wind and hail for mid day in my next overnight town
was looming over all this. My progress was so slow, my usual pace per
hour took me only half the distance.

I finally decided rather than riding on miserable, I would can the
ride all together.  I tried to call my daughter. DRAT! No cell service
at all.

In the next little town (Colony, Kansas) I used the phone in the city
hall, using my calling card. Then I sat for three hours in the library
next door and waited for my daughter to arrive.  Meanwhile the
thunderstorm blew in, and it poured for a LONG time.

Once Ulrike got there, loading up the bike wasn't to bad, it had quit
raining.  But she had a detour to get here, as there was a major
accident on the main highway short ways out of Colony.  We drove
around that on my route, two miles west on the old highway.

Drive home took about 3 hours, much was in very heavy rain.

Of course, the next morning the sun was shining here, and there, and the
wind was not from the south. Decisions, decisions... sometimes you
wonder which one to make.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v79/tahlequahgardens/cycling/Kansas%20ride/
--
Moni